Why a Hut Here?

I confess, I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the AMC Huts.


The crowds, cost of staying and non-dog friendliness  make the huts useless to me in terms of overnights. However, they occupy some of the best locations. And with camping not allowed within a 1/4 mile of the hut, guests enjoy sleepovers in areas of the mountains that I am not even permitted to lay a sleeping bag in.

Fortunitly, the mountains are big enough for everyone. The huts keep vast numbers of people consolidated in comparatively small areas, while at the same time, keeping their environmental impact to a minimum. And I can enjoy the conveniences they offer as I pass by or avoid the scene altogether.

The Hut system preserves the area while encouraging people to enjoy the mountains who otherwise would not. This, is a good thing.

"Madison Col seems to have the honor of being the first site where recreational impact was noticed and decried. Three years before the hut was built there, the level ground beside the springs was already a heavily used campsite. Marian Pychowska wrote to Isabella Stone on July 30, 1885, that a party led by Cook and Peek "found it so littered with cans, old shoes, etc. etc, or last year's campers, that we looked for more attractive quarters." Forrest and Crag

In 1892 an AMC report made note of vegetation damage surrounding Madison Spring due to heavy camping. Well over 100 years later, there is no sign of a liter problem in Madison Col and given the amount of traffic the area has seen in that time, vegetation damage is minimal as well—no one is cutting trees for firewood or trouncing around the springs to get water.

Arguments could be made that a big hut, with a well and toilet facilities, a kitchen and a full service crew is a large impact in itself, but it is a better alternative then the issues that were already apparent in the Madison Col long before the effects of recreational camping became hot topic.

In his book Desert Solitaire controversial naturalist Edward Abbey, who loathed the use of automobiles in National parks and forests, begs for a park system that bans all motorized traffic. One where visitors hike, bike or use any other non-motorized way of reaching back country accommodations where amenities are provided for them. Hut systems are a microcosm of this dream.

"An increasingly pagan and hedonistic people (Thank God!), we are learning finally that the forests and mountains and deserts and canyons are holier than our churches. Therefore, let us behave accordingly." ~ Edward Abbey Desert Solitaire

Phew, I feel a little better about rebuilding this thing now.