(May 24, 2013) — There are perks to having a school up in the mountains. When the skies are clear, students can see the beautiful mountains sides of La Crescenta and gaze at the fluffy clouds roaming the skies.

However, when our weather maps lie to us about the 75 degree forecast, and the campus becomes soaking wet, eating lunch inside the school becomes not just cool, but necessary.

As students run frantically to the building after grabbing lunch, they’ll notice how crowded the stairs next to the office are. “We don’t chill at the stairs on a regular basis because outside’s more nice, but when it rains, we sit at the stairs because it’s so cold [outside],” Sarah Magee said.

Daniel Allard, a friend of Magee’s, understands that the stairs get crowded when Clark has its fair share of rain, but doesn’t mind sharing the area. “It’s only for a short time, so I’m fine with it,” he said.

The common misunderstanding, though, is that the stairs are the only indoor location to eat lunch. If students work their way up the packed stairs, they’ll notice a reserved area at the end of the hallway complete with tables and chairs.

Over their many lunches and snacks at Clark, a group of seniors have been lucky enough to discover this area some might refer to as “The End of the Hallway.”

“We hang out here because it’s secluded,” Peter Simpson said. “Here we get into conversations that are not for the virgin ear.” Aside from the vulgar conversations that Simpson and his friends may have, the end of the hallway has offered these group of seniors the ultimate location unaffected by the weather.

Whether it’s cold, hot, raining, or even at one point hailing, the third floor of Clark has always maintained a stable temperature that would ignore Mother Nature’s wonders.

Yet like all things good, The End of the Hallway has its flaws.
Simpson had a bit of an advantage over all the other incoming freshmen due to the fact that he attended Rosemont Middle School, which has an almost identical structure as Clark.

“In Rosemont, that place was a balcony. [The administration] didn’t usually let us out there, but when they did, it was awesome,” he said.
With weather and space as essentially non factors, The End of the Hallway has experienced a problem with garbage. According to Simpson, this filth is not due to the laziness and rudeness of the seniors that reside in the area.

As the year progressed, a few sophomores began sharing the location with Simpson and his friends, whom Simpson deemed as “rancorous, dirty, rude” and a handful of other explicit adjectives.
Due to the actions of these sophomores, the End of the Hallway has experienced a shutdown on several occasions, with Principal Doug Dall expressing his anger and conveying the message over the PA system.

Although the area isn’t perfect, The End of the Hallway has been a place where Simpson and his friends could relax and feel at ease.

“I would even hide my tea there because I can’t bring it into class,” he said. Ever since discovering the location at his first year at Clark, Simpson has been there ever since. Despite the recent conflicts, Simpson says the area holds a special place in his memories of Clark.