Underfunded Thru-Hikers

[stranger]

There are mooch's every year, last year this guy kept bumming as much as he could off anyone he could, I learned fairly quickly and stopped giving him smokes, once I started selling him cigarettes for $1 each he went to the next person, once everyone was on to him (by Gatlinburg) he started paying his own way and ran out of money and had to get off the trail.

He did however, always have pot with him...hmmmmm.

He scammed Curtis at Standing Bear, scammed the Place in Damascus, used to ask to sleep on hotel floors (for free of course), use showers, etc... My advice with these types of hikers is to highlight what they do, embarass them, call them out when they act like idiots, then the behavior stops... if you do nothing you are actually doing heaps of damage to the trail community because although many hikers only do a long AT hike once, many of us keep going back and the damage has been done, hostels close, hotels raise prices for hikers, the hikers behind you always suffer.

[mrc237]

If you have to think about how much money a thru hike will be its probably not enough!

[Jayboflavin04]

I saw a guy sitting by the parking lot at the local Wally World with a sign that said..."Traveling America....anything would help." If traveling around america was that easy...We would all be doing it. Thought that was tacky.

[Jester2000]

Originally Posted by crl2010

. . . i plan on staying in my tent or shelters as much as possiable and do my thru hike on the cheap not becuse of funds but becuse im doing this hike as a mission for my soul get away for a while and have some adventure.last thing i wanna do is stay in a hotel or hostels everynight.

This is what a lot of hikers think before they do their first thru-hike, and I'm sure it accounts for just as many "underfunded" thru-hikers as those who party too much and blow through their funds early.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not saying that this isn't how your hike will go, or that you won't be able to hike the trail happily on the amount of money you'll have available. You might be able to do your hike in exactly the way you envision.

All too often, though, hikers don't realize until they've been on the trail for a few weeks how nice it is to sleep in a bed for a change, and how refreshing for the soul hot showers and flush toilets can be. And depending on the weather, over which you have no control, those things can become even more important.

And oftentimes, the reasons one gets on the trail are not the reasons one stays on the trail. You might have the soul searching and adventure parts of your trip wrapped up in 1000 miles; you may want to stay on the trail because of all of the friends you've met and the cameraderie you share. But if you're the guy with no funds, you become the guy they have to carry (assuming they like you and want to keep you around).

So save as much as you can, as you've indicated you will. Nobody knows at this point how important town stops might end up being to you -- best to prepare to be wrong, even if you end up being right.

[ShelterLeopard]

Mostly I hear of people with unrealistic expectations (trying to hike with under $1500 seems unrealistic to me), or people who started with $5,000 partied in every town and bought tons of stuff and ended up broke in Damascus. But if you're really conservative, you may be able to do it on a tight budget.

My plan:
I'm saving every single penny right now, and I'm bringing $6,000 on the trail, for food, replacement gear, train fare to GA, hostels, and several Inns, and three full days in Harpers Ferry. I'm hoping not to spend more than $5,000 but we'll see. And I've already bought all my food for the first month, and I bought postage too. (But I'm not planning any real food maildrops after the first month, just buying food in towns)

I'm going to try to be a bit conservative in towns, but I also want to do the trail in style. I'll definitely be staying in several hostels, and I've even planned in five or six stays in real Inns- I haven't planned which though- just whatever grabs my fancy and when I really need it. I've also planned a three night stay in Harpers Ferry (where I'm meeting family). But that is just me- I really appreciate staying in a real bed and all occasionally. It all depends on what you really want

[sheepdog]

Is any part of the trail more expensive than others? North-south, states etc.

[ShelterLeopard]

Jester's post made me remember- my suggestion for you is to go on a longish hike. (A week would be pretty good, if you have time) After that, you may have a better idea of how your hike will go, and what you'll want in trail towns.

