For volunteers, a week on the Appalachian Trail is backbreakingly satisfying

If you hike the Appalachian Trail between May and October, you'll probably see fields of undulating wildflowers and flocks of twittering goldfinches.

Also note the Traillus volunteerus, a species whose members have a thing for smashing rocks with sledgehammers. Don't be scared: They're smelly but friendly.

The men and women who join volunteer trail-maintenance crews on the "AT," as hikers call the 74-year-old trail that rambles 2,180 miles from Georgia to Maine, may also be spotted peeling bark or digging ditches. Their goal: to prevent erosion and keep the trail hikable. In exchange, they get free food and the satisfaction of supporting conservation with their bare hands.

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Juliet Eilperin 02 Sep, 2011

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