Franconia to Pinkham Notch - huts or shelters?

[RyanK817]

Some friends and I are looking at doing a trek through the Whites from Franconia Notch to Pinkham Notch this August, and I'm trying to figure out our itinerary. Do the hut croos ever let section hikers work for stay, like during late August when the thru-hiker rush is pretty much over? I stayed in several huts during my thru attempt, and it seems like I remember section hikers staying with us. If not, how tough is it to make it through this section (55 miles) in about 5 days without staying at the huts? I've heard that what few shelters there are are way off the trail with some extreme elevation differences.

[rickb]

Some friends and I are looking at doing a trek through the Whites from Franconia Notch to Pinkham Notch this August, and I'm trying to figure out our itinerary. Do the hut croos ever let section hikers work for stay, like during late August when the thru-hiker rush is pretty much over? I stayed in several huts during my thru attempt, and it seems like I remember section hikers staying with us. If not, how tough is it to make it through this section (55 miles) in about 5 days without staying at the huts? I've heard that what few shelters there are are way off the trail with some extreme elevation differences.

No need to do the huts at all, except possibly at Lakes if you want to splurge. That one can be bypassed going Nauman (or stealth site nearby if full) to the RMC camps. Lom

Forget the work for stays as they are not for people out for a week.

[Over Yonder]

Hi Ryan,
You can make it through from Franconia to Pinkham pretty easily by not using the huts. I would reccomend not doing work for stay, as August is still a very busy time for thru hikers to be coming through. It is already hard for croos to acccept as many work for stayers as they do, and thus if you are only section hiking it is kind of a no-no. There are plenty of campsites along the route to use that are there for around $8 or free depending on where you are. Also as mentioned before there are RMC cabins up there too *around Madison, north of Mt. Washington. Also you have the option of stealth camping after the designated no camping areas... afterall when croos have to turn folks away they can usually find a spot to stay.

Hope that helps,
Enjoy the Whites the route you are planning is my favorite.
Beamer

[Dogwood]

Franconia to Pinkham Notch, nice weather, no crowds, GLORIOUS PURE GLORY! I think I just wet myself.

[Old Hillwalker]

Randolph Mountin Club information: http://www.randolphmountainclub.org/sheltersinfo/aboutourshelters.html

[wakapak]

Franconia to Pinkham Notch, nice weather, no crowds, GLORIOUS PURE GLORY! I think I just wet myself.

No crowds? in August? There are sure to be crowds in the Whites in August. Also, to the OP, August is still a very busy time for thru-hikers coming through, it may even be the busiest. Go with what a few have already said and look into the Randolph Mountain Club cabins/shelters to help with not staying in huts on the northern end of the Presidentials. You can easily get through the rest by either tenting (by the rules of the Whites) or staying at other tent-sites already established. (starting from Franconia there are: Liberty Springs tent site, then Garfield tent site, Ethan Pond, Naumann then you are up on the Pressies and the RMC shelters and cabins on the northern end).

[Chaco Taco]

Be prepared for large crowds, esp above treeline on the popular ridges and shelters and tentsite in August. Also, the RMC cabins typically see quite a bit of foot traffic as well. You will be able to see the monthly averages on the RMC site to give you a good indication. Liberty Springs Tentsite is a sweet place, Garfield has great tent pads as well, the shelter there is new if you are into shelters. There are some good spots to camp after the Twins if you pay attention to the boundaries. Guyot Campsite is great, but very popular and a quick down and back from the AT. Its a climb but thats why you are out. Ethan Pond is nice as well. Plenty of tenting and a decent sized shelter. There is also some stealth spots just before the boundaries going to Ethan Pond. You will be right on the line for the Pemi so be aware of that and the boudary of Thoreau Falls= no camping, but there are spots before and after. There is camping along the Saco, but again, pay attention to the boundary signs. Once you get up on the Presi's, you are more limited. There are places to camp, like Nauman. You could then make it to the other side of Adams and try to squeeze in at the RMC cabin.
Whatever you do, you will love it. Just know this is a very popular area for August hikers. I have done many parts of this section multiple times during August and you will see plenty of Thru's and lots of Northeast hikers.

[k2basecamp]

I have never stayed in an AMC Hut and I'm still OK.

[RyanK817]

Thanks for all the advice. As far as staying at AMC tentsites on the way through, would we have to pay for each individual site we stay at? We stayed in huts during our thru attempt, but I do remember the GMC in Vermont let us just pay at one tentsite then show our receipt to tent for free the rest of the way through.

[peakbagger]

AMC has a caretaker at all the campsites on the AT in this stretch. It used to be $8 per person per night. Basically you are paying for someone to shovel out the outhouse and compost it. All of these sites get heavy summer use. The caretakers are in charge of managing the spaces that are available and you may be sharing a tent pad or platform. At some point he caretaker is authorized to send folks to an overflow area.