I think one of the biggest mistakes people make (before thru hiking) is not doing a long hike. I feel pretty prepared, because I've done several two-three week hikes, so I know what I crave on trail- and it happens to be bacon, chocolate milkshakes and alternately basic hostels and victorian style B & Bs. So often times I'm really happy with the ten dollar bunk, but sometimes I really need a real bedroom.

Do a long hike. I guarantee, it'll help you plan.

[ShelterLeopard]

I've heard from more than one person (especially in the current Hanover thread) that north is more expensive. And it makes sense- some of the southern towns are more neglected and rely on hikers, whereas towns like Hanover are wealthier and don't really need hiker business quite as much, and have wealthier tourists and therefor higher prices.
(Lone Wolf may not agree with this)

But I'm TOTALLY going on things I've heard. I've never hiked south of PA.

[partinj]

I read about a guy that did a Thur-Hike on just 800.00 this was a few years back
in 2000. I think you can still do a Thur-Hike on around $2000 if you want an all woods exp.The only time i am gone to town is to resupply i plan on geting close to the town then stay over night then go to town get ever thing i need then leave. I read a lot of
journals it seen that a lot of folks are gone town to town that ok but spend a lot on money that way. This trip to me is about being in the woods. Oh yet do have more than enough money to completed the trail i put a side $6500 but i don't plan on more
then $2000 you can do your wash in the woods just take a large ziplock put in soap and add water and shake. i don't this on short hike of three to four days so have any of you guys hear or read about the guy that did for $800.00

[Lone Wolf]

Originally Posted by ShelterLeopard

I've heard from more than one person (especially in the current Hanover thread) that north is more expensive. And it makes sense- some of the southern towns are more neglected and rely on hikers, whereas towns like Hanover are wealthier and don't really need hiker business quite as much, and have wealthier tourists and therefor higher prices.
(Lone Wolf may not agree with this)

But I'm TOTALLY going on things I've heard. I've never hiked south of PA.

there are no towns that rely on hikers. just certain businesses in a town rely on hikers

[ShelterLeopard]

But some towns do have a lot of businesses that rely on hikers, and that reflects on the towns, etc...

[Sly]

Originally Posted by Tin Man

I have met a few of these so-called underfunded. They spent their funds partying in town, instead of supporting their hike. They had fun while losing sight of their goal. Discipline and restraint is easy - stay away from the town vortex.

I suppose it depends on your actual goal, but IMO, town time, is part of the hike. I've run out on money on two "thruhikes". On my third attempt I made sure I had enough funds to complete the trail and the party.

[Nean]

I thought maybe this was a thread to apply for a loan, sorry...

[Jack Tarlin]

Sheepdog:

As a rule, yeah, the North is absolutely more expensive than the South. For example, you can get perfectly nice motel rooms down South for less than 45 bucks. This is not gonna happen in New England. Even if you share a room with a couple of friends, the North will still cost you money. Even hiker hostels cost more. Just about EVERYTHING costs more up here, from groceries, to cigarettes, to beer, to gas, to shuttles, well, you name it.

Were I to thru-hike again, I'd try and keep 65% of my budget at least for North of the Mason-Dixon line. If you're thru-hiking and half your money is gone by Harpers Ferry, you better tighten things up in a hurry or you're gonna have a problem towards the end of your trip.

[ShelterLeopard]

Good advice Jack- I didn't really think of budgeting by north v. south.

[Slo-go'en]

Originally Posted by partinj

you can do your wash in the woods just take a large ziplock put in soap and add water and shake.

You can wash your clothes in a bag (but do it away from the water source!) Do sponge baths (keep your hair cut really short) and eat nothing but cheap Ramas and suger, but this gets old quick.

Before not too long, you'll wake up every night dreaming of hot showers, really clean clothes and eating Burgers and pizzas.

