International visitor help

[NewGuyOne]

Hi I was hoping someone could help me. I'm planning on hiking the Pacific crest or AT next year (will decide and book my flight next weekend) and I'm coming from the UK. I was wondering if anyone could give me some idea of food costs in the US? I know it will vary from place to place but no idea if for example an apple is $10 or $0.10 and it seems to be hard to find the info.

Thanks

[colorado_rob]

We just returned from 3 weeks in the UK (mid-May-early June). Food is probably 20-40% cheaper in the US than what we paid in southern England and Scotland at various markets. An apple is maybe 50 cents or less in a major grocery store.

Hope this helps. enjoy our country! I just enjoyed yours.

[Slo-go'en]

Food will use the majority of your budget. $3.00 a mile is a reasonably conservative estimate of cost, so the AT comes in at about $6,000. I'd guess 75% of that will go to food. Depending on how frugal you can be, you might come in well under budget, but it's a good idea to have at least 6 grand available.

I recently did 700 miles for about $1400, so that implies I might have been able to thru hike for $4200.

[amy58103]

Some typical backpacking foods:

Peanut Butter: $5.49 / 40 oz
Dried Pasta Side: $1.10 / 4.4 oz
Granola: $3.29 / 12 oz
Oatmeal: $2.75 / 12.3 oz
Raisins: $2.49 / 10 oz
Cashews: $9.69 / 18.25 oz (peanuts are cheaper)
Cliff Bar: $1 to $2 (more expensive if bought individually vs a multi-pack)
Snickers Bar: $0.89 / 2.07 oz
Freeze-Dried Meal: $8 to $10 per meal
Fast Food Meal (aka McDonalds): $6 to $8
Basic Restaurant Meal: $15 to $25 (not including alcoholic drinks, dessert, etc.)

[rocketsocks]

Avacados are 2 fer $5...crazy!

[johnnybgood]

Ramen Noodles are $1 for about a brazillion mg. of sodium .....or 5 packages. On the healthy side ; Kiwi as a dried fruit is usually $2- $4 a pound ....amazin' !!

[Venchka]

Dried fruit, nuts and seeds are common and not expensive.
Single serving tuna in oil and foil pouch. $1.25.
Instant potatoes about $0.25/serving.
Food is exempt from sales tax in most states. Can folks along the trail fill in real information please. I'm in Texas and we can't remember if Tennessee and North Carolina charge tax on food.
The price of apples vary by variety. And of course anything organic is more expensive than the inorganic version.
In large super markets the house brand products may be slightly cheaper and there are always specials throughout the store. I stumbled across Cliff Bars 2 for 1 recently and bought enough for an upcoming backpacking trip.
Wayne


Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."

[peakbagger]

Food prices will vary by the source. Many small businesses in small towns near the trail will stock basic hiker foods for convenience and the price will be considerably higher than grocery stores that are farther away from the trail. I remember at one trail crossing years ago that a Taxidermist had a small snack and resupply area in is shop. Many of trail towns have lost full service grocery stores, frequently replaced by a Walmart of other large chain store that is located farther away from the trail. Sometimes the former local supermarket has been replaced by a discount food store, Dollar General or Save A Lot, they have much smaller number of products in inventory with a lot of boxed and prepackaged foods frequently in inconvenient large sizes offset by low cost. Many hostel owners will have scheduled daily trips to town to allow thru hikers to resupply. Specialized backpacking foods like dehydrated are much more difficult to find and is sold at a premium, few thruhikers use these. Walmart does usually stock a small amount.

There does seem to be trend away from sending food forward to post offices compared to town resupply but there are a couple of remote spots along the trail that many thru hikers recommend sending food to as resupply is limited. I don't have link handy but expect these location are in one of the article on the home page.

There is no tax on food in ME and NH but there are taxes on prepared foods. An example, a roll, a package of cheese and ham are not taxed but an assembled sandwich of the same items is taxed.

[Venchka]

The USA has a plethora of Dollar Stores by various names. Family Dollar, Dollar General, Fred's, etc. They stock a lot of quick cooking food, peanut butter, pop tarts & other junk food. Sorry, Thru-Hiker Gourmet food. And Spam. Usually found in small towns. Ask around. You'll find them. Reasonable prices too.

Wayne

[NewGuyOne]

Thanks for everyone's help that's given me some insight. Plus don't know what a cliff bar is but now I know the price

[Trailweaver]

Cliff bars are "energy" bars. They come in a large variety of flavors, and are available in a number of stores (grocery, gear/camping stores, variety stores). They taste pretty good, and with the different favors, you can pretty much find one (or several) that you will like. I eat them as I hike, as a between meal snack. I have known hikers to eat them for a meal. They are about the size of the palm of your hand. They come in a foil-type wrapper and are fine in your pack if they get "squashed" (won't break). Hope this helps.

[peakbagger]

Cliff Bars are popular for weekenders but I think most thru hikers rapidly switch over to snickers bars.

[Greenlight]

$6,000 in US dollars, for sure. The conversion rate traditionally favors your country (at least before Brexit). Food should be cheaper along the AT, too, as opposed to the PCT for the simple fact that the AT lies in Appalachia, the southern and central sections of which are dirt poor in many areas. The PCT is near the West Coast, which is traditionally more expensive.

Food will use the majority of your budget. $3.00 a mile is a reasonably conservative estimate of cost, so the AT comes in at about $6,000. I'd guess 75% of that will go to food. Depending on how frugal you can be, you might come in well under budget, but it's a good idea to have at least 6 grand available.

I recently did 700 miles for about $1400, so that implies I might have been able to thru hike for $4200.

[atraildreamer]

Some typical