Hi y'all! I'm Catherine and I'm from the great state of Texas. When I'm not in class you'll find me carefully curating Spotify playlists, exploring the Upper Valley with friends, or finding ways to enjoy the great outdoors through different sub-clubs with the DOC. I am the Treasurer of the club lacrosse team, a tutor for the Institute for Writing and Rhetoric, and am involved with research in machine learning and computational humanities through Sophomore and Neukom scholars!
The Dartmouth Outing Club is fantastic. They always have ways to get out into the outdoors. But within the DOC there are sub-clubs, one of them being, Cabin and Trail. Besides offering trips every week to go tackle different hikes around the Upper Valley, they also have cabin overnight trips. Thanks to this, I found myself sleeping in a cabin without cell service, on a school night.
The backside of Hinman Cabin, at it's finest!
The cabin was about half an hour north of Hanover. By the time we got there it was pretty dark and very cold. We got right to business making fire and boiling water such that we could make hot chocolate. Signing up for the trip, I had no idea who would be on it. This way, I got to meet new people from all over Dartmouth. We got to talking and it really refreshing just getting to chat in the middle of the woods, with people you've never met before, and no cell service to distract you from the present. It was surely nothing less than relaxing.
A picture of my overnight oats, featuring a view of the lake
For breakfast we made a classic: overnight oats. It consists of oats, milk, and whatever else your heart desires. I added apples, granola, and maple syrup to mine. Finally to complete the process we left the jars outside overnight (the outdoors basically acted like our refrigerator). and voilá! Overnight oats! Though I had my doubts about them originally, by the time I had tried it for myself they were actually pretty good, for a breakfast in the woods.
We left the cabin bright and early since a few people, including myself, had class that day starting at 8:50. Showing up to class, it was an incredible feeling knowing that I got there straight from the woods. Honestly the whole experience was such a nice way to relax and de-stress in the middle of a hectic week. DOC excursions? Cabin & trail overnights? 10/10 recommend.
I mean, look at this view from the porch of the cabin. Absolutely incredible.
A lot of people are curious about how Dartmouth's location affects social life, but something else that I've come to realize is that because of Dartmouth's location, we have some really cool academic perks.
Late spring is one of the best times to be on campus: the snow is mostly melted and it is peak time for hiking. The accessibly of nature in the Upper Valley region is one of the things that makes Dartmouth unique.
Whether you're looking to work on sustainability efforts, tutor kindergarteners, or support the elderly, there are a ton of opportunities to give back at Dartmouth.
Since coming home, I've missed a lot about Dartmouth: my friends, activities I was a part of, and even just the physical campus itself. One thing I didn't expect to miss was the Upper Valley.
I never would have expected to actually want to do something that entails no showers for five days and sleeping in the woods, but those inconveniences are outweighed by the many reasons why I want to re-experience Trips.