[Jester2000]

Originally Posted by partinj

I read about a guy that did a Thur-Hike on just 800.00 this was a few years back
in 2000. I think you can still do a Thur-Hike on around $2000 if you want an all woods exp.The only time i am gone to town is to resupply i plan on geting close to the town then stay over night then go to town get ever thing i need then leave. I read a lot of
journals it seen that a lot of folks are gone town to town that ok but spend a lot on money that way. This trip to me is about being in the woods. Oh yet do have more than enough money to completed the trail i put a side $6500 but i don't plan on more
then $2000 you can do your wash in the woods just take a large ziplock put in soap and add water and shake. i don't this on short hike of three to four days so have any of you guys hear or read about the guy that did for $800.00

Well, technically, there was a homeless guy in 2000 named Screamer who hiked the trail on no money. When I last saw him he was laid up in Gorham with an ankle injury -- I don't know if he finished. But he was a special case.

I'd again like to emphasize that I've known an awful lot of people who thought they were going to spend their hikes neroing into town and getting right back out the same day who came to realize that time in town was important for a number of reasons -- a break from weather, more time to eat, heal, recharge; getting actually clean instead of just kind of clean. And while many hikers, including me, occasionally use the nero as a tactic that saves money (and sometimes more importantly, time), most hikers I know are unhappy if they try to do it on a regular basis. I wouldn't plan my budget around something that I believed I'd want to do based on my perception of how I'd hike.

Neroing constantly to have enough money to stay on trail might just make you unhappy enough to get off the trail.

Originally Posted by Jack Tarlin

Sheepdog:

As a rule, yeah, the North is absolutely more expensive than the South. For example, you can get perfectly nice motel rooms down South for less than 45 bucks. This is not gonna happen in New England. Even if you share a room with a couple of friends, the North will still cost you money. Even hiker hostels cost more. Just about EVERYTHING costs more up here, from groceries, to cigarettes, to beer, to gas, to shuttles, well, you name it.

Were I to thru-hike again, I'd try and keep 65% of my budget at least for North of the Mason-Dixon line. If you're thru-hiking and half your money is gone by Harpers Ferry, you better tighten things up in a hurry or you're gonna have a problem towards the end of your trip.

True, and good advice. Fewer free/cheap places to stay, plus everything seems more expensive as you start to run out of money . . .

[sbhikes]

I agree that town becomes a lot more important than you expect it will be. You start out thinking a total wilderness experience and then realize you need a good meal, shower, laundry and some time to talk with other people.

But, I learned that you can get the meal, the shower, the laundry and the camaraderie without paying for an expensive hotel room. Not paying for a room really helps a lot.

You either do a nero day or else you stealth camp outside of town so you can have dinner and then breakfast in the morning before hitting the trail. (This assumes it is possible to stealth camp outside--or even inside--of town. If it isn't, then do a nero.)

I took more restful time off at places that asked a donation rather than at places where I had to pay some souless corporation a ton of money. I paid the donation in full and it was still cheaper than a hotel.

I don't know what the AT is like, but it sounds like a pain in the butt kind of place to try to go cheap. On the PCT it is really easy to not get caught up in friends and peer pressure and to just roll into town, get stuff done, and get back on the trail to meet new people. I did the whole thing as solo as I could. I really couldn't stand most people after about 3 days.

[ShelterLeopard]

I kinda like your take on it, SB. I've always been an advocate of "trust me, even though you think you'll want to be n the woods forever, you will want to come into town and have a bed and food and shower", but lately, I've been feeling like just going into the woods and staying there as long as possible... I know that I will need to go into towns, but just lately I've been feeling that I really like the ideas (mostly from the "what I would do differently thread") of ignoring mile counting, zeroing in the woods and tenting away from people.

We'll see how I really feel after my first two weeks on my thru!

Still gonna alot (alott?) plenty of money for my thru though.

I just noticed that I was planning on staying in a lot of hostels and realized that I totally don't need to plan any of it (except staying in Harpers Ferry for three whole nights with my family), and I'll do just what I feel and need in the moment.

[ShelterLeopard]

PS- If you do plan on thru hiking on a budget, DON'T mooch. It will make you very unpopular, very fast.