If you were camping on your own, you'd probably spend at least that. Plus, at the end of a week working with the AMC, you can stand back, fold you arms with pride, and look over the results of all your toil. The AMC offers what it calls Volunteer Trail Opportunities in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, Acadia National Park and Baxter State Park in Maine, the Berkshires in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and at the Delaware Water Gap in New Jersey. None other than the average Joe who occasionally enjoys the outdoors, it seems. They've enjoyed the trails, and they want to give something back.
Most volunteers sign up with a friend or two, but many others go in solo and make friends quickly.
Volunteers have to bring their own sleeping bags, backpacks, and hiking boots. Raingear is also essential. Once you fill out an application to join, you will receive a detailed guide of what to expect and what to pack. If it's hazy, humid, and 100 degrees in the shade, you work. If it's pouring rain, you work.