Date: 2016-06-08
From: Franconia Notch

To: Galehead Hut
Miles today: 13.0

Let's talk about huts in NH. There are eight of them in the Whites, run by the AMC. They sound like havens as you plan a trip thru these mountains. In fact at first I just planned to stop at each one to simply get thru the Whites alive. What actually happened?Each hut is if different design but they share some features. They are enclosed buildings either running water, bunks, toilets and kitchens. They can hold about 30 hikers overnight and have a crew that lives there. You make reservations to stay there but may get lucky and walk into one that is not full. For about $134 a night you can get a dinner, breakfast, and a place to sleep that night. Most are not heated and generate their power from wind and solar. I also saw propane tanks at one of them. I walked past the first one , Lonesome, because I could make it to the notch and my motel that day. I never saw the second one , Greenleaf, because it was down a steep trail up near Lafayette, and the visibility was very bad. I was grateful when I came upon Galehead after a tough hiking day in the wind and rain. Walking in was no problem. They had only two other guests one reason for that was that it was not easily accessible. You had to work to get there. I chose to pay for my stay although I could have worked there a few hours because I was close to being s thru hiker. That course is not great though; you must sleep on the floor and only get to eat leftovers. Still it would be better than a shelter. Now the reality of Galehead. The crew consisted of five upbeat young men and women. They are assigned there permanently for the season and are very friendly and interested in your hike. They spend a lot of time making an evening meal, which you get if you get there by 6pm. I did. I was definitely ready for some stout hiker calories to replace some of what I burned that day. Too bad for me I wasn't a vegetarian. It seemed the entire crew was. The theme of the dinner was ginger. Huh? I would have preferred it had been pork. But no. In fact a topic of conversation at the table was how pigs had feelings and shouldn't be killed for meat. I wonder if tofu has feelings? That was our main course. The starter soup was exotic but not hearty. Maybe it was the ginger. There was rice with ginger; I had two helpings just because I was starving. Some mixed veggies with ginger was ok for a helping. I passed on the tofu while the crew gobbled it up. The only thing that actually tasted good with ginger was the apple crisp for dessert, but no seconds were offered. The crew asked one of the guests who stays in huts regularly what her most memorable meal had been. It was a stir fry. Really? Not steak? Not pork chops? Not roast turkey? Come on. It's hiking food. I didn't stay for breakfast the next day. It wasn't until 7am after which they tell you the summit weather report. This sounds valuable but what are the options? You're up the mountain and need to hike regardless of the weather. I suppose you could get scared off by a blizzard and decide to stay a second night. I left at 5am, first light. By 7am I was happy to be a mountain away. I did stop at the next hut, Zealand, for a bowl of soup and a lemonade for lunch. They had beef stew and pulled pork. That crew was more in tune with my appetite.I plan to stay at several more huts going forward over Mt Washington and Wildcat. I will definitely appreciate them being there and will need any food they can offer me. But I will not expect much from them other than a dry place to sleep and some company to swap hiking stories. The kids that work there seem to be having a great time and most of the guest seem happy also. I guess I am just too focused on traversing the Whites safely to fully enjoy the hut experience. My bad.