Huts in the Whites?

imported
#21

I THINK THAT THE HUTS ARE A RIP OFF!!! EVERY YEAR IT GO’S UP $10 OR SO…ALL THEY SEE IS CASH IN THERE EYES,LOTS OF YOUNG KIDS “CAN’T GET SLEEP” TO MANY YUPIES UP THERE,I THRU-HIKED IN 1999 AND THEY MADE U WORK FOR STAY FOR 1-3 HRS OR SO…LITTLE STUFF…NOW U HAVE TO DO EVERY WINDOW IN THE PLACE?? THERE ARE MANY NICER PLACES TO STAY AT…WERE A WARM-COLD SHOWER,A COLD BEER,GREAT FOOD,GOOD SLEEP “NO KIDS”-JUMPING AROUND AT NIGHT… PLACES THAT ARE $5-15…IN GORHAM…ENJOY YOURSELF OUT THERE…SKIP ON TO THE {RMC} HUTS …CHEEPER BY COST $8-12 A NIGHT,U NEED TO COOK YOUR FOOD BUT SOME TIMES THE “AMC INC” HUTS HAVE NO DINNER IF U SHOW UP TO LATE…GOOD LUCK…SLOWFOOT:boy

SLOWFOOT

#22

Hey all,

I think maybe the biggest issue about the Huts is the cost and the lack of cheaper alternatives in those immediate areas. When a thru-hiker gets to the Whites, whichever direction he or she is going, that hiker is used to a plethora of options for free or, in a few cases, (ie. some Green Mtn. shelters) low-cost camping. Yes, there IS throw-down camping in the Whites. Yes, there ARE shelters and tentsites with caretakers, which are available for $6-7 dollars (and that’s not a fee I think worthy of complaint), but the Huts are ten times more ($60-70). That’s quite a lot for a stay in the backcountry, although no one is forcing anyone to take advantage of it. What WOULD be cool, imo, is if there were “regular” shelters AND tentsites right in the vicinity of those huts. A first-come, first-serve thing, just like everywhere else. Charge that nominal fee, but give the option. As it is, one can’t legally camp within a quarter-mile of the Huts and beyond that 1/4 mile in many cases, you’re above treeline or in areas where throw-down camping is tough to find. I do believe Mizpah hut has a tentsite area very close by, so that’s nice. If Galehead Hut–the most remote in the Whites–would have tentsites right there around the hut, that would be great. There’s room there for that. And such alternatives would help to concentrate use, which is certainly a goal of the A.M.C. Isn’t it? I just think additional options for low-cost camping in that tough terrain would be a great thing and help to diffuse some of this kind of dissent. But anyhoo…

ramkitten (debralauman.com)

ramkitten

#23

Each year there are say 500 or so thru-hikers that transit the Whites either northbound or southbound within a few months period. I may be wrong about the number but we are a very small minority of people that visit the Whites. Although I don’t care for the hut system as related to backpacking, it is there. You work around it in as safe of a manner as you can. You can do it. I only spent money at the tenting areas. I was unset at one hut since I was charged for overflow tenting when the site was one I would have never picked on my own. But they gave me access to the regular washroom area through a back door. I do understand why they gave me the site. But charging me what platform hikers were charged was not fair in my opinion. After that experience, if a tenting area was full or no work for stays were available I just found somewhere to drop. Yes I should not have done that. But when in the Whites I never planned to do it. I tried to time my stops with tenting or hut areas with tenting. So all in all I slept in spots other than approved areas twice. I paid about $50 total for a place to spend the night as I went through the Whites. I never did a work for stay and turned one down once because I wanted to go farther up trail. Now in Baxter Park you sign up at the kiosk on the AT as you enter the park for two new shelters that are away from the main areas of Katahdin Stream campground. I think last year was the first time these two shelters were available. They were nice shelters and the mice hadn’t found them yet. Of course by then I never would hear mice. They become a part of the background noise.

Two Scoops

#24

Regarding the AMC nycman50 says:

“The money the organization makes is spent for many, many outdoor related activities”

Obviously he has never been to the Taj Mahal they have as headquarters in the center of downtown Boston.

steamboat