Sub Alpine Club hikes to Wolfpen Springs, site of first winter walk in 1930
MOUNT VERNON — The Sub Alpine Club of America had their 90th Anniversary walk on the exact date (Feb. 15) and the exact location (Wolfpen Springs) of their first walk that took place in 1930.According to the book “The Journal of the Sub Alpine Club of America Incorpolated”, Wolfpen Springs, a historic Coshocton County mansion built by Eli Nichols from Loudon County, Virginia, around 1840, was a place for runaway slaves to find safety and was a part of the underground railroad during the Civil War. The trails surrounding the mansion were host to the first Sub Alpine Club hike in 1930 and were host to the 90th anniversary hike of the club on Saturday.
The Sub Alpine Club is a local hiking club with deep Mount Vernon roots that anyone can join and become an integral part of. The club does not have a typical club organization and is designed so even the newest members can have leadership impact on the organization.
“The only thing that we own is permission to hike where we choose to hike,” said McLarnan. “There’s no president of this organization. I have the job of keeping the books up and maintaining that kind of stuff. That’s a pretty loose organization. There are no dues. We don’t have an e-mail list. We do have a Facebook page, though.”
The club is for people who thoroughly enjoy hiking and the outdoors and was created by and made for such people.
“Our club consists of people who want to get out, who want to hike, and who want to have a good time,” said McLarnan.
The Sub Alpine Club will hike in pretty much any weather conditions and adapts each location that the club chooses to hike in to whatever the weather is like on the day of the hike.
“It does not matter what the weather is,” said McLarnan. “We will hike somewhere. We will change conditions for the hike based upon the weather conditions. It’s pretty simple: If you like to hike, you go. We’ve been able to keep this up for 90 years.”
The club has a tradition of only hiking during a specific time of year that they view as “ideal.” “We only hike in the winter,” said McLarnan. “Our first hike is usually the first full weekend of November. In the winter, there’s no bugs, there’s no leaves falling off the trees, and you can see where you are going.”
Due to the experience of the hikers in the club, there have never been any recorded deaths on the hikes and the adventures that the club go on are always executed with safety in mind.
“We’ve never lost a hiker on a hike or have had a hiker die on a hike,” said McLarnan. “We’ve had broken ankles, broken hips, and other things. One person fell through the ice and came close to drowning and got hypothermia. A few little things.”
The club has some prominent members in the community, such as Jim Buchwald, who was present for the club’s 50th Anniversary.
“I’m delighted to be here!” said Buchwald. “I’m alive and well and able to walk.”
