So Clear, So Cool, So Grand is the account of a 1931 Long Trail hike by Dartmouth College students James Gordon Hindes and John Eames. Written by Hindes, it is one of the first accounts of a Long Trail end-to-end hike. It offers an entertaining and enlightening look at the early days of long-distance hiking, and a glimpse of life in Vermont when telephones needed switchboard operators, listening to the radio was the primary form of entertainment, and fire wardens still kept watch from the mountaintops. Hikers wore hobnailed army shoes, canvas leggings, and woolen underwear. In their pack baskets they carried heavy blankets, bread wrapped in wax paper, and an axe to kill the abundant porcupines. This historic account was edited by Reidun Nuquist and comes on the eve of the Green Mountain Club’s centennial anniversary.