ams212001
06-18-2013, 01:57
I am a fairly thrifty person in my normal everyday life and I would like to continue that while on a thru hike. I have no problem saving up $5,000, in case my plans do not work out, but I was wondering about work for stays at hostels. I am planning on the leaving at the end of March/beginning of April to give myself plenty of time. I would like to know how feasible it is to do work for stay, what kind of work to expect, and how long should I expect to work in exchange for stay.
Are you planning on thru-ing in 2014?
I am a fairly thrifty person in my normal everyday life and I would like to continue that while on a thru hike. I have no problem saving up $5,000, in case my plans do not work out, but I was wondering about work for stays at hostels. I am planning on the leaving at the end of March/beginning of April to give myself plenty of time. I would like to know how feasible it is to do work for stay, what kind of work to expect, and how long should I expect to work in exchange for stay.
I wrote some tips for getting work-for-stay on my blog at http://ryangrayson.blogspot.com/2013/02/q-with-2013-at-thru-hiker-victor_28.html, but I copied them below. They are about the huts in NH, but some might be relevant to hostels as well. Something I would add is also check out couchsurfing.org. It's a great way to meet people that will let you stay in their homes. For the ones I stayed at, good conversation and the feeling of knowing they were helping me out was all they wanted in exchange.
Also, my work-for-stay usually lasted 2 hours in the NH Huts.
So here are the tips from that blog post:
You can increase your chances of getting work-for-stay if you arrive early, but not too early. If they think you have enough time to get to the next hut, they'll tell you to keep going. If you get there too late, other thru-hikers will beat you to it. So, lets say, you stop at a hut that is six miles from the next hut. They will probably start accepting work-for-stay two to three hours before sundown.
If there are still four of you in the group when you get to New Hampshire, you will have better luck if you split up into two groups of two. If you don't get work-for-stay, ask them if you can setup camp nearby and at least work for a meal.
The best hut for northbounders to stay at is the Lake of the Clouds hut. It's located at the base of Mount Washington, and the remaining section of trail in the Presidential Range. Since you can't camp above tree line in this area, it's a great place to end your day, so you can easily get through this section by nightfall the following day. The good news is, this hut allows ten hikers to stay in their basement (lovingly called The Dungeon). Additionally, because of its location, northbounders will get dibs.
My final tip, if you do get work-for-stay, go out of your way to do a great job and you might be able to guarantee a spot in one of the other huts. The caretakers at the Mizpah Hut gave Red and I the task of shaking the dust out of all their blankets, sweeping the floors afterwards, and then folding the blankets. Two hours later, they told us we worked long enough and could leave, but we insisted on staying until the job was done. Before we left, they asked if we could deliver a sealed note to the next hut.
When we arrived, there were already four thru-hikers out front who said the hut was full. Red and I walked in to deliver the note to a caretaker. He read it then looked up and said, “So, do you guys want to stay here tonight?”
Red happened to get a look at the note. It said, “These guys do kick ass work!”
ams212001
06-18-2013, 14:20
Sure am. I am hoping to leave end of march beginning of April. How about yourself?
Whenever you stop at a hostel and would like to work for stay in lew of payment you best bet is to approach the owner and explain your situation. If he agrees, than make sure that you both understand the terms. It may be difficult to do a work for stay early on because of the voluum of hikers.
In the Whites it's another story. Some of the camp sites that require payment my permitt it, but many will not. The White Mountain huts are a different story. They rely on thru-hikers to help. This is what worked for me on my thru. Approach thr crew leader and ask if you can work for stay. If you want to have a chance you have to get to the hut around 3PM. Once they agree to have you work for stay they will explain what the would like you to do. I would ask them if I could do any work now or this evening because I want to get a early start in the morning. Most work for stay folks have to stick around and clean up after breakfast. You will be able to depart right after you eat breakfast. This timeing will put you ahead of others reaching the next hut. I was able to work at Lake of the Clouds, Madison and Carter Notch. In two of the huts I even got a bunk along with supper and breakfast.