The White Mountain Huts: Past and Future

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

If you have not yet caught this slide talk by Allen Koop (history professor at Dartmouth College; former hutperson (OH), including Lakes hut; BTW, the trail's nickname is the Ammi, not the Ammo ), here is your chance: Tuesday, 7 pm, October 27th, Concord (N.H.) Public Library, 45 Green St. I finally heard this talk in Waterville Valley last month, and it was excellent.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

Whoops, I forgot to bump up this one; anyone attend? Comments??

 

[Jason Berard]

I did! With a few friends. What an informative talk!

I had no idea there were Huts that didn't work, like Evans Notch, and Sphinx Col....

The huts were also tied into larger social themes of the day in ways that made me see them in a whole new way. An excellent program!

 

[RoySwkr]

I had no idea there were Huts that didn't work, like Evans Notch, and Sphinx Col....

Somewhere back in the archives of this group, I posted a postcard of the hut system that showed Evans Notch. And somewhere I have an AMC fundraising brochure requesting money to build the Sphinx Col Hut. I even read in an old Appalachia about the Imp Hut but thought of it as a shelter - it wasn't full service.

I went to this talk several years ago and he has upgraded it with a lot more photos, but in converting to PowerPoint supposedly some photos were lost.

Last time, I asked why when both the GMC and AMC once operated camps with caretakers, the AMC went to full-service and the GMC didn't, and he said that was like asking what's the difference between NH and VT. This time, I thought of asking why the difference between AMC and RMC facilities when they share many of the same members, but didn't.

As usual, one of the most interesting stories came up during Q&A. He said that while the original Crawford Path stayed on the ridge above the lakes on its way to the summit, when the hut was built the side loop over was named the MacGregor Path or somesuch after the first hutmaster. This is the current Crawford Path route so Mac lost out.