Words of Summer Wisdom

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Editor’s note: The content below was adapted from a correspondence with Mr. Richard S. Mueller ‘04

-Relax: It’s summer. Don’t expect sophomore summer to be amazing, just enjoy yourself, and it will be great. Take advantage of sophomore summer because it goes by so fast that before you know it, you are off, or your friends are off, and then all of a sudden you are a senior.
-Keep moving: Do all those things at Dartmouth that you always want to do but never seem to have the time to do. In summer, the days are endless.
-Take fun classes (if you need a class, take Russian 19).
-Stay up all night in the Top of the Hop; if you get there before it closes, they won’t make you leave.
-Do the pancake paddle at Ledyard.
-Go canoeing and pack a picnic lunch.
-BBQ whenever you can...the KDE backyard grill is great.
-Go to Dan and Whits in Norwich.
-Go to Four Aces in West Lebanon.
-Do something devious: summer term is the only time you can really get away with it.
-Watch the sunrise and sunset from Balch Hill.
-Go to the rope swing.
-Go to Whistle Stop.
-Go eat at the Skunk Hollow Tavern in Hartland, VT.
-Go to a show at the Hop.
-Set a day each week where you do something fun...i.e. Fun Friday.
-Enjoy the outdoors, rent a DOC cabin with a couple of friends, go for a hike.
-Go for a swim.

COPPER MINES: The Copper Mines are a series of strip mines in Vermont right over the bridge, past Norwich. They’re a great place to grill and do some serious cliff diving and swimming in the summer. Watch out for the underwater rocks; the cliffs are pretty sheer, though, so there isn’t much of a reason to worry. There are many cliffs of different levels. There was a 70 foot cliff that was demolished in the mid-90s. If you jump off of the highest current cliff (50 feet), you’ll surely understand why.
Directions: Go across the bridge to Vermont and then through Norwich. Stay on this road until Route 132 joins in from the right. Get on Route 132 West until you reach the fork in the road. Take the right hand fork following 132. This will bring you to South Strafford. Take a left just before you get into town. Follow this road about 2-3 miles until the pavement ends. About 500 feet later you’ll find a building on the right. Take the second dirt road on the right and follow it up to a clearing with lots of red dirt. You can park here or continue up to the other parking lot. From here just hike up the hill to the left following the paths. You can’t miss it, believe us.

LEDGES: The ledges are a great place for a summer dip. The ledges are a beautiful spot to get some sun and cool off in temperate water. The water rushing over boulders and sun-bleached rocks creates quite a peaceful atmosphere, though the ledges can be less than tranquil on hot weekend days when the spot tends to get crowded. Still, it is definitely worth the trip.

Directions: Take Route 10 to West Lebanon and take a right at the fork by Dunkin’ Donuts. Follow this road past the Strip in West Leb until you reach Brook Road on the left. Turn left and go about a mile until you reach the bridge. Find a placce to park and find one of the paths down to the water.

UNION VILLAGE DAM: This place has a fast flowing river with lots of chutes, falls, rapids, and the like. It is actually like a park; a nice place to go for beautiful scenery and expansive views of the Ompompanoosuc River Valley. Even the drive to get there is scenic.

Directions: Go across the Ledyard bridge into Vermont, and straight through Norwich. Stay on this road for about 6 miles until it merges with Route 132. Follow this for another 0.7 miles until you reach another branch. Bear right here onto the smaller road, which will take you to the town on Union Village in less than a half mile. Continue on this road to the end of the village, and continue straight as you pass the covered bridge on the right. The gate is a few hundred yards further, which is where you should park, and then continue by foot up the access road to the top of the dam in about 0.3 miles.

Words of Summer Wisdom

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