That's fine for those who revel in spartan backcountry comfort on a Mount Adams ridge at 4,375 feet in New Hampshire's northern Presidential Range. Since 1976, the 800-member northern New Hampshire Randolph Mountain Club has kept the two-level cabin just below treeline on the second highest White Mountain peak staffed year-round by caretakers. The nonprofit hiking organization oversees about 100 miles of trails in the northern Presidential and Crescent ranges around Randolph. Two winter caretakers are employed to oversee Gray Knob and other club cabins. Given the environmental extremes, it could be the coldest job around.
Though Mount Washington with its wicked winter reputation is less than a six-mile hike away, those who toil on that summit can retreat indoors to dorm-like comfort and continuous heat, electricity, and running water. Not so at Gray Knob. Due to a limited wood supply, the stove runs briefly when there are guests. There is no electricity, but a solar panel does recharge the battery-powered radio. Grill-sized propane cylinders are hiked up. And running water is from a spring about a quarter-mile away that needs to be chipped away at to prevent freezing.
Seven days on, seven off, the rotating caretakers make daily two-hour rounds by foot to other club cabins, keeping tabs on guests and making sure that the spring doesn't freeze. They could be called on to aid or report a search and rescue mission. Daily check-in with the club via radio is routine. So is listening to the 7 a.m. Mount Washington weather forecast so that it can be posted in the cabin. Outhouse duty is theirs, too.
The caretakers are hardy, quirky souls, usually in their early 20s. Many go on to other outdoor-oriented careers. One caretaker, who held the job in his 60s, was the late outdoors writer Guy Waterman. The story goes that Waterman named 26 points of the trail he took to the cabin from A to Z so he wouldn't get bored. Pay for a caretaker is $50 a day and all the leftovers you can eat.
