A group of intrepid Dartmouth students braved the cold and rain to participate in the Dartmouth Outing Club's annual Spring Weekend Saturday. The DOC hosted a series of day-long beginner trips into the outdoors, culminating with a home-cooked dinner and live music at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge.
Participants could choose from a number of different trips including trailwork, climbing, kayaking and working at the Dartmouth Organic Farm. The DOC had also planned to lead a hiking trip, but had to cancel it when none of the participants showed up.
"We knew the weather wasn't going to be good, but we weren't expecting such a downpour all day," DOC President Ada Graham '08 said.
Graham added that the event attracted many students who had never before been involved in the DOC.
"That's the purpose of the weekend," Graham said. "It's a great chance for people who don't usually make it into the outdoors to try something new."
Chelsea Little '09, a co-vice president of the DOC, said that students who had never been outdoors before were attracted to event because it was free of charge and designed for beginners.
"You might as well get out and try something because it doesn't cost anything," Little said. "A lot of people perceive the DOC as 'cliquey.' But the point of Spring Weekend is for people that don't normally go outdoors to go on DOC trips and see that it's not limited to super hikers and crunchy granola people."
Besides helping to plan the event, Little also participated in a beginner climbing trip. The trip was scheduled to go to the Rumney climbing cliff on Moosilauke Mountain, but moved to an indoor climbing gym in Quechee due to rain.
Sarah Parkinson '09, the other co-vice president of the DOC, explained that participants could come for the evening festivities even if they had not participated in the outdoor events.
"We had rides to the Lodge going up at five, then rides that come back at 10-ish and Sunday morning," Parkinson said. "You can go just for the trip, just for dinner or both."
Tom Bonamici '07, one of the leaders of the trailwork trip, said that his section decided to head to the Lodge early because of the weather.
"I'd expected to be out for seven hours, but everyone was soaked to the bone," he said. "Everyone was really enthusiastic [about doing trailwork], but at the same time everyone was enthusiastic to end the trip earlier."
Despite the poor weather conditions, Bonamici said he had a fun time on his trip.
"It's hard to have fun when it's really cold and wet, but I enjoyed it. I think everyone just goes for the whole experience of doing some trailwork and getting outdoors," he said.
David Nutt '09 was one of many participants who went up exclusively for the evening festivities.
"It's hard to find time to get up to the Lodge, but it's always well worth it if you make time," Nutt said. "And [the band they had], Hamm and the Public, was fantastic."
Staff writer Cathy Wu contributed to this report.
