Harder-Hiking: F57

Better late than never but here's an entry from freshman Eve Zelinger (Palo Alto, Calif.) about her Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) trip early this September. We'll have to ask Eve which is harder - a morning workout with strength Coach Miller or "harder hiking" :)

Here it is:

I sat on my chair in my room on a hot summer night reading the Hiking 3 packing list. I glanced at the bold and read, “The rivers and lakes of New Hampshire get quite chilly by September, and temperatures can reach close to freezing at night.” For the chance of a small gust of wind or any possible circulating air, I opened my room’s window an inch higher. I folded my raincoat and long sleeved shirt and stuffed it in my pack. I could only dream of the cold air of New Hampshire nights hitting my face and cooling my overheating body.

A week later, I found myself no longer in my bedroom, but at Franconia Falls. The freezing cold water rushed down the natural rock water slide. As the water moved quickly, I stood frozen. With my legs on either side of the cold moving water, I had to make a decision. Was I going to sit down and let myself go? Despite hiking a somewhat strenuous nine miles, with a heavy pack on my back, I found myself understanding the weather description on the packing list. It was raining, I had one pair of dry clothes, and I couldn’t imagine myself submerging in the literally, breath-taking water. I sat down. I guess it was physics that sent me down the rock. With my mouth and eyes opened wide, I fell through the air and hit the water. Seconds later, I witnessed myself swimming faster than I had ever seen myself swim before to reach the rocky “sidelines” and get out. Though as I stood there, teeth chattering and goose bumps arising, I couldn’t be happier that I had experienced those three seconds of adrenaline rushing fun.

After leaving Franconia Falls, we continued to hike flat trails and climb large rocks. I would like to say we conquered Mt. Guyot, though my sore legs were no indication of an effortless defeat. We consumed Cabot cheese and Peanut butter spoonfuls. And one memorable night we had to “take one for the team,” in order to leave “no trace,” and “yum-yummed” the remains of our delectable wilderness dinner. Yum- yum is a term; a quite deceiving one I might add, which entails combining leftovers and passing the pot of food in circles amongst the group members, who then proceed to consume spoonfuls of deliciousness, until the pot reaches its bottom. I must confess I picked a convenient time to take an evening bathroom break ;)

The next day I woke up knowing I would be returning to civilization. After being on my D.O.C trip in the wilderness, I found myself appreciating the most trivial things. I recognized the beauty of a sink, and the wonders of dry socks and drinkable, non-iodinated water. And it was as I sipped hot chocolate (one without floating particles of last night’s couscous) and once again sat in a chair, that I realized the extraordinariness of such ordinary things.

-Eve