Scene on Campus

Dawn patrol

Watching the sunrise from West Rock.

Caroline Jaffe ’13 (left) and Jackson Blum ’15 greeted the dawn at the top of West Rock one frigid morning in January on a Yale Outdoors field trip. The two joined 30-plus members of the Yale community who braved the cold to welcome the sun with a yoga-inspired “sun salutation.” There would have been more, says environmental studies major Aviva Musicus ’13, the leader of the expedition, but she didn’t have enough cars to get them all to West Rock. The group met at 5:00 a.m. at Phelps Gate, rode to the starting point of the hike, and walked about 20 minutes to the top, lighting their way with flashlights.

Musicus, who arranges these morning outings weekly—weather permitting—loves the morning peace and the view of “East Rock, the ocean, and houses that still have lights on.” As the sun rose, the hikers did their own version of a sun salutation. Musicus explains that the move is usually done on the ground. But this group remained standing because “it’s very, very cold.”

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