Bobo Mullens '11

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that “a friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.” As if heeding these words, the brothers of Phi Delt decided to combine both good friends and nature on a midnight hike of Old Rag earlier this semester.

Brothers listed in the photo, front row first, left to right:
First row: Matt Hanna ('10), Andrew Johnson ('10), Quinton Clemm ('12), Jon Karunakaran ('10), Quyen Nichols ('12), Gifford Taylor ('10), Sheffield Hale ('12), Jonathan Yagel ('09), Rob Meyer ('11), Second: row: Bobo Mullens ('11), Hayden Basset ('12), Matt Cofer ('12)The inspiration for the hike stemmed from the wise words of Matt Hanna (’10), who argued we ought to trade one Thursday night out for an incredible view of “sweeping mountains illuminated by the bright moonlight of a full moon.” Over fifteen brothers, from all three pledge classes, jumped at this chance to go hiking. None were scared off by the prospect of losing sleep and delaying their work due the next day. The chance to go on an adventure with brothers was too good to pass up.

The adventure got off to a disastrous start with over four cars getting lost on the way to the start of the trail. Some cars were so late that brothers Andrew Shaw (’11), Navin Vigneshwar (’11), and Wes Andrews (’11) assumed the worst and bravely went ahead. It took over an hour of struggling through the senseless backwoods roads before the rest of the group arrived at the start and began the hike. The hike turned out to be a workout of a couple of hours each way. Brothers managed to amuse themselves on the way up and on the way down with several terrible games of “I spy” (lots of trees and rocks), whistling in disharmony, light saber noises courtesy of Matt Cofer (’12), and some serious conversation.

The top of the hike presented us with an infinite array of large, beautiful boulders. These presented a challenge to surmount, but were fun; and brothers Sam Pierce (‘10’) and Jon Karunakaran (’10) adroitly led the way through. Our efforts brought us to one of the higher peaks. There, we caught up to the long lost original three, and settled upon our victuals of victory; twizzlers and yoghurt covered pretzels.

It was at this point that a hand pointed out that there was higher peak to everyone’s left. Taking that peak’s very existence as a challenge, brothers quickly rushed towards it. At 12:20 am Friday morning, the brotherhood reached the top of 3,300 foot Old Rag, joking, laughing, and panting. At this beautiful moment of ascent, the triumph of victory and the unbounded glory of the moonlit vista were met; and in the distance pale argent beams glinted through a darkened azure sky.