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That’s the currency atop Mt. LeConte for workers at one of the most remote lodging destinations on the Eastern Seaboard.

“Sometimes I’ll run down somewhere just to get one,” said Chris Virden.

Like many eclectic destinations, the crew members who staff LeConte Lodge are an interesting lot. There are anywhere from five to 10 people working at the lodge on any given day during the season. Virden and his wife, Allison, have been coming back to manage LeConte now for three years, and Chris says he has no idea how long he’ll continue doing it.

“This is kind of a dream job,” says Virden, who is 37 and says he loves to travel.

The couple has sold their house and instead purchased an Air Stream camper to live in for the three months they are not on the mountain. During the few weeks they get off during the season, the couple vacations to nearby destinations. Once the season is over, they move on to exotic locales like Panama or New Zealand.

J.C. Hines, 26, in her first season living and working at LeConte, says the crew is just like a big family.

“We just have fun. During time off I hike, read, take pictures or study my wildflower guide,” said Hines.

She’s been traveling for two years to such places as Spain and the Czech Republic, and this winter she’s going to teach snowboarding in Vermont. This is her first stint at LeConte Lodge, where each day crew members have to work one meal while also attending to the various other duties. Crew members get their own small cabin, and Hines said the solitude makes it a great job for someone who wants to save money.

“There’s literally nothing to spend it on,” she said.

Crew members must also deal with the occasional animals that try to turn the lodge into a home. A wayward black bear started making regular rounds at the lodge earlier this summer. Hines said park rangers drugged the animal but then brought it back to the lodge while it was semi-conscious. Guests and staff were invited to touch to animal, which it does not like but could do nothing about in its drugged state. Rangers then extracted a tooth from the bear before taking it away. When the bear awoke, Hines said rangers hoped its hangover, the pain from the pulled tooth and the memories of the humans would stop it from returning. It has not returned so far, said Hines.

Despite its isolated location, workers at LeConte Lodge aren’t as cut off from the outside world as they used to be. Virden says he has satellite radio and a laptop, though battery life limits the use of those amenities.

Virden also schedules several events for the crew to make their stay fun. There’s a July 4 and end-of-season party, and then the whole crew hikes up to the lodge for a New Year’s Eve bash (LeConte gets about 80 inches of snow per year). In August there’s the annual crew member race up Alum Cave Trail to LeConte Lodge. The winner, says Virden, can make it in 54 minutes.