Dear Maine Huts & Trails Community,
As members, friends, and guests of Maine Huts & Trails, you know the true special uniqueness of time away with us at one or all of our four huts. We are indeed more than just a hut experience, and we have been approaching the upcoming full-service summer season with the same focus and regard for providing and supporting the wonderful Maine Huts & Trails experiences you have come to know.
Unfortunately, several circumstances have aligned that led me to make a difficult decision. This summer and fall, we will be hosting guests at Flagstaff Lake Hut and Stratton Brook Hut, while Grand Falls Hut and Poplar Hut will be closed for the upcoming summer and fall full-service season (Poplar: 6/21 – 9/2, Grand Falls: 6/21 – 10/20). We understand this decision deeply impacts guests who have already made reservations for a Grand Falls and/or Poplar Hut experience and disappoint others who had these huts in your summer plans. On behalf of everyone at Maine Huts & Trails, we sincerely apologize for the impact this change has on our guests and greater MH&T community.
People are the heart of our experience, particularly our staff. With the summer season fast approaching, we are experiencing that we are not immune to the labor shortage affecting Maine’s entire hospitality industry. We are finding it both a challenge to hire a full contingent of seasonal hut staff to match our hut schedules and we have openings in key year-round staff member positions. In addition, this past snowy winter season, that made it so enjoyable for us to host our guests with great winter conditions, was also punishing on our huts and trails requiring considerable maintenance and renewed investments in our systems.
If a Maine Huts & Trails experience is not already in your summer plans, please do come stay with us at Flagstaff and Stratton Brook Huts – to hike, mountain bike, paddle, or simply to enjoy life disconnected.
We would like to honor existing reservations for Grand Falls and Poplar Huts and offer to move guests with existing reservations there to Flagstaff Lake Hut or Stratton Brook Hut for the affected nights. An alternative is that we can issue a lodging credit, good for the next 2 years, to book a trip at a later date. We are asking guests whose itineraries are affected to please reach out to us at your earliest convenience so that we may assist you in modifying your trip itinerary.
As a non-profit, we are committed to our mission of providing inviting backcountry experiences among Maine's western mountains, inspiring reverence for the Northern Forest, modeling environmental stewardship and strengthening the local economy. Recognizing our curtailed operations, we are going to come at the summer boldly, engaging with our partners, neighbors, and you in new ways to elevate our hospitality experience and deepen our mission impact.
On behalf of the board and my outstanding colleagues, thank you for your understanding and ongoing support of Maine Huts &Trails.
Sincerely,
Wolfe Tone
Executive Director
