AMC Hut Leftovers?

[Variocana]

Does anyone know what happens to leftover food served at huts?
For instance if someone doesn't eat a piece of meat on their plate what happens to it?
Obviously veggies could be composted but what happens to the stuff that cannot be composted. I have always wondered, pehaps someone could enlighten me.
Does it get recycled in the form of noontime soups ?

as always,
Vario

 

[Homer]

Well, you know their policy, 'Take as much as you want, but eat what you take". So most people stick to that. The 'Croo' is pretty good at making enough food for the number of people who are there. Yes, you can have as much as you want, but even that has a limit. They also eat after the guests, and whatever thru-hikers are there also get to eat after the guests. And the thru-hikers won't leave any leftovers. As far as I know, it's like you said, they can compost quite a bit, but I think they use it in soups and things like that. I wouldn't think they would have to pack out that kind of stuff, but maybe they do. Maybe there is an AMC hut croo member on here who knows for sure.

 

[jade]

I don't know how often trash is taken down the mountain, but I think it's few times a week. If someone leaves a piece of meat on their plate, I believe it is put in the trash with other unrecyleable waste. Since there is very little waste, this does not amount to much....

It is a proven fact, thru hikers have a bottomless pit!!

...Jade

 

[Michelle]

When we had "dish duty" at Mizpah hut, it included cleaning off/seperating leftover food on the guests' plates. Meat went into the trash, (because maggots would become a problem in the compost pile) everything else into the compost bucket.
Then we got to eat any remaining food with the croo.
We ate until we were FULL!! Yeah!!! Then the leftover bread products went into the "all you can eat" bread bucket and the rest of the food was saved (there wasn't much left, but some croo member could snack on it later)

 

[Peaks]

Leftovers

Leftovers are handled a variety of ways.

First, what's left on plates is generally garbage. It gets packed down the mountain by the crew usually on Wednesday and Saturday, the two pack days. Hense, take all you want, but eat what you take.

Leftovers are used up as best they can. The crew eats after the guests have eaten and dishes done. Any thru-hikers staying for a work-for-stay eat at that time also.

Leftover baked goods, including bread, usually go into the box for day sales.

Many other leftovers go into soups.

Other than meats, anything that stays around too long goes into the compost if possible. Better to compost it than pack it down the mountain.

 

[paul ron]

Not so fast there....

OK garbage is taken down the mountain twice a week, but that compost pile you speak of seems to say bear problem to me. Where is that compost pile in relation to the huts? Also recycling into soups also says maybe the Board of Health might want to speak to someone about that. Food leftover that has been sitting out is then recycled again? ummm..... I'll take my chances at White Castles.

 

[--M.]

So many authoritative replies! How refreshing!

Wow! So many people know exactly what goes on! How come life itself isn't as simple as this?

All right, here's the actual truth about what happens, and don't trust what those other "hikers" tell you, either:

The leftover food is carefully prepared, with a special emulsion, into small spheres about the size of golf balls. They are then driven from the summit of Mount Washington by a poor, sacrificial, (small-p) philistine outcast from a hiker's bulletin board. This unfortunate person is then thrown from the precipice and derided by his peers amid a hail of stinging red squares. And a small monument is erected and he is rehabilitated in the press.

At least, that's what I heard from Doctor Wu. Can you hear me, Doctor Wu?

 

[KMartman]

At least, that's what I heard from Doctor Wu. Can you hear me, Doctor Wu?

I think he's just a shadow...



M

 

[Mark]

At the end of season the compost is airlifted.

Do they really air lift out the compost? Why not just spread it around in the woods around the hut? (I guess this wouldn't work too well for above tree line huts like Lake of the Clouds.) Or would this violate LNT?

Hopefully this isn't too off topic, but how do they store fresh meat in the huts? I know they resupply during the week, but do they have refrigeration? I've stopped in many huts and never noticed a refrigerator. I suppose they could use a propane powered unit.

 

[David Metsky]

Hopefully this isn't too off topic, but how do they store fresh meat in the huts? I know they resupply during the week, but do they have refrigeration? I've stopped in many huts and never noticed a refrigerator. I suppose they could use a propane powered unit.

