The Green Glance | Outdoor exploration promotes recreation and awareness

Nathan Zucker Columnist

Although Vassar’s campus is beautifully landscaped and features many species of rare trees, students interested in the outdoors may be eager to escape the College in order to find true wilderness. Fortunately, the Hudson River Valley and its environs provide many opportunities for hiking, snowshoeing, rock climbing and swimming.

Hopefully, the Vassar community will begin to explore nature more often, increasing environmental awareness and developing personal connections to the land. Furthermore, the Vassar administration must encourage students to take trips into the mountains, forests and lakes of the Hudson Valley; this is a crucial way to expand recreation while simultaneously fostering sustainability.

For people just beginning to develop an interest in the outdoors, the Shawangunk Mountains are a good place to take easy daytrips. Located only 20 minutes from campus across the Hudson River, the range offers elevations exceeding 2,200 feet. Steep cliffs and sweeping views of the surrounding valley are the hallmark of the region; the area is also notable for its variety of vegetation.

Students will find over 100 miles of hiking trails in the Shawangunks; VerKeerderkill Falls, Awosting Falls and five “sky” lakes are also common attractions for sightseeing and swimming.

Students who want to experience higher altitudes and longer hikes might be better suited to exploring the Catskills. This range features 35 summits at heights over 3,500 feet, and most of the land is protected by the New York State Forest Preserve. Slide Mountain and Hunter Mountain, the two tallest peaks in the area, are four hour hikes that can be easily done in a day trip.

For those who yearn for a nice view but do not want to travel far or attempt an arduous hike, the Poughkeepsie waterfront district is a solid choice. Although downtown is perhaps better known for its shops and restaurants, the Hudson River and its western banks offer beautiful scenery. The new Vassar College shuttle allows students to access this area easily; a nice idea is to watch the sunset over the river and then go out to dinner.

The College can also help make trips more available and affordable to students. While the shuttle into Poughkeesie is a good start towards getting students to leave campus, more needs to be done. Perhaps the College could run a weekend bus to the Hunter Mountain Ski Resort, encouraging everyone to hit the slopes rather than stay on campus.

Another suggestion is to use a few ideas from Middlebury College’s Mountain Club. At Middlebury, open gear hours are held every week to provide students with the tents, sleeping bags and skis they might need for trips.

More importantly, Middlebury will reimburse students for any overnight trip they take to the outdoors. For example, students who go backpacking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire do not have to pay for their gas, food or supplies; the College simply covers the expense. At Vassar, more people would be willing to take outdoor expeditions if they were free.

Vassar’s residence halls have attempted to provide some free trips for students. For example, I went apple picking with Noyes House this October. This was a very enjoyable experience; the weather was gorgeous, and I came home with a big bag of delicious apples.

However, one trip to the outdoors simply isn’t enough for an entire year. Such excursions should occur regularly, affording students frequent opportunities to have fun off campus.

Perhaps next year’s sophomore class gift can be one that supports outdoor recreaton and environmental awareness, progressive values that an institution like Vassar should foster. After using $6,000 to expand student access to unhealthy, mass-produced foods such as potato chips and candy bars, it might be time for a different sort of gift. A suggestion is to put the money towards a variety of trips to go apple picking, swimming, hiking, skiing and snowshoeing.

Clearly, students would benefit in myriad ways from spending more time outdoors. In addition to the health and wellness benefits of outdoor recreation, being in nature also cultivates a new sense of environmental awareness. Living in a city such as Poughkeepsie, students can be extremely isolated from the positive and negative changes that are occurring in the Earth’s ecosystems. By voyaging outdoors, we all gain a new perspective on the delicate fabric of life existing on this planet.

—Nathan Zucker ’10, a Latin American Studies major, is writing about environmental issues that affect both the Vassar community and the world at large.