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  1. #1

    Default Randolph Mountain Club Increasing their fees for overnight use of their facilties

    RMC is increasing the non member overnight fees for their facilities on the slopes of Mt Adams in the Whites. The Perch is popular legal overnight site used by AT thru hikers when doing the long above treeline stretch. The new price for the Perch is $15 a night for non members. I do not know if there is work for stay option. Do note its cash only. Recent club comments is they are having a large number of folks showing up claiming to have no cash and stiffing the club by not sending the cash owed afterwards. RMC is run by volunteers with the only paid folks are the seasonal caretakers and the trail crew. The management are all volunteers and the club doesn't have deep pockets.

    http://www.randolphmountainclub.org/...rshelters.html

    The woods along the treeline are dense spruce/fir with no real option but to stay at the shelter site.
    Last edited by peakbagger; 05-16-2018 at 14:11.

  2. #2
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    What was the old price? Thinking $9.

  3. #3

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    Its in the link, it was $10 now $15. I remember at one point it was $8.

  4. #4
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    I've always wondered how much of the shelter/camping fee one pays in the backcountry actually reaches the bank account of the organization. It's a cash transaction that passes through several hands before it gets deposited. No real paper trail. I'd rather the caretaker accept credit cards with a Square reader in offline mode. At least I'd know my money made it to where it was supposed to go and not into someone's beer fund.

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Captain Blue View Post
    I've always wondered how much of the shelter/camping fee one pays in the backcountry actually reaches the bank account of the organization. It's a cash transaction that passes through several hands before it gets deposited. No real paper trail. I'd rather the caretaker accept credit cards with a Square reader in offline mode. At least I'd know my money made it to where it was supposed to go and not into someone's beer fund.
    That’s a pretty cynical view of people volunteering their time. I think most people are basically honest.
    Last edited by gpburdelljr; 05-17-2018 at 09:34.

  6. #6
    Wanna-be hiker trash
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    Still a bargain compared to the $495 plus tip I paid last time I stayed up there.

    http://www.ime-usa.com/imcs/portfoli...ory-overnight/

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  7. #7
    Some days, it's not worth chewing through the restraints.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Captain Blue View Post
    I've always wondered how much of the shelter/camping fee one pays in the backcountry actually reaches the bank account of the organization. It's a cash transaction that passes through several hands before it gets deposited. No real paper trail. I'd rather the caretaker accept credit cards with a Square reader in offline mode. At least I'd know my money made it to where it was supposed to go and not into someone's beer fund.
    When I was a caretaker, the cash went exactly where it was supposed to go - in my pocket. That was my pay, period. I was paid exactly what hikers gave, if they had no cash, I got paid nothing.

  8. #8
    Registered User egilbe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Deadeye View Post
    When I was a caretaker, the cash went exactly where it was supposed to go - in my pocket. That was my pay, period. I was paid exactly what hikers gave, if they had no cash, I got paid nothing.
    Haha, RMC doesn't operate that way. Caretakers are paid.

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    gpburdelljr says they're all volunteers (not paid),
    Deadeye says the campsite payments all went to him as pay being the caretaker,
    egilbe says caretakers are paid (presumably a straight salary).

    So which is it?
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  10. #10
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    Jeez, can't people look stuff up and just read? http://www.randolphmountainclub.org/...rshelters.html
    Everyone has a photographic memory. Not everyone has film.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Captain Blue View Post
    I've always wondered how much of the shelter/camping fee one pays in the backcountry actually reaches the bank account of the organization. It's a cash transaction that passes through several hands before it gets deposited. No real paper trail. I'd rather the caretaker accept credit cards with a Square reader in offline mode. At least I'd know my money made it to where it was supposed to go and not into someone's beer fund.
    RMC caretakers can accept credit cards, according to the web site. The way it's phrased, it's not 100% clear whether the credit card acceptance is just at The Log Cabin, or whether The Perch, Crag Camp and Gray Knob can take them as well. They do give receipts in any case, so there is some paper trail.

