February 2, 2012
At some point during his or her Hamilton career, every student ventures into the glen to explore or take a walk. Most students have seen some sculptures or heard rumors about the traveling trampoline; however, very few students truly know what the Glen has to offer.
Director of Outdoor Leadership Andrew Jillings would not share all of the secrets, but he was willing to address some of the legends and myths of the Glen.
Possibly the most common legend that students hear is the one regarding the trampoline in the Glen. Jillings would not say whether the trampolines (yes, there are two) are still there. The first trampoline made its first appearance about seven or eight years ago when some students brought a 20-foot trampoline out on to Minor Feild. Campus Safety quickly informed the students that this was not allowed and that the trampoline needed to be moved. Rather than taking the trampoline down, the students hid it in the Glen. These students would move the trampoline around periodically to keep it hidden. Jillings is unsure as to how the second trampoline came to be.
“There are YouTube videos of current seniors doing summersaults on them,” said Jillings.
The trampoline legend is one of the most well known. Another is that of the car. Jillings said there is at least one car in the Glen, but that there are many more assorted car parts.
Jillings admitted that the best car is behind the Bundy Residence Halls. Although it’s a difficult trek, it is worth it. The car lies at the bottom of a ravine. How the car got there, Jillings does not know and replied, “It’s certainly not coming back up here anytime soon.”
The location of the car leads to another great story about the Glen. Undoubtedly, some students have walked down behind Bundy and reached the quarry. If you look at the quarry, you can see the red shale—the same red shale that covers the paths in the Glen. This shale used to cover all of the paths on the north side of campus before they were paved.
When asked what his favorite hidden treasure of the Glen was, Jillings was quick to name the glass pyramid. He wouldn’t give an exact location and said, “it’s more fun that way.” However, he did have some hints. He suggests entering at the Minor Field entrance and following the right path as it loops around. Eventually, you will reach a ravine. Looking down the ravine, you can see the five-foot tall cement and glass pyramid.
Sculptures are another great feature of the glen.
“Every year, someone puts a sculpture somewhere in the glen. Some get taken down, but some are still there,” explained Jillings.
Jillings also shared a humorous story about one of the sculptures. Someone made a miniature-sized mold of a body and placed it under a low-lying limb of a tree.
When Jillings’ wife Sarah first found it Jillings said, “she was scared, she thought it was a real baby or something.” There are still parts of the sculpture there but they are more scattered now.
Jillings mentioned that there are many small fossils embedded in the streambed in Rogers Glen. There is also a variety of ski and bike jumps throughout all areas of the Glen.
“It’s worth the walk to check it out,” Jillings said
Jillings could not resist sharing one last story about the glen.
“Looking at a map of the Glen, there is a small path named Potters’ Trail. There used to be a professor at Hamilton in the geosciences named Don Potter. He used to walk to work every day through the Glen. He was able to take the main path, but he had to forge his own to reach the main one. The path remains to this day. It included a ladder up a steep embankment and a bridge across a stream, both of which were constructed by Potter,” Jillings explained.
For anyone who wants to explore the Glen, Jillings had two pieces of advice.
The first being to plan out a trip using Google Maps.
“You’ll be able to see some of the cool hidden features of the Glen that would be difficult to see just walking,” Jillings said.
The second piece of advice was to wait for the weather. Jillings suggests waiting for either more snow so students can take advantage of snowshoeing or waiting for nice weather so students can experience all of the little secrets of the Glen.