Hi All - Steve C. saw my post on WPS and invited a comment.
The American Hiking Society engages in more long term projects (such as the MR project posted above) - one week in duration. For those of us not near mountains and no able to do short volunteer stints, it works well.
The $220 covers everything except travel cost, I figure it as about $19 / day after the tax benefit. I'm all-in w/tent, sleeping bag, clothes (and yes, I planned on bringing a gallon of hard something-or-another).
For some of these deals, AHS provides airport pick-up, pack animals, cooks, etc. Not so w/ Whitney (although one of their other Inyo deals provides everything but pick-up). But for me, loving Whitney, + deducting the airfare, etc. --- it's great. May not work for everyone, though.
Interesting people come from all over the country (and even off shore) to join these outings. The last Whitney project I did with them had hydrology experts, geologists, etc. and it was fascinating and rewarding.
