whites
i just read in my app. pages that huts in the whites are 84 bucks.
REALLY?
"Ye who laughs last probably started laughing first."
Tell them you are a thru and they will let you do work for stay and you can crash in the dining room area.
for the price you get to share a bunk room with farty, snory, know-it-all, spoilt, selfish folks and get less than filling meals
Yep, show up at 5 or 6 when you do this. If it's earlier they tend to tell you to move on to the next one. They don't know if people are going to roll in late. Everyone was talking good or bad about the huts when I went southbound. Some northbounders hated them, others didn't.
I was a hut **** and lived it up. A little amount of work (get the thru hiker talk if you can I never did) for a meal and a place to stay. A lot of times the people staying there would offer up their extra snacks. And if you can check the lost and found. Makes a good hiker box if you need some extra clothes or a water bottle.
Yes they are. They are there for all hikers, not just thru-hikers, and they provide a bunk, wool blanket, dinner and breakfast. As Chaco said, if you want to stay at them on your Thru, tell them you are a thru-hiker and you're interested in work-for-stay. usually if you get there around 3pm you can get a spot, they dont take work-for-stays too early in the day though, just an fyi.Originally Posted by phillycheze
I forgot to add I slept on the porch at Zealand falls, a good idea. I also heard you could sleep in the ski lift building at wildcat after everyone left. I took that you are not supposed to, but they leave it unlocked and don't stop people.
The huts depend on the people working there. At Zeland they threw more food at the two of us than we could eat. At Carter Notch they had not enough for 2.
you get dinner too, but bring your own anyway, they only give snack-size portions
thats cause they arent truly feeding the thru-hiker appetite since most that are staying aren't thru-hikers.
as others have mentioned, it all depends on the croo working there...
i was section hiking and at home i normally eat more than they served at lakes
That one part of the trail i have hike to me the huts are not worth the money.
I have hike many of the side trail to the trail are not mark well at all
you do need to know how to use a compass and map. They talk about how not to
go off trail but ever time i hike their i seen many day hikers just gone any where they please. More then once i point out the signs that told them to stay on trail also told the huts about them did see anyone do any thing about it. I konw it not cheap to
work on these trail area but how much will a gal of paint and a paint bush cost.
Fees
Full season (summer) Saturday is $112 for non-members of AMC Other days $94 (2009 prices from the AMC website)
There are ways across the Whites that don't involve staying at the Appalachian Money Collectors facilities.
Everyone has a photographic memory. Not everyone has film.
any advice on how to plan this route and not stop at the huts? stealth camp?
also, i was reading and the app. pages said that new hammy asks that u not do the work for stay at more than two huts, and they only take two people for the position at a time. any truth to that?
"Ye who laughs last probably started laughing first."
That's the party line, but it all depends on the crew's mood at the time. I've seen them accomodate much more than the minimum many times. And I've also seen them turn thru-hikers away once the minimum is reached, or if you arrive too early in the day.
Never stealth in the Whites esp on the Presidentials!!!!
There are signs all through the Whites about the lasting impact of camping on the rare vegitation that grows there. Only camp in designated area or around shelters.
Stealth camping is legal, approved and within the bounds of proper LNT ethics in most parts of the Whites. The notable exception is you are forbidden to camp above treeline in the summer, and within 1/4 mile of most man made facilities (roads, shelters, huts).
Camping in most every Wilderness areas is fine, but you have to walk 200' into the woods before setting up your tent and lighting a fire. When you are not in a Wilderness Area, there is no such restriction.
There is no need to use the AMC huts at all. The shelters with a resident caretaker can be used for convenience is you want, but they can be avoided too if you don't have the $8 or so. There is maybe one stretch of trail where using a formal tent site or two helps a bit with the logistics.
In the Presidentials you can camp on the tent platforms near Mizpah hut, then a loooong day (maybe not so much for a thruhiker) will get you to the RMC's Perch camp, a little way off the AT, the next night you can go over Madison and stay at Dolly Copp campground or catch a ride into town from the AMC's Pinkham Notch Camp. No need to stay at the huts, but you might want to depending on what's going on in your hike at that time.
As I live, declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn back from his way and live. Ezekiel 33:11
I didn't stay at any of the huts or platforms when I hiked through the Whites.
It has been a while so I couldn't tell you where I specifically stayed without seeing maps. I'm not sure I would even remember if i had the maps.
What's In Your Wallet?
Just after that, Appalachian Pages also say, ......more on Sat., Less for AMC members.
As long as you can afford it, just plan to use some of your pre-hike $$ money to join the AMC, and don't forget to do some volunteer work on your way through too. Fold your blankets properly in the morning, and above all, "if it's yellow let it mellow, If it's brown flush it down.
It's really worth the discount to all the huts and other member benefits, when you join the AMC. The peace of mind of how you are going to get through the White Mtns on a thru-hike, is worth it, sure beats "Beg For Stay".
Just wanted to mention staying at The Dungeon at the Lakes of the Clouds hut for an unusual hiking experience (if The Dungeon is still available). The Dungeon is beneath the Lakes of the Clouds hut and had been used as a place hikers could get of a storm during inclement weather.
Aptly named -- and memorable.
On my Year 2000 northbound thru-hike I stayed with Raru and Sisu overnight in The Dungeon for $6.00 per person per night. At the time there were 5-6 bunks. Loud as all get-out all night -- the wind howled all night but I wear earplugs so it didn't bother me. The door was 1/2 inch plate steel and I can certainly see why it's like that.
During the day a thru-hiker could go up from The Dungeon to mingle with the normal folks (but no food). Incredible that I had enough brainpower to win the Trivial Pursuit game upstairs with the other hikers (I won on a financial question about Lou Dobbs) and I was annoited, "Datto His Royal Badness".
That day was a continuation of the huge storm that had started the previous night and I stayed the night again in The Dungeon again -- alone since no one else thought the accommodations were adequate in The Dungeon. The next day after that I'd thought, "we'll how bad can it be to hike 7.5 miles down to Madison Hut." Wind was peaking at 72mph, wind chill was minus 19*F. Sisu had said, "I've got a very bad feeling about this" when Raru, Chief and I had decided to hike on out.
Ha. The overconfidence a thru-hiker acquires on the AT. Raru's beard was a packed white iced-over mess by the time Raru and I had got to the Mt. Washington top. I was wearing every stitch of clothing I was carrying in my pack (including two pairs of gloves and two balaclavas) and in the 1.25 mile hike from Lakes of the Clouds hut to the top of Mt. Washington, I froze my begonias off and several times was blown all over and down on my knees in the wind.
At the top, Chief had tried to take a photo of he and I celebrating with some airplane bottles of Bacardi on the pile of rocks designating the actual peak of Mt Washington. But the ranging wind blew he and I over onto the ground so many times we finally gave up (my camera had frozen solid anyhow). In the summit building, many dayhikers (must have been at least two dozen) in cotten T-shirts were sitting on the floor leaning up against a wall, completely incoherent. The rangers there had gone out and had rescued them -- some of the day hikers had brought dogs along and when they'd hiked up the mountain from the other side. One day hiker had tried to convince the rangers to go out and help him find his dog -- I think the rangers knew there wasn't going to be any hope for the dog. The day hiker guy could not get two words to come out to explain what he'd wanted when he'd come up to the ranger counter -- completely incomprehensible. I finally talked to him and deciphered enough to figure out that he'd wanted his dog rescued too and passed that information on to the rangers.
Anyhow, The Dungeon was certainly an experience to remember.
Datto
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