The weekend of September 20th was Newcommers weekend up at the UMOC cabin. After the usual Friday night drive up involving drivers' attempts to scare their passengers with swerves and near misses with road cones, a group of about 30 assembled at the cabin. Four trips, spanning the whole range of skill levels, went out on Saturday. It was my pleasure to lead the beginner’s trip up to the towering peak of Mt. Willard. At 2800 ft it offers one of the best views in the Whites, overlooking Crawford Notch, for the effort required. Compared to the trips up Washington, Garfield, and Carrigan, ours was by far the choice of the hardiest hikers up at the cabin that weekend ;-). Despite the derision we received from the other trips, the hike up was perfect for our group, many of whom were hiking for the first time. Willard's summit is a large ridge which was ideal for sunbathing and other sorts of vegetative lounging. After lunch and trail mix we bushwhacked around the summit for a few minutes and then descended.

As we neared the end of the trail, the sound of many hurried footsteps was heard from the upper trail. Sensing that a potential UMOC story was impeding, I tensed up and prepared to do battle with whatever wild beast was upon us. After turning around we saw a boy (probably high school aged) running toward us wearing a white polo shirt, khakis, and dress shoes, definitely not your average hiking gear. As if that wasn't enough, he was soon followed by approximately 30 or so of his similarly dressed comrades. We came to the conclusion that they must have been a boys’ choir due to their dress and our innate prejudices against boys in polo shirts running down mountains. After reaching this conclusion, they became an obvious threat to our safety so I attempted to rally support among our small group to fight off the invasion of choir boys. Alas, we were not a brave bunch and eventually cowardly moved to the side of the trail as the army ran by. The end of our hiking adventures came soon after and we returned to the cabin to prepare dinner. I have just three words of advice in closing. First, meat left in a bucket of ice in the cabin’s “refrigerator” has a tendency to turn into meat left in a bucket of water (not fun to look at). Secondly, cakes that are $5 dollars cheaper than their freshly baked counterparts are great for feeding hungry hikers (two days old is fresh compared to some of the stuff in the cabin cabinet). Lastly, dance music and 80s pop don’t quite fit in with the rustic atmosphere of the cabin, but a little dichotomy never hurt anybody.