Terrapin Trail Club

A Message From Our Director of Outreach

I first found out about Terrapin Trail Club last summer, before school had even started. I met Nick Ruiz, our former president, at Maryland’s rock wall and he told me that if I loved to climb and do other similar activities outside, I should join TTC.

I was shy and a little scared at first, because I was a freshman and completely new to the university. When I stepped into that room full of new faces, I sat next to someone and we immediately struck up a conversation, and before I knew it I had a new friend. That happened several times that evening. I realized that I had something in common with almost everyone in the room, and that every person I talked to had some crazy outdoorsy story to tell, not unlike my own. I knew that I had found a group of people I could relate to, and for a nervous freshman worried about not making any friends, that was comforting beyond belief.

My first trip was Intro Trip. I remember our first dinner, at a small restaurant by Seneca Rocks, and being introduced to several of the club old-timers. I was intimidated, at first, but they greeted me like an old friend, even though most of them didn’t even know who I was. That night, we all sat around a roaring campfire talking and laughing and telling stories, our faces lit only by the firelight. We woke the next morning before the sun, and headed out for a 10-mile paddle down the Potomac. Though some people had no experience with boats or whitewater at all, everyone shared a similar bold sense of adventure. We floated, we laughed, we had splash wars, we threw acorns at each other, and we had more fun on that class I stretch of river than I originally thought possible.

So, if you are a freshman looking for a club to join, or a senior looking for an escape from books and maybe an adventure or two, then come out and join TTC. It was by far the best decision I made last fall, and it was where I met some of my favorite people on campus. Come be awesome with us!

— Lily Durkee, TTC Director of Outreach, Class of 2018

Upcoming Trips