Students Hit the Trail and Find Community Through New Club
A new club is getting students out of Yale Law School to bond with nature and each other.
Started this fall, the Yale Law School Hike Club — also known as the “Trail Lawyers” — has so far met for three hikes and two birding trips that had students exploring natural areas in New Haven and around Connecticut.
Founder Ross Puritty ’26 is West Point graduate whose love of the outdoors grew during in his time as an army ranger in Washington State. As a law student, he saw an opening to combine his interest in nature with another passion: building community.
“I wanted to create a space for law students to escape the demands of their studies and connect with each other,” Puritty said. “It’s been rewarding to see students forget about their assignments and responsibilities for a moment while taking in the views.”
The club’s first outing brought hikers to Talcott Mount State Park in the Farmington River Valley, about an hour north of New Haven. Students climbed the nearly 1,000 foot-peak and then to the top of the landmark Hueblein Tower, which has views of three states and a faint historical tie to Yale Law School. The family that built the tower also owned an eponymous café in New Haven that shared a building with the Law School in the 19th century.
For the group’s second venture out, Saavni Desai ’26 convinced 16 other students to hit the trail at New Haven’s East Rock Park before 6 a.m. The group reached the summit in time to see the sun rise over the city — or as one hiker put it, to watch the Earth turn.
“It was just incredible to see so many YLS students bright and early for the sunrise hike,” Desai said. “I was pleasantly surprised to see how many students were willing to set early alarms to get moving and chatting, and even more surprised with everyone who wanted to make the sunrise hike a tradition!”
An October outing, at peak foliage viewing time, took students about 25 miles from New Haven to Meriden’s Hubbard Park. There they hiked to Castle Craig, perched above I-691 on a ridgeline that extends from Long Island Sound through Southern New England.
Puritty also shared his newfound enthusiasm for birding with his fellow hikers by collaborating with volunteers from the New Haven Bird Club. Members showed students what to look for at East Rock, recognized as an important bird area where sightings of more than 200 bird species have been recorded.
“Birdwatching in East Rock Park was a great opportunity to meet new people and to appreciate how beautiful New Haven can be in the fall,” Daniel Browning ’26 said. “I also learned a bunch of cool facts about birds!"
Another round of birding with the volunteer guides took place by New Haven’s shoreline at Lighthouse Point Park, site of an annual fall migration festival and a prime place to view hawks.
Next semester, the club might try some winter-friendly indoor activities like canning or working with clay, Puritty said. Astronomy nights at Yale’s Leitner Family Observatory and Planetarium or a trip to the Yale-Myers Forest in Northwest Connecticut are also ideas.
The trips and workshops have a larger purpose, according to Puritty. Beyond seeing new places or picking up skills, the club gives students a way to form friendships outside the usual venues.
“When you're sharing a trail or pausing to watch birds together, conversations just happen on their own. And while law school has plenty of great professional groups, sometimes you need a break from all the legal talk,” Puritty said. “Having this space to step outside, catch our breath, and get to know each other as people rather than just classmates — it makes a real difference.”
