Assignment 2: Garrett Rauck

The Appalachian Mountain Club was founded in 1875 by MIT Professor Edward Charles Pickering. As of 2005, the group consisted of 90,000 members who share and express a love for the outdoors by mixing outdoor recreation (hiking, backpacking, cross-country skiing, canoeing, kayaking, rock climbing, bicycling, etc.) with environmental activism.

One unique resource that the Mountain Club provides is a series of Huts used by hikers for lodging. These huts are strategically placed along the Appalachian Trail, creating a system of pit-stops for trekkers. Saco Lake sits directly on the Appalachian Trail, between the Zealand Falls Hut (5 mi to the west) and Mizpah Spring Hut (2 mi to the east). There is a definite opportunity for the Bath House (now that it must accommodate some lodging) to act as another stepping stone within this system. The Highland Center Lodge currently acts as the lodging resource at Saco Lake; however, it differs significantly from the series of huts in that it is much less primitive, more like a hotel for tourists looking to take day hikes and participate in local tours. The huts seem to be more like rustic hostiles, more catered towards the die-hard environmentalist thru-hiker. Though the huts provide such amenities as home-cooked dinner and breakfast, they provide only the necessities, including a water-less toilet. In addition, the huts seem to promote a social culture, much like that of a hostile. It provides a platform for people of diverse backgrounds to unite for an evening of recuperation while bonding over the sweat and grind as well as the beauty and satisfaction of the Appalachian Trail hike. The bath house assignment lends itself to the same type of interaction and culture.