Imagine arriving at the packhouse in early
June for your first trip up to the hut, and finding the fridge practically
empty; one small box of personal dry food, and a few miscellaneous supplies
like a pitchfork to be packed. Barely a load you say, and, in fact, it fits
with your personals in a backpack instead of requiring a packboard at all.
This was the scenario that greeted Maim Bengtsson and myself as we began
the summer of 1996 at Carter.
If this sounds unlike your past hut experiences, you are not alone. The
changes however, are not due to the hiring of professional porters, or even
increased helicopter flights to save the knees and backs of the croos. The
light loads are limited only to Carter, and are the result of the switch
to summer caretaker service. Lighter pack trips are only one aspect of the
changes at Carter, which include improvements to the hut itself, changes
for the guests, and a very different summer for the croo.
The physical changes to Carter are not visually striking, but make the
hut much more efficient and greatly reduce the environmental impact. The changes
include new composting toilets, a drilled bedrock well and increased solar
panels and a wind generator to power solar lights and refrigerators.
Located about one thousand feet up from the hut from Wildcat, the drilled
well is a great asset except for the winter when water must still be hauled.
When the lines are unfrozen, the well consistently delivers about a quart
per minute without a pump or storage tanks. The water flows by gravity down
to the hut giving clean, chlorine-free water, with no effort at all.
The composting toilets, somewhat experimental when installed this spring
at 3200 hundred feet, have been a great success. The Clivus Multrum system
uses natural microbes to break down the human waste in a large inclined
bin. New waste falls in at the top of the incline pushing the older waste
down the ramp. Wood chips are mixed in, the compost raked to aerate the
mix, and allowed to decompose over time. Excess water drains out into a
small leach field, and the volume of waste is incredibly reduced, leaving
rich organic soil as the end product. Believe it or not, there is no odor
problem due to solar fans that pull air up a vent pipe creating a negative
pressure that sucks air in when the seat covers are lifted. The Clivus system
has worked so well at Carter that many people do not realize that it is
not a regular toilet (except there is no flush), and one Appalachian Trail
Thruhiker gave us the honorary best AT privy award. Based on the success
at Carter, Clivus composters are being installed behind the visitor center
at Pinkham to help alleviate the summer bathroom rush.
Increased battery storage and larger roof panels allow the solar and wind
electric system at Carter to power lights in the kitchen and refrigerators
for both the croo and the guests. The solar lights are located in the kitchen,
and help keep people from going blind while washing dishes or cutting off
their fingers while cooking. At the same time, the solar lights reduce the
amount of propane consumed, saving both direct emissions as well as the
energy to transport the bombs to the hut. The two solar fringes, one in
the croo room and one in the kitchen similarly reduce propane use and free
up room in the old reefer shed for storage.
The impact on the guests is the most significant
aspect of the switch to self-service. In addition to the greatly reduced
cost ($12 for AMC members), guests are much more on their own schedule. People
can arrive after dark, get up before dawn (or even worse, after nine or ten-
ughh!), and do things at their own pace. Since guests have free reign over
the kitchen, dinner at four in the afternoon or nine o’clock at night is
possible. Being in charge of their own menu is also significant for some
guests, especially those with dietary restrictions, or parents of children
with particular tastes (i.e.. only yellow or orange food like one child
this fall. Seriously, he ate exclusively macaroni and cheese from a box,
carrots and mustard and American cheese sandwiches).
With all the changes, croo life is very different from a full service
hut. As there are only two people working, the schedule of ten days on and
four daze off is arranged so that both caretakers are together at the hut
on weekends with one person off each Monday to Friday. This is a great schedule
until you realize that it leaves only one person to run the hut for a week.
This means all the daily cleaning, any projects, and checking in and conversing
with every guest in addition to two busy weekends every week. While caretakers
save on packing and cooking duties, other tasks make daze off just as welcome
as for the regular hut croos.
Since the croo does not control the kitchen during mealtimes, this changes
the guest/croo interactions. There is more time to talk with people, and
more of a sense of sharing the space. It is very different, and I can guess
that some OH will miss the way things were when they worked. In some ways
it is a return to the very roots of the hut tradition when the original Madison
was staffed by a caretaker. And while Carter is now different from the other
huts it still fits under the concept of "mountain hospitality for all."
I can say that for myself Carter was a great summer, and like OH from
any era, an experience that has changed me. I will look back over my memories
someday, and in the face of more changes feel nostalgic for the time when
I worked. While at Carter this fall, I found a quote by Edward Damp in Appalachia
Volume XLIII Dec.15, 1980 #2 that addresses this idea:
"The people who are working in the huts now will have as much to talk
about in twenty years as we do when we look back. Just different things.
It doesn't particularly appeal to us at the moment because it's a different
operation."
Damp was referring to changes in the huts in a more general sense, but
I feel the sentiment applies as well to the changes at Carter. Even if the
thought of Carter being a caretaker hut does not appeal to you at the moment,
give it a chance. I encourage any one who is interested in the changes to
visit. The caretakers next summer would welcome some OH guests. And the
beauty and solitude of the notch hasn’ t changed a bit. Brendan O'Reilly has worked for the AMC for seven seasons including two winters at Zealand. We welcome
your corrections: 
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O H Association