Whether constructed of wood or stone, the Appalachian Mountain Club's huts in the White Mountains have provided welcome shelter for backcountry travelers for generations. These aren't grass huts or simple lean-tos. They are sturdy structures designed to both stand up to the often-harsh weather and high winds found in the Whites and provide shelter and hospitality for mountain hikers.

AMC's hut system opened for the full-service season last week. Crews will be staffing these backcountry outposts into the fall, welcoming overnight guests and day visitors, preparing meals, answering questions and helping visitors plan their hikes in the Whites.

AMC's first hut was built in 1888 at Madison Spring between mounts Adams and Madison in the Northern Presidential Range. Today, the organization maintains a system of eight huts, each located a day's hike apart along a 56-mile-long stretch of the Appalachian Trail. The huts provide overnight accommodations, meals and educational programs for the public. Visitors can enjoy stunning mountain views, as well. Each hut is served by an access trail that leads to a roadside trailhead, so options for hikers are many.

In addition, the AMC Hiker Shuttle provides transport between major trailheads, which can help hikers avoid the logistical challenges of spotting cars. AMC introduced the shuttle several years ago as both a hiker convenience and to help promote the use of mass transit.

The system of huts stretches from Carter Notch Hut in the east to Lonesome Lake Hut in the west. Three huts (Carter, Lonesome, and Zealand Falls Hut) are open year 'round. They are on a self-service basis in late fall, winter and early spring, when guests bring their own sleeping bags and food and prepare their meals in the huts' kitchens.

But summer offers the classic hut experience. Each location is fully staffed with talented and energetic crew members who provide guest services, cook and clean, help to interpret local flora and fauna and pack in the food and pack out the trash and recyclables.

Twice a week, crews tend to their packing chores, bringing in fresh food and supplies in boxes lashed to wooden packboards worn backpack-style. Thye later hike out non-compostable refuse for recycling or disposal. Crews maintain composting bins at the huts to process compostable food waste.

An overnight stay in the full-service season in includes bunkroom accommodations with mattress, pillow and wool blankets, along with dinner, breakfast and educational programs.

The huts offer hikers the opportunity to stay overnight in spectacular backcountry locations without the need to carry such gear as a tent or cookstove.

The huts are also known as places where camaraderie is common, as guests gather for mealtimes to share food and stories of their days on the trail.

The huts are open to all. Reservations are required and may be requested via outdoors.org, or by calling 466-2727. Day visitors are also welcome to stop in for a rest, fill a water bottle or chat with the crew.

Each hut is a bit different and has a different feel, whether it's Carter Notch Hut, nestled between the Wildcat and Carter ranges; Zealand Falls Hut, perched alongside a pretty waterfall; Lakes of the Clouds Hut, at more than 5,000 feet above sea level on the shoulder of Mount Washington; or any of the other five White Mountain Huts. Ty Wivell's “Passport to AMC's High Huts in the White Mountains,” a pocket-sized primer on the huts published in 2011, describes the unique features of each hut, as well as the intriguing human history associated with the hut system.

More information in the hut system is available at outdoors.org.

Rob Burbank is the director of media and public affairs for the Appalachian Mountain Club in Pinkham Notch. His column, “Outdoors with the AMC,” appears monthly in the New Hampshire Sunday News.