    I surely wouldn't begrudge them the fifteen bucks, and wouldn't worry about it any more than I worry about whether a shop clerk has his hand in the till.
    I always know where I am. I'm right here.

  12. #12
    Some days, it's not worth chewing through the restraints.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Don H View Post
    gpburdelljr says they're all volunteers (not paid),
    Deadeye says the campsite payments all went to him as pay being the caretaker,
    egilbe says caretakers are paid (presumably a straight salary).

    So which is it?
    To clarify - I was a caretaker for the GMC - not RMC - in 1975, not an apples to apples comparison! I was reacting to the poster questioning the application of the funds.

  13. #13

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    I have worked as a caretaker for both the GMC and the RMC.

    RMC caretakers are paid a decent salary. The number of visitors and amount of money collected is recorded. Caretakers turn in all the overnight fees collected to the club treasure. Overnight fees pay most of the caretakers salary, but not all of it. The rest is made up from club member fees, donations and endowments from Randolph residents.

    At the time I worked for the GMC, caretakers got to keep the overnight fees (I got $2 pre person) and in some cases a small stipend (I got an extra $20 a week from the club). Basically made just enough to buy food. This was way back in 1989 and 1990.
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  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by Another Kevin View Post
    RMC caretakers can accept credit cards, according to the web site. The way it's phrased, it's not 100% clear whether the credit card acceptance is just at The Log Cabin, or whether The Perch, Crag Camp and Gray Knob can take them as well. They do give receipts in any case, so there is some paper trail.
    A caretaker is only in residence at Crag Camp and Gray Knob. The Perch is visited every evening by the Gray Knob caretaker to collect fees. Late arrivals usually skip out without paying. The Log Cabin is rarely visited by the caretakers since it's 3/4 of a mile and 1500 feet down from Crag and the Knob. Most people who end up staying at the Log cabin also skip out without paying.
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  15. #15
    Some days, it's not worth chewing through the restraints.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Slo-go'en View Post
    At the time I worked for the GMC, caretakers got to keep the overnight fees (I got $2 pre person) and in some cases a small stipend (I got an extra $20 a week from the club). This was way back in 1989 and 1990.
    Twenty bucks a week!!! That was the golden age of caretaking. Two bucks a night sounds right - I barely kept myself fed and supplied with smokes.

  16. #16
    Peakbagger Extraordinaire The Solemates's Avatar
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    Do you have to have reservations to stay at Garfield or guyot campsites? Is there a fee?
    The only thing better than mountains, is mountains where you haven't been.

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  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Solemates View Post
    Do you have to have reservations to stay at Garfield or guyot campsites? Is there a fee?
    No reservations.

    Ten dollars each I think.

    Guyot might be most crowded caretaker site on the AT in the Whites.

    Especially on the weekends.

    Arrive with good humor. Everything works out.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Slo-go'en View Post
    A caretaker is only in residence at Crag Camp and Gray Knob. The Perch is visited every evening by the Gray Knob caretaker to collect fees. Late arrivals usually skip out without paying. The Log Cabin is rarely visited by the caretakers since it's 3/4 of a mile and 1500 feet down from Crag and the Knob. Most people who end up staying at the Log cabin also skip out without paying.
    Re: skipping out without paying, how is one suppose to pay if there is no caretaker?

  19. #19
    Registered User somers515's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Starchild View Post
    Re: skipping out without paying, how is one suppose to pay if there is no caretaker?
    When I stayed on the Perch tent platform a couple of years ago no caretaker showed up but there were clear instructions to either leave the money or mail it in. I mailed a check when I got home.
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  20. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by Starchild View Post
    Re: skipping out without paying, how is one suppose to pay if there is no caretaker?
    The shelters are stocked with pre-addressed envelopes you can use to mail in the fee. Most hikers who stay at the Log Cabin continue on towards the summit in the morning and they could stop by Gray Knob and pay the caretaker there. I used to look out for people coming by Gray Knob early in the morning and ask if they stayed at the Log Cabin.
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