No More Work-For-Stay?

The Lakes of the Clouds hut.

This is 'The Dungeon'. It's an emergency shelter that hikers can stay in for $10. I stayed in there in '11. It was creepy and weird.

During both my previous thru-hikes of the Appalachian Trail ('11 and '15), I was fortunate enough to trade work for a night indoors and I was glad for it. The 'huts' are kind of like a primitive hotel: For $150, you get a bunk, breakfast and dinner. There are no frills and you have to  pack out your own trash. Lots of day hikers and section hikers gladly pay the cash for access to the beautiful White Mountains. 

Zoom in to see the Madison Springs hut.

My first time thru the AT, fellow hiker Sabine 'Foureyes' Pelton, told me about WFS (work-for-stay) at the huts. If you work hard and earn a good reputation, other Hut Masters (the person who manages the hut) will be more likely to offer you WFS at the other huts. It was true! About 8 or 10 of us hikers showed up around dinner time. We cleaned up and did all the dishes. In turn, they let us move the dining room tables to the side and sleep on the floor. Same thing in the morning - if you stay and help clean up, you get to eat all the leftover food. WFS at a hut is a good deal for several reasons: One is that camping above treeline is not allowed so staying indoors in a hut is really convenient. 

And the college kids who run the huts (part of a 'croo' that works a rotation at a hut) benefit, too. WFS was a mutually beneficial deal. 

This is how food and supplies are brought to the huts: On the backs of hard working college kids!

I had such a good experience doing WFS at a hut in 2015, that I wrote this.

This time thru, I didn't hear many hikers talking about WFS. I also noticed the description of the huts in Guthook's app said that only two thru-hikers per evening would be considered for WFS. I also read some comments about scrubbing pots and pans for hours and getting only leftover oatmeal to eat. Also some comments about getting turned away when asking about WFS. Likewise, I heard rumors of hikers staying and eating but leaving before clean-up started. I hope that's not true!

All hope is not lost - there were also a few comments about good WFS experiences. I did not stay at any of the huts but I did stop in at two of them for water and weather info. Seemed pretty positive. 

It's possible that the WFS experience is dependent upon the current croo and Hut Master. It's also possible that I'm completely wrong - this is only my impression of what I've heard and read. 

Have you ever done WFS? Leave me a comment about it. Leave me a comment anyway!