View Full Version : AMC Huts in NH - Work for stay
Sorcerer
08-01-2005, 13:21
Does anybody know if a long-distance section hiker can work-for-stay at the NH huts, or is it a "thru-hiker only" thing? Doing some planning for next summer and the huts sure would make the planning easier, but they're just a tad bit pricey to use often if you actually have to pay for all of them! :datz
Spirit Walker
08-01-2005, 13:59
The problem is you can't count on it. Usually there are only one or two slots open for work for stay. Unless you are a very fast hiker or doing very low miles, hiking from one hut to the next, you may not be the one who is able to get them. And if you do the work for stay, you may have to do your work after all the guests have left (i.e. cleaning the mattresses on the bunks) so you can't get started on your day's hike until noon. On my first thruhike I did work for stay twice and turned it down a third time when I realized that the work would mean staying until noon to finish my chore. On my second hike, there were several faster hikers in my vicinity so I only did it once, when bad knees forced a very short day into Carter Notch (which used to be full service.)
There are campsites in the Whites, which you pay for but not all that much, so you don't really have to stay at the huts unless you want to. You can usually get hot drinks and cake (or breakfast leftovers) if you pass by a hut during the day. If the weather is really bad, they will usually find room for you on the floor (for which you'll pay full price) if there are no beds available. What you might do is budget for one hut and see where you really feel like you need it, and plan to camp the rest of the time.
The Solemates
08-01-2005, 14:22
Does anybody know if a long-distance section hiker can work-for-stay at the NH huts, or is it a "thru-hiker only" thing? Doing some planning for next summer and the huts sure would make the planning easier, but they're just a tad bit pricey to use often if you actually have to pay for all of them! :datz
depends on how low you are out...ie, if you can pull off looking and acting like a thru-hiker. :)
I think it supposed to be for "thru-hikers" only. However, the term is relative, such as a AT thru-hiker through the Smokies only needs to hike 50 miles before or beyond the Park, but more like Hot Springs or NOC in order to qualify for the permit.
Anything over 100 or 200 miles should be fine. You'll be ripe by then!
As Sly posted, techincally, work for stay is available to thru-hikers only. But, many non thru-hikers take advantage of it.
If you are starting in Hanover, then you will only be out a week or so by the time you start going by the huts.
Work can vary. Sometimes it is very nominal. Other times be prepared to work your buns off.
Also, work for stay may only be offered to one or two people per hut per night. It all depends on the mode of the hut crew.
There are plenty of alternate places to camp in the Whites. The biggest no camping zone is above treeline, so plan accordingly.
max patch
08-01-2005, 18:07
They worked my butt off...plus I got a late start the next day. All things considered, I should have paid the 40 bucks or whatever the going rate was at the time.
I did a work-for- stay at the $6 Ethan Pond shelter. The guy worked me hard moving boulders and digging and hauling 5 gallon buckets of mineral soil.
After about an hour I asked if time was up and he reluctantly agreed. :mad:
Are you going to be out long enough that you feel comfortable taking that spot? I don't know. If there is an open spot that would otherwise go unfilled, sure. Once I was just hiking the Whites with 4 thrus I'd been slacking across NH. I got to Lake O the Crowds ahead of 2 of them and told the croo I wanted to wash dishes for oldtimes sake. Next thing you know, we all stay free and eat like kings. Of the 10 or so work for stays I've done, only 1 or 2 worked me late the next day.
BTW, I think I know that guy too Sly :(
I did a work-for- stay at the $6 Ethan Pond shelter. The guy worked me hard moving boulders and digging and hauling 5 gallon buckets of mineral soil.
After about an hour I asked if time was up and he reluctantly agreed. :mad:
When I went thru, I worked harder at shelters than at huts, and the work was more meaningful. The shelter and tentsite caretakers also maintain trails, and hut crews do not.
The Solemates
08-02-2005, 10:53
we went thru so early that we didnt do jack-squat. nobody cared, as they had just opened. we stayed at 2 huts and 2 shelters for free. thats how to do it..catch em realy early or real late in the season.
Sorcerer
08-04-2005, 10:11
Yeah, I'm planning on going early season....like be hitting the Whites about the first week of June. I figure if there are tons of Thru's I'll just go elsewhere, but if not I might give it a whirl once or twice. I wouldn't mind doing some work, my time isn't worth $75 an hour (if you only work one hour and you don't have to pay $75 for the hut.....that's pretty good money........$150,000 a year at that rate). :banana
Footslogger
08-04-2005, 10:22
I got work for stay twice in the Whites on my thru in 2003. Both times the work amounted to washing some dishes, pulling down items off shelves, cleaning and restocking. On both occasions the weather outside was bad and the shelter was well worth the work. On the way out of the Whites, at Carter Notch Hut, the caretaker allowed us to sleep on the picnic tables in the common room without pay or work for stay. Again ...being inside was a blessing, given the weather conditions.
Only run in I had with anyone at the huts was a group of weekenders (at Carter Notch Hut) who had hiked in a ton of food and beer and wanted to have a party at the hut. They all got shnockered and loud and refused to observe the AMC "quite time" rules. According to that group ...theyhad paid their money and were going to party !! They resented our presence at the hut because we hadn't paid for a bunk/cabin and at one point actually got pretty nasty. The caretaker stepped in and calmed things down and admitted that thru-hikers, in general, are most often a more welcome group.
'Slogger
lilmountaingirl
08-18-2005, 01:49
When I was in the Whites a few weeks ago, we were at Shapleigh, Zealand, Galehead and Greenleaf. Each night there were at least 2 work for stay thru's helping out the croo's. At Galehead there were 4, three of them were peeling apples for HOURS and the fourth did a presentation on thru-hiking the AT in lieu of their typical 'naturalist program'. Greenleaf had 2, and when two of the croo weren't back from the Galehead raid to help with breakfast, myself and a few others jumped in to help as well. Other than peeling apples, the most I saw them doing was setting tables and helping clear after meals. As Footslogger experienced, the huts were full and the thru's slept on the tables and benches in the common area.
rocket04
08-18-2005, 10:00
I did work for stays in 2 huts. In one I had to sweep the entire hut the following morning after people were out, in the next I did a number of things, help setting the tables, washing dishes, sweeping, etc. Well worth the meals I got, the crew was nice, and I wasn't rushing through the Whites anyway. As for the amount of work, given the cost of staying at a hut, I sure as hell wasn't gonna complain, I did it all quite happily.
depends on how low you are out...ie, if you can pull off looking and acting like a thru-hiker. :)Act like it is your entitlement to work for stay. You'll be fine :)