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The Dartmouth
March 28, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Students carry canoe, fight emissions

Undergraduates hike with a 40-pound aluminum canoe and a hand-made banner to the peak of Mount Washington.
Undergraduates hike with a 40-pound aluminum canoe and a hand-made banner to the peak of Mount Washington.

Climate Summer, a national student environmental group, and ReEnergize New Hampshire, a group lobbying to cut carbon emissions, organized Climb it for the Climate. Volunteers climbed several peaks in the Presidential Range from Mount Madison to Mount Washington, just 100 miles from the Dartmouth campus. At the summit of each mountain, hikers took pictures with banners promoting their goal of an 80 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, according to Jamie Henn, the expedition coordinator for Climb it for the Climate.

In addition to a handmade banner, Dartmouth students also carried a 40-pound aluminum canoe to the summit, an annual DOC tradition.

The plan to carry the canoe to the peak was already in the works when Cabin and Trail heard about the Climb it for Climate initiative.

Hannah Dreissigacker '09, who helped organized the hike for Cabin and Trail, said that the hike was planned for July 14 before she was aware of the Climb it for the Climate event, but once she learned of the day's significance, Cabin and Trail agreed to coordinate with the environmental effort.

"We thought it would give our crazy tradition a little more purpose," she said.

According to Phil Wagner '09, co-chair of Cabin and Trail, the group has led "The Portage" to Mount Washington every summer in recent memory.

"It's such a fun idea for a trip, I can't imagine any class of Dartmouth students not wanting to carry it on," he said.

Henn praised the Dartmouth group for their initiative.

"I think it's fantastic," he said. "I think that this is exactly the kind of energy, creativity, and community that we'll need to solve this problem."

Lindsey Franklin, one of the Trip Leaders for Climb it for the Climate, explained that this summer provides an important opportunity for the environmental movement.

"There's a lot of momentum right now in New Hampshire for climate change," she said.

Wagner agreed that the aims of Climb it for the Climate mesh well with the DOC.

"Being environmentalists, we jumped right in to participate," he said.

The hikers ascended 4.2 miles to the summit via the Ammonoosuc Trail, stopping 3.1 miles on their way up the mountain to canoe in the Lakes of the Clouds, two ponds located in the saddle between Washington and Mt. Monroe.

Peter Shellito '09 said the chance to canoe at 5,025 feet motivated him to go on the hike.

"When I was a prospie, I wandered into the DOC office and I saw people canoeing in the Lakes of the Clouds, so naturally I wanted to come on the trip," he said.

Each student in the group took at least one turn carrying the canoe, named "Schlitz" after Dr. Wolfgang Schlitz, the star of a film played every year at Moosilauke on freshman trips.

Ascending the 6,288 foot peak carrying the canoe was no easy task, Wagner said.

"I mean, it's a pretty heavy canoe," he said. "The path leading up to the Lakes of the Clouds is pretty challenging, but with 18 people to help carry it, it ended up being a lot easier than I thought it would be."

Wagner noted that Mount Washington is particularly well-suited for the portage.

"It's the biggest mountain in the northeast, and there happen to be lakes close to the summit," he said. "If you're going to carry a canoe over a mountain, it's a pretty logical choice."