The week will begin on Monday afternoon with an orientation and dinner at AMC Camp Dodge in the White Mountains, NH. You can arrive at Camp Dodge anytime after 2:00 p.m. on the Monday start date of your crew. The crew will have breakfast at 7:00 a.m. the next morning then immediately depart for AMC property east of Greenville, Maine, roughly a four hour drive in an AMC van.

When the arrives at AMC’s property in Maine they will set up their base camp on Long Pond (very close to AMC Gorman Chairback Lodge and Cabins) and start on their trail projects, which may include projects ranging from clearing brush from the trail to building bridges or rock staircases. The crew spends the rest of the time working on the area trails and learning about stewardship, conservation, and sustainable land management. At the end of each day they return to their base camp for the night. On the second Wednesday of the crew, after breakfast, the crew will pack up their camp and return to AMC Camp Dodge in the White Mountains in time to clean up and join the Wednesday night barbeque at 6 p.m. Participants may leave that Wednesday evening or the next Thursday morning– the last Wednesday night stay and Thursday morning breakfast is included in program cost.

Crew members’ day-packs usually weigh 20 to 30 pounds which would include the different tools the crew will use each day. The work may involve clearing brush to better define the trail, cleaning drainage to help with erosion problems on the mountains, installing water bars and bog bridges to stabilize the trail, repairing ski trails, building new campsites, working on shelters, painting blazes, and other tasks. Please remember that the work will be strenuous and demanding, and that we'll be out rain or shine.

Camp Life:
You can expect to find the crew a friendly and fun group of people. Even though we work hard on the trail, back at camp there is time to enjoy Long Pond and the good company, as well as hearty food. During the week we will be camping in tents and preparing meals as a group. AMC provides the tents, food, cooking equipment and other group gear. Our base camp on Long Pond is vehicle accessible, allowing you to bring along camp items that are more comfortable. Even though this is campsite is vehicle accessible and might qualify for one of our Base Camp Crews, due to the length of the program and remote nature of the location it is classified as a Spike Crew.

These crews are not all work; there are plenty of opportunities to swim, see the views, eat great food, and more. After leaving the project each day the crew heads back to camp. Each morning the crew gets up and helps prepare breakfast. Our crews are contacted each morning by staff at AMC Gorman Chairback Lodge and Cabins to check in to see if any additional food or tools are needed. After breakfast, the crew takes what they need for the day, water, rain gear, lunch, tools and safety gear, and heads to the project site. They may hike to the project right from camp, or they make take a short drive to the trail project area.

All participants assist with some aspects of meal preparation in the backcountry. Participants will learn to cook quality meals in the woods, and there will be plenty of it. The crew builds quite an appetite over the course of the 10-days. After dinner and cleanup the crew often plays games, tells stories, discusses conservation and environmental ethics, but most of all just kicks back and enjoys the evening in the woods.

Getting There:
The 10-Day Maine Woods Spike Teen Crews start and end at AMC Camp Dodge Volunteer Center in the White Mountains, NH. Camp Dodge is located 8 miles south of Gorham, NH and 20 miles north of North Conway, NH. Public transportation is available by bus as well as the potential to carpool with other participants.

If you happen to live closer to Greenville, ME than the White Mountains we can arrange a meeting time on the first Tuesday (the travel day) of the crew. However this would mean missing to orientation to the crew on Monday evening.

Scholarships:
The AMC has scholarships available for teens! Please contact Alex DeLucia: adelucia@outdoors.org for more information regarding our scholarship program. You may apply for our scholarships to participate in these crews at a reduced rate, covering up to 50%.


2012 Dates:
June 18-27
July 2-11
July 16-25
July 30 – August 8
August 13-22

Contribution:
$450/$495

Register today!

View the full 2012 schedule>>