Franconia Ridge Hike

Last Friday, I took a day off of work in Admissions to go on a dayhike with my friend Sam. I've led two DOC First-Year trips before, but that's pretty much the extent of my engagement with the outdoors. The only other "hikes" that I've been on really should be described as "nature walks" since they were tame enough to wear my flip-flops.

But this hike, Franconia Ridge, is a 6.5-7 hour hike. The DOC (Dartmouth Outing Club) has its act together, especially online. Sam and I printed out the hike description and route from their website. It gave us good reminders of what to pack for a hike and also all the details and markers for the trail. Follow the link to read the full description of Franconia Ridge: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~doc/hiking/franconiaridge/

The views were absolutely stunning. A good chunk of the hike is above treeline, meaning unrestricted views of the mountains and the trees. It's nice to slow down and be able to take in and appreciate all that's around you.

After a pretty tough climb to get to the summit of one of the peaks, Sam and I took a much needed break.

There were a lot of hikers around resting, as it's a very popular dayhike. After a picture with the trail sign, we sat down and had lunch. Here's one thing that I noticed on the hike: Food tastes so much better. Even simple things like a banana or water. It's probably a combination of working hard, being hungry, and being in the outdoors, but my food and snacks honestly, exploded with flavor.

The hike was pretty routine, as you would expect a hike to be-one foot in front of the other and keep repeating. But it was a very nice and different way to spend time with a friend. I'm hoping to "hike" or at least "nature walk" more in the Fall and Spring.

Finally, descending from the ridgeline back into the trees, the end of the hike finished by following the Falling Waters trail. There's a stream that you follow down and at several points breaks into stunning waterfalls- a perfect way to end a long dayhike.

Blueberry Time!!!

So it's blueberry season in the Upper Valley (the name for the bi-state region of New Hampshire and Vermont in which Dartmouth is located) and two weeks ago, I took full advantage of this by going blueberry picking. I'm from Ohio, where apple-picking is the norm, so its been a blast to try out raspberry picking, strawberry picking, and now blueberry picking here in the Upper Valley!

One of my friend's professors had sent out directions to a number of farms in the beginning of the term, so a few friends and I decided to pick one and try it out. We chose a great, family-owned blueberry farm along the Connecticut River, just 20 minutes North of Hanover called Super Acres. When we arrived, no one was there to help us, but fortunately, another family pointed out that when no one is working the desk, they follow an honor system. You simply grab your buckets, pick your berries, weigh them, and pay by dropping your money in a little mail-slot on the shed! It's that kind of trust that makes me truly love living in New England-where else could you find a business willing to let you pay using the honor system?

After we collected about 8 pints of berries, we headed back home to enjoy them. I invited another friend over and together we made blueberry pie (my first from scratch), blueberry bread, and even blueberry sauce for ice cream, which was by far my favorite. Our baking escapades ended up inspiring my housemates as well, so the next day, they too headed out to Super Acres and brought home another 6 pints of berries! We'll suffice it to say that I ate pretty well that week :)

Mandala Sand Painting

A few weeks ago, monks from Tibet's Drepung Loseling Monastery came to campus. Their visit featured not only a performance in the Hopkins Center (I attended another performance that night instead, see July 30th's post) but also a mandala sand painting. The monks created the intricate sand painting in Collis, our student center. I was walking through Collis to get a quick lunch from Collis Cafe and just stumbled across their painting. As I looked down over the balcony, I saw a monk huddled over a table concentrating on depositing sand in detailed patterns; it was quite unexpected...and incredible! Walking by later that day and the next day, it was easy to see their progress as it became more colorful and much more elaborate.

This approach of having performers, lecturers, and guests do multiple activities during their visit to campus is quite common here at Dartmouth. It's a mentality that benefits students and speaks volumes about the nature of our student programming. Artists, speakers, and lecturers present not only a performance or lecture, but additionally lead lessons, masters classes, and discussions, which promote interaction, dialogue and learning outside of the classroom.

For example, when the Big Apple Circus sets up their tents on the fields across from our own organic farm for performances, they also run 'master classes' in the art of clowning. My most memorable opportunity came during my sophomore summer when I met Margaret Cho immediately after she performed her stand-up routine in Spaulding Auditorium for 900 students and community members!

Speaking of Ben and Jerry's

As Dana mentioned, Burlington, VT is only an hour and a half away, making it a great day trip from campus. Even better, along the way, located just off the highway (I-91), is the town of Waterbury, VT. What's so noteworthy about Waterbury? It's home to the Ben and Jerry's Factory!

The main attraction is a tour of the factory. First, we watched a brief video about the history of Ben and Jerry's. Next, we were escorted to view the production line. Since it was the weekend and they weren't making ice cream, we weren't able to see it in all its glory, but thankfully there were still free samples at the end of the tour! 'Bananas on the Rum' was the flavor of the day. After the tour a visit to the graveyard was necessary. In the graveyard there are tombstones for flavors that are no longer in production. Some of them sounded really good, though the vast majority of them didn't appeal to my tastebuds.

And what would a visit to this mecca of all things Ben and Jerry's be without getting an ice cream cone? I splurged and ordered a double scoop of chocolate fudge brownie and strawberry. Mmm. Good thing there's a Ben and Jerry's in downtown Hanover whenever I need a fix. Which is pretty often...

A Trip to Burlington

Dartmouth is located 2.5 hours from Boston, 4 hours from NYC, and 3.5 hours from Montreal. It definitely has the best of both worlds when it comes
to location. It isn't too far from a city, but it's located in a beautiful rural community that enables the undergraduate population to tightly bond. I was once told by an alum, "you have all your life to live in a city, make college a real college campus experience." Dartmouth is definitely a real college campus experience!

However, if you are looking to leave campus for a weekend or even just a day trip, your options are not limited to the above cities. Burlington, Vermont is located 1.5 hours away from campus. It is a BEAUTIFUL bustling college town (home to the campus of The University of Vermont). Burlington is Vermont's largest city and is located along Lake Champlain. You can see from the photo (even though it is a bit cloudy) that the city overlooks the lake and provides a wonderful combination of swimming, boating, shopping, or visiting the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center. Burlington is also known for it's summer open-air concerts and it's shopping area on Church Street. Church Street consists of several city blocks which are entirely blocked from traffic and overflowing with a variety of shops, boutiques and chain stores. When you've finished shopping, it isn't hard to find a good place to eat in Burlington; there is a restaurant on almost every corner! Additionally, dessert in this city is always a treat - you just need to sample some Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream since, after all, Burlington is the birthplace of the Ben and Jerry's empire.

Happy Travels!

Nora the Bear

This is Nora. Elise and I are living with some friends off-campus (not in the dorms) for the summer. Nora visits from time to time and she lives across the street with our neighbors. The first time she showed up, all 7 of us living there were having our usual Sunday dinner together outside on the porch and at first glance in semi-darkness we mistook her for a bear.

The majority of students live on-campus in dorms, affinity houses, or College-owned Greek houses. The official number hovers around 85-90% any given term. And there are benefits to living both on-campus or off-campus.

I'll be honest, it's nice living in the dorms as I don't have to worry about paying bills and someone will clean the bathroom for me. Also, with some of my friends it's better that I live near them rather than with them.

But for the two summers that I've been here, my sophomore summer and this summer, I've lived off-campus with friends. It's nice to be a bit more independent, to have a kitchen and common space to share and really personalize. And also for me, it's a good change of pace so that my summer is still a summer and a bit detached from the regular academic year.

You'll get a sense of what living arrangement works best for you. Though, dogs are not allowed in on-campus housing, which means I would've never met Nora. Or attempted to play fetch with her, which was not the most successful. She prefers to play dead more often than not.