Snow-capped mountains
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a picture of Kalina standing over a brook

Once upon a time, there were three chubbers (Cabin and Trail jargon for CnT members) that hiked for 8 miles, from Hanover to a Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC)-owned-and-maintained cabin in the woods. They saw tens of wild-flowers, crossed a few brooks, and saw many birds. Then they spent three hours reading and napping on the cabin porch until the sun set behind the tree line and the stars stormed the sky. Once night had fallen and all they could hear outside was the singing of the nearby brook, they retreated inside to meet Mr. Misha (a friendly mouse that scurried around the cabin).

A joint picture of Hrishik, Duda and Kalina against a rose-blooming bush
Hrishik, Duda, and I, aka the usual suspects

It's a lovely narrative, isn't it? It's based on a true story.

The three hikers were Duda, Hrishik, and I. This Saturday, we left Hanover on foot and hiked to Harris Cabin (also known as Class of '66 Lodge), one of many cabins owned by Dartmouth. It was just the three of us on one of many DOC trips! Duda was the trip's leader. Hrishik was her heeler (a leader in training in Cabin and Trail jargon). And I was their only trippee. We joked that I was SUCH an important person and that I needed a personal escort to and from the cabin.

a photo of Duda about to cross the brook
Duda, about to cross the brook

Duda, Hrishik, and I turned out to be a great team. The intro question–every DOC trip has an intro question–for this trip was "Do you prefer the beach or the mountains?" Duda, Hrishik, and I all turned out to be big sand haters (sand gets everywhere! In your hair, in your ears, in between the pages of the book you're trying to read!), and we all loved going to the mountains. We also soon realized that neither of us could sing. We all came from countries that start with the letter B (Brazil, Bangladesh, and Bulgaria). We all love mango.  The one thing that broke our perfect streak of things we had in common was that Duda loves beets! (Neither Hrishik nor I shared her enthusiasm for beets hummus.)

a photo of the inside of the cabin as seen from upstairs
The inside of the cabin, aka Mr. Misha's kingdom

Once we arrived at the Class of '66 Lodge, we had lunch (the regular tortillas, hummus, and bell peppers that often accompany DOC trips), and then we pulled out a few mattresses on the porch, and we all read. As a friend put it, three introverts are doing their own thing. It was paradise. 

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