The sunny summer weather has brought hundreds of visitors to Hanover, including prospective students, sophomore parents and Captain Red-Beard and Thorin -- hikers trying to conquer the Appalachian Trail.
Captain, whose original name is Brian, is staying at The Tabard, a coed-fraternity house, with four other hikers.
Captain, who has been hiking the Appalachian Trail for four months, arrived in Hanover on Monday and said he plans to depart on Wednesday.
He said he worked for about six months to fund the trip, and he plans to work for long enough to fund another such trip, possibly to New Zealand.
Captain said that, when people begin the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, they adopt "trail-names," which he claims are easier for other hikers to remember.
If hikers do not begin hiking with a trail-name they soon acquire one, Captain said.
"There was one guy who discovered he had forgotten his stove on the first day, and we started calling him 'No-stove'. Another guy got snuck up on by a bear, so he got called 'Bear-Bait'," Captain said.
Clay Rardon, a hiker staying at Tabard who goes by the "trail-name" of Thorin, said lots of people hike the Appalachian trail when they reach turning points in their lives.
"There are a lot of retired people, lots of graduates, some people in their early 30s who are having semi-mid-life crises," Thorin said. "And I am just out of high school, taking a year out before college."
Fellow-hiker Captain, who met Thorin at the start of the trail, agreed that the decision to attempt the hike is often linked to a major transition in life.
"For most people hiking the trail is the achievement of a dream," he said.
Thorin said he thought around 8 to 15 percent of hikers who start the Appalachian trail actually finish it, but fewer probably will complete the hike this year because of the bad weather.
"I counted the rainy days at the start of my trail, and there were only about 15 dry days out of 75," he said.
Thorin described hiking the trail as "99 percent mental, 1 percent physical."
"You pick apart your entire life while you're hiking, and the future's always the hardest because you don't know what your going to do with it," Captain said.
Both remarked on the camaraderie between hikers on the trail.
"It's really a moving community," Captain said. "Everybody cares about each other and takes time to help each other out."
Many hikers camp out in the basement and communal areas of co-ed societies and fraternity houses, including The Tabard and Panarchy, members of both houses said.
Foley residential house has a room reserved for hikers, and the Organic Farm also offers hikers a roof for the night, according to a hiker information board.
Lisa Matsubara '00, a resident of The Tabard, said the house has a limit of eight people a night, and officially hikers can only stay for three nights.
She said, however, that one hiker has been staying for about a week now, and has been to some campus parties.
"There are some strange ones, but most of the hikers are really nice," Matsubara said. "We don't promise a quiet evening or anything -- just a roof over their heads."
Some hikers help with chores in exchange for accommodation at The Tabard, Matsubara said.
Emily Snider '00, a resident of Foley, said one pair of hikers, named "Hollywood" and "The Mayor," cooked "a fabulous dinner" for all 12 of the Foley residents one day when foul weather prevented the hikers from leaving the house.
Victoria Dickens '00, a Panarchy resident, said five or six hikers stay in Panarchy each week during the summer.
According to Lorissa Foster '00, a resident of Foley House, Foley has four hikers almost every night, and has seen 100 hikers since the summer began. She said Foley sometimes has to send some hikers to other houses.
Thorin and Captain said reaching Hanover is a goal for many hikers.
"It's near the end, and you know that in two days you are going to be in the White Mountains," Captain said.