Yup, propane powered refridgerators. There is less meat served at the huts these days, more veggie meals, but they still need the fridges for lots of stuff. Since all the fresh/meat/frozen stuff gets packed in on people's backs there's not too much that can't survive for a bit.

-dave-

 

[Mark]

Propane Powered Fridge

Thought so. For the longest time, these things had me puzzled and confused. How can burning propane make something cold? Then I found Design Analysis of the Einstein Refrigeration Cycle which explains how these things work. Einstein was a pretty clever dude.

 

[Puck]

OK garbage is taken down the mountain twice a week, but that compost pile you speak of seems to say bear problem to me. Where is that compost pile in relation to the huts? Also recycling into soups also says maybe the Board of Health might want to speak to someone about that. Food leftover that has been sitting out is then recycled again? ummm..... I'll take my chances at White Castles.

I would think that most of the huts are high enough so that bears would not be a problem. Also, I worked in the restaurant business in NH for a few years or more...Health Inspection??? Your odds of seeing a health inspection are lower then getting shot by a hunter.

It is against most health codes to serve food the was already served to the public. ie rolls that were served in a basket cannot legally be used again. The sealed butter pats can. However, if something did not touch somebody's plate and was put into a soup would be ok. I would trust it...its just like home.

 

[RoySwkr]

I am a "day sales" beneficiary. One dreary day I decided to eat lunch inside at Mizpah and when I opened my pack discovered no food (lunch sack found in trunk of car). Rather than eat my emergency rations I figured they must sell candy bars or something at the hut and when I went to look found a giant container full of cookies, brownies, bread, etc. with a sign on it "all you can eat, $1". Well, lets just say than not having eaten since breakfast that was quite a bit. Then I decided that I shouldn't continue without food, so now knowing how much a dollar's worth was I tossed a stack into my pack, left another dollar in the food can and the rest of my change in the crew kitty. But after that big feed I didn't eat the rest hiking, I was eating AMC snacks for a couple of days.

But this bounty can't be counted on if the guests are too hungry. Often they have nothing, once just pumpkin pie, and once so many psncakes they were free.

I can't say how many come off serving trays and how many were left in the kitchen, but the bread for instance hadn't been sliced although a crew member cut some for me.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

In the late 60s there was one hut that did not have inside refrigeration: which hut was it, and what did they use instead?

 

[cp2000]

Yup, propane powered refridgerators. There is less meat served at the huts these days, more veggie meals, but they still need the fridges for lots of stuff. Since all the fresh/meat/frozen stuff gets packed in on people's backs there's not too much that can't survive for a bit.

-dave-

Do they have gatorade at the huts. I have past many huts in my short 2.5 years as a hiker but never stopped at one...........

 

[DougPaul]

Do they have gatorade at the huts. I have past many huts in my short 2.5 years as a hiker but never stopped at one...........

You can always carry it in powdered form. Also handy if you come across a stream that only has pure water in it. Cheaper than pre-made too.

I frequently carry some pure water, some premixed electrolyte, and some powder along on a hike. That way I can mix what I need as I go along. (Pure water is also preferable for first aid use.)

BTW, it is easy to make your own electrolyte drink--recipie plus discussion and additional info in http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4914&highlight=long+distance+nutrition
(or search on "long distance nutrition").

Doug

 

[David Metsky]

Do they have gatorade at the huts. I have past many huts in my short 2.5 years as a hiker but never stopped at one...........

Nope, they don't fly in drinks, and you'd have a hard time convincing the croo to carry them up.

-dave-

 

[Barbarossa]

In the late 60s there was one hut that did not have inside refrigeration: which hut was it, and what did they use instead?

My best guess is Carter Notch. They have sheltered areas in the rocks that hold snow very late into the summer.

Do I win a free night at the Highland Center?

 

[audrey]

Or was it Madison? One June there was a thick solid icepack under the hut.

 

[Variocana]

Ok Dr....I'll give it a guess.
Carter Notch and they used the ice in Ramparts as a fridge?

as always,
Vario