In the hills of Berkeley, there exists a bright beacon of Golden Bear pride, and that is the Big C. It’s a steep hike (give us a break–we work behind computers!), but the Clog sallied forth at 10 p.m. to visit and otherwise disrupt UC Rally Committee’s guarding during Big Game week.

First things first: If you plan to take pictures, make sure you have a charged camera ready to go. So much for being tech savvy.

Needless to say, we managed to take some pictures …

After huffing and puffing, we reached the top, where “C” marks the spot. Despite our loud comments of “Let’s paint it red!” and “Ambush Rally Comm!,” there was no one to hear our genius. We walked across the C, stepping on a light (oops), and we realized the C had a whole string of lights looped around. So we plugged it in.

Unfortunately, Rally Comm sucks at lighting, but perhaps that’s all for the better, considering they had Christmas lights against the dry brush of the hill. Their decorated C was lackluster at best.

We must have signaled to them because soon after three bewildered Rally Commers came trudging up the hill. We greeted them, offered chocolate, but they spurned our hospitality. They attempted to fix the lighting, and we took pictures of ourselves.

The view was amazing at the top of the hill, especially during this holiday season. If you are either drunk or have a camera that’s about to die, the view would look something like this:

The Rally Commers walked the perimeter of the C, finding a smashed bulb at the base. “It must have been Stanfurd,” we said. Of course. Oh, how we love school rivalry!

Then we really thought Stanfurd was coming up the hill when a whole herd of men arrived at the scene. Immediately they stared snapping away, their flashes bright in the nakedness of the night.

“Take pictures of them taking picture of us!” one of us shouted.

Engineers! They weren’t Stanfurdites at all, just some pleasant (albeit awkward company). At least they were friendly enough to scarf up our chocolate peace offering.

Rally Comm never did figure out the lights while we were up there, but it was still enjoyable to hang out around a demented-looking-candy-cane string of lights. While they futzed about, we dusted off our pants and bid all a good night, knowing that would be the last time we’d ever hang around that many freshmen and engineers.

Image Source: Dena Fehrenbacher