Dozens of students were turned away at the registration for today's 50-mile hike to Mt. Moosilauke due to unprecedented interest in the event, event organizer Teddy Yuo '98 said yesterday.
Forty-two people are officially registered for the grueling trek, which begins this afternoon between 1 and 3 p.m. The students will leave the Dartmouth Outing Club offices in Robinson Hall and walk the entire 50 miles to the Mt. Moosilauke Ravine Lodge on the Appalachian Trail -- all within 24 hours.
The students will hike through the night with head lamps and flashlights.
In the past three years, no more than 25 people have shown interest in the event, according to Outdoor Programs Facilities Manager David Hooke. But this year, dozens more proved they wanted to "live life to the fullest," he said.
Eighty people showed up for registration Monday afternoon, filling up the 42 available slots in fifteen minutes, Hooke said. The DOC can only provide food and water for 42 people at the six aid stations.
Many of the students who were unable to officially register said on Wednesday night that they intended to make the hike anyway -- carrying their own food and water or hiding it in the woods the day before.
But at a briefing Wednesday night, Yuo strongly discouraged unregistered students from participating. Yuo said the aid stations will provide assistance only to those students who signed up officially.
The hike is the first event in the DOC's Fall Weekend, when hundreds of students will travel to Moosilauke for trail work, hiking and square dancing.
Fifty miles might seem grueling and exhausting, but hikers this year will have the benefit of the region's peak weekend for foliage.
"Its one of those experiences you just have to try," said Rosi Kerr '97, who will be greeting tired hikers at the lodge. "Most people just like the idea of hiking 50 miles from Hanover to Moosilauke."
The Fall Weekend is a long standing tradition at Dartmouth, according to Hooke. The weekend activities started sometime in the 1950s as a rare co-educational activity. Women from other colleges were invited to enjoy a weekend in the wilderness with Dartmouth students.
The 50-mile hike is a relatively new addition to the event, Hooke said. In 1967, "a van load of diehards" left Kinsman Notch on the other side of Moosilauke and ended their journey in Hanover. The last 10 years the hike has been conducted in the opposite direction -- from Hanover to Moosilauke.
