U of T Outing Club

TRIP REPORT:
This past weekend, fourteen UTOCers hiked the Dufferin Quarry Bruce side trail near Milton. We lucked out with some of the best weather imaginable considering the time of year. A little more than an hour into the hike, we stopped for lunch on a small cliff overlooking a pond. Disregarding the incessant presence of ladybugs, the serene lunch in the sun was a nice reprieve from the expected November in Toronto. One member even went swimming, though not entirely on his own intention to do so. The rest of the trail took us through to the Niagara escarpment. From there on, we traveled along its cliff and finally crossed a bridge that gave an unobstructed view of the Quarry itself. Following a dinner with most of the group, we headed back to Toronto to wrap up a nice Sunday away from the city.

~John

There are a few trip updates. All UTOC trips are posted and coordinated through the listserv for members.

Nov. 13 – 15 (Fall Break): Cabin Maintenance Weekend
-Be surrounded by the Fall colors while participating in maintaining the xc ski trails this Nov. 13-15. As past experience has shown, it is a lot of fun. Usually we only work on Saturday while enjoying the last moments of Fall on Sunday.

Nov. 25: Pub Night at the Duke of York starting at 9PM.

Dec. 4: Christmas party
-We will be heading out to go ice skating in the evening and then head over to a pub to celebrate the end of classes (and hopefully no exams)!

December, Snowshoeing in Algonquin
-An update with exact dates and some details will come in a couple of weeks.

Here are a couple trips planned for January so far.
-Cross-Country Skiing Cabin Weekend
-Trip to the Adirondack Mountains

Thursdays at 7PM: Climbing at Rock Oasis
-There is a group of UTOCers that go climbing weekly over at Rock Oasis down at Bathurst and Front. No experience is required, but an introductory lesson is required for new climbers.

The executive will be running several trips in the Fall, and we have finally scheduled when and what these will be. Obviously, in addition to these trips members are encouraged to lead their own, but the trip schedule for the Fall currently looks like:

September 4th- UTSU Club’s Day @ King’s College Circle

September 16th- Fall General Meeting (8pm in the Debates room at Hart House) followed by a pub night

September 25-27- New Member’s Weekend @ the cabin

October 2-4- Hiking trip (either the Adirondacks or New Hampshire TBD)

October 2-4- A Weekend of Horror and Apple Pies @ the cabin

October 9-11- Killarney Canoe Trip

October 16-18- Caving Weekend @ the cabin

October 23-25- Gourmet Foods Weekend @ the cabin

November 7th- Hiking at the Dufferin Quarry

December 4th- Skating @ Nathan Philips Square followed by a Christmas Party and Pub Night

*Weekly Climbing at Oasis- Thursday Nights (Time TBD) stay tuned

*Monthly Pub Nights- Last Wednesday of each month

This differs slightly from the mailing list version, as the Gourmet Weekend and Caving weekend needed to be swapped. Sign up for most of these events will begin at the Fall General Meeting on Sept. 16th. More details on the meeting will be posted.

UTOC will have a tent at the Clubs fair on Sept. 4th. The Fair runs from 12 to 4, and we plan to be there the whole time. Come down and keep us company or renew your membership. We will be preparing and serving smores.

I’m afraid we missed posting some information in August as some of the UTOC staff was sick. That said, it was a slightly quieter month as the executive prepared for the Fall term. However, there were still several trips. Indeed the weekend of the 21st saw 3 trips - one trip up to the cabin for a weekend; another was a canoe/camping trip to Algonquin park; finally there was a bouldering trip on the Saturday of the weekend to the Niagara Glen. In addition we had our regular Wednesday Pub night on the 26th of August.

I put up a few photos from this past year’s photo contest. The link is on right side below.

Here are a few UTOC things going on this month. The full list and details are available to members on the listserv.

Pending Trips/Events for July

Hiking and camping trip to the Adirondack Mountains, NY: July16th-19th

We will be heading down to the Adirondack Mountains to do a couple nights of back country camping. During the day, we will hike up various mountains in the area.

Biking trip from Ottawa to Montreal: Late July

Weekend cycling trip run by Pradeep.

July Pub Night: July 29th

Great opportunity to come out and learn about the club, sign up for membership / trips. It is on the last Wednesday of the month, starting around 9PM. Location will be posted later in the month.

So we’re going to try something new, and have regular posts indicated pending activities for the club. You still need to be a member to find out who is organising the trips and to sign up for them, but this will hopefully remind people of what’s going on.

Pending Trips/Events

Cabin Weekend - May 15-18 - A trip to the club cabin in Collingwood. Get up to the cabin and do some hiking/caving/climbing/etc.

Niagara Glenn Bouldering Trip - May 17 - A day trip to the Niagara Glenn that will involve hiking and bouldering.

Pub Night - May 27, 9pm+ - A pub night at the Victory cafe. A good opportunity to meet the exec and organise trips.

Thanks to those who came out and voted. The exec for 2009-2010 is:

Find out what’s going on this spring and summer with UTOC, vote in new Executive, get a summer membership, and mix and mingle afterwards while enjoying some food and refreshments.

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 14th from 7- 8 PM, at Hart House (in the Music room)