Over-the-top vacations

The breath-taking scenery rates five stars, the staff is friendly and accommodating, and the very reasonable cost includes hearty, home-prepared meals and daily entertainment.

What's the catch of these "get away from it all" locations?

You have to hike to the eight full-service mountain huts run by the Appalachian Mountain Club in New Hampshire's White Mountains. And I do mean hike -- anywhere from 1.5 to 5 miles and 750 to 3,450 vertical feet. But remember, cardiovascular exercise reduces blood pressure.

For the price of a one night stay ($82/adults, $51/for children with discounts for AMC), these full-service facilities offer weary and hungry hikers a comfy bunk and hearty, hot meals that they don't have carry or cook themselves. The huts give you access to hiking trails, mountain summits and pristine lakes. Stay at a shelter for one night or several, or visit a couple of huts on your route, or hike the whole chain end to end.

In a way all the huts are the same: no phones, electrical outlets, TVs, or computers. But your own pleasant exhaustion, the incomparable views, good camaraderie with people from all over the world, make them well worth the effort it takes to get there.

Backpacking without the load

The AMC huts are spaced a day's hike apart across the highest terrain of the rugged White Mountains. Hiking from west to east, you encounter Lonesome Lake, Greenleaf, Galehead, Zealand Falls, Mizpah Spring, Lakes of the Clouds, and Madison Spring.

Part hotel, part hostel, the huts are rustic and comfortable, with just enough "roughing it' to take you far from your everyday life. It's the fun of backpacking without the heavy load.

Dinner and breakfast are served family style No napkins -- pa (no napkins-bring your own and pack them out, please). The meals are heavy on energy-rich carbs.. Fear not; if the Surgeon General took hut hikers as his cross section of America, there'd be no concern about pervasive obesity.

Private rooms? Fuggedaboudit!

The huts sleep 36 to 90 in co-ed bunk rooms (bring earplugs if snoring bothers you). The plywood bunks climb three tiers high. Each has a mattress, a pillow and three scratchy wool blankets that must be folded before you leave in the morning. You bring sheets or a sleeping bag.

The "facilities" are indoors, down the hall. They consist of cold water sinks, no showers, and environmentally-friendly (and odor-free) composting toilets. And yes, they do provide toilet paper.

After dinner, a resident naturalist leads a stroll and talks about the geology, flora and fauna of the mountain ecosystem surrounding that particular hut. Afterward there's usually a game of penny-ante poker or cribbage. Or you can read by headlamp in your bunk. But the sunset is the real show. Then it's lights out at 9:30 sharp.

You are awakened at 6:30, often by the cook playing gentle strains of "Here Comes the Sun" on the guitar.

Each of the seven huts has its own personality. The two easiest huts to reach are Lonesome Lake, which has swimming (2,760 feet, 1.5 mile hike); and Zealand Falls, which sleeps 36 and is the smallest hut. At 2,700 feet, Zealand Falls hut offers your best chance of seeing a moose in the yard. These two huts are family favorites for one- or two-night stays.

Greenleaf Hut (4,200 feet), and Mizpah Spring Hut (3,800 feet), are more difficult hikes, but put you in the middle of great day hiking loops along Franconia Ridge or into the Dry River Wilderness.

Galehead, at 3,800 feet, is remote and hard to reach, but has spectacular views of the Pemigewasset Wilderness.

Lakes of the Clouds Hut at 5,050 feet on the side of Mount Washington is the highest and largest hut, sleeping 90.

Madison Spring Hut (4,800 feet) takes some serious hiking to reach, but is set in a beautiful alpine tundra environment.

You can book the huts online at the AMC website, or by calling 603-466-2727

"Da croo"

The huts are manned by bright, hardworking, friendly and fun students or recent grads, mostly from small east coast, liberal arts colleges.

Each morning, they put on a skit, emphatically reminding you to 1) fold your blankets, 2) carry out your trash and 3) tip "the croo."

The reason for the tip become obvious when you see a "croo" member humping 50-80 lb. packs of fresh supplies to the hut. How else did you think your fresh evening salad and breakfast eggs arrived?