The Appalachian Trail stretches 2,168 miles up the East Coast, from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine, even passing through the center of Hanover along the way.
"The trail is the longest national park we own," said Dartmouth Outing Club member Beth Rabbitt '04. The "unique, community based organization" is maintained entirely by volunteers, she said.
Among these 31 volunteer clubs, the DOC manages the section of approximately 70 miles of land that runs through Hanover and extends south to Route 12 in Woodstock, Vt. and north to Route 112 in Woodstock, N.H.
History
The DOC started building trails soon after its foundation in 1909 by Fred Harris '11.
After receiving donations of land and cabins, some DOC members were interested in building a chain of cabins stretching from Hanover to Moosilauke," DOC President Joe Hanlon '05 said.
Several decades after the DOC started building its trails, Benton MacKaye envisioned a continuous footpath along the Appalachian mountains, from New England to the Deep South.
According to Dartmouth student Anthony Bramante '06, who deferred his matriculation to hike the AT last year, MacKaye was inspired by the chain of cabins already set up by the Appalachian Mountain Club in northern New Hampshire.
He wanted to extend this chain down the east coast, Bramante said, but the trail has instead become a "primitive footpath of 2000 miles."
According to DOC General Manager Julie Clemons, "As [MacKaye's] dream of the Appalachian Trail was realized, it incorporated some already existing sections, of which ours was one."
Originally, the AT ran mostly over private land and parts of roads. Later, in the 1960s and 1970s, the political climate led lawmakers to turn the trail into a national park.
Some of the land for this project was taken by eminent domain, but most of it was purchased by the government. The project was only completed within the last three years.
Many trails were relocated off of roads and into more scenic areas, Rabbitt said.
"Now it's all national park the whole way," Hanlon said.
DOC's Work with the Trail
"The DOC is by far one of the biggest clubs on the trail" in terms of how much land it maintains, Rabbitt said.
To maintain its part of the AT along with many side trails, the DOC cuts back any items growing in the trail, moves trees that have fallen in the way, drains lakes that have formed and cuts out new trails when the existing trail must be moved, Hanlon said.
"The DOC does a pretty good job of maintaining the trail," Bramante said of his experience both hiking and maintaining the AT.
Trailwork is often a laborious process. "It can be setting 300 pound rocks into staircases, using chainsaws or building bridges and shelters," Rabbitt said.
The DOC also maintains shelters for hikers to sleep in along the way. Hanlon described these buildings as "huts without one wall." Within them, the DOC leaves logbooks for hikers to sign, he said.
Aside from the logbooks, DOC members sometimes encounter hikers while doing maintenance work. "They very much appreciate people who give time to help out the trails," Hanlon said.
When hikers come through Hanover, they often stop by Robinson Hall where they usually inquire about where they can stay, where the post office is and where people might let them use a shower, Rabbitt said.
"People usually really look forward to hitting Hanover," she added, noting that it is the biggest town hikers encounter in the area.
Hanover, though, has a bad reputation among some hikers who find that "sometimes students aren't as welcoming as hikers hoped they would be," Rabbitt said, citing the liability issue that would arise if the College allowed hikers to stay on campus.
Bramante, who stayed at Panarchy when he hiked through Hanover, said he found the town to be friendly, but the lack of inexpensive places to stay or eat made it "not the best through-hiker town."
Today's Trail
The AT has grown in popularity since its foundation. According to the Appalachian Trail Conference, the organization which oversees the maintenance of the trail, only eight people hiked the entire length of the trail in the 1930s, compared with 1,745 so far since the year 2000.
Most hikers who start in Georgia do not make it all the way to Maine. 1,875 people started last year compared to only 347 who finished. Among those 347 was Bramante, who took four and a half months to hike the trail last spring.
"The most amazing part of it was that my entire life was reduced to very simple things," Bramante said, indicating that he became less materialistic along the way.
"The entirety of my worldly possessions, including the food I was going to eat, weighed less than 30 pounds," he continued, saying the experience forced him to reflect on what he really needed to be happy in life.
"Every day was incredibly enjoyable," Bramante said.
After hiking the trail, Bramante also noticed that he became more perceptive and that his attention span grew.
The DOC trails are also increasing in popularity especially among day hikers, Hanlon said.
Rabbitt agreed. "Generally, you can't spend a day out on the trail without seeing 20 people," she said of her experience working as the Moosilauke volunteer coordinator the summer after her freshman year.
