On Sept. 21 to 23 Hamilton students flooded the Adirondack Park, hungry for the High Peaks. The Outing Club sent out 20 trips to conquer the 46 peaks above 4,000 feet in the Park as marked by the original surveying. The tradition started in 1995 and every year since, Hamilton students have been attempting this feat. This year the club managed to get a student on 40 of the 46 Peaks.
Students enjoyed the fall foliage and crisp mountain air, both of which were a nice change of pace from the campus environment. Several trips were stymied by unforeseen circumstances, but all were successful in accomplishing the goal of the weekend. “While it’s nice to get all 46 of the peaks, the real purpose of the weekend is to engage as many students as possible,” said Mike Moubarak ’21, one of the nine Outing Club Officers. Another officer, Sarah Stigberg ’20, chimed in, saying, “It’s a really nice way to connect people from different walks of life on campus.”
The officers complete a lot of behind the scenes work for the Outing Club, but Claudia Morse ’19 and Sarah Weis Jillings, assistant director of Outdoor Leadership, were responsible for orchestrating most of the weekend’s logistics. The weekend is organized so that there are day trips and overnights available to the students, some starting on Friday and most on Saturday or Sunday.
A group of dedicated and equipped leaders made sure that the magic happened this weekend, chauffeuring 85 of their peers to beautiful Adirondack views and wholesome weekend experiences. Per annual tradition, the Glen House welcomed members of the Hamilton community to share their weekend experiences over pie from the infamous Noon Mark Diner of Keene Valley, NY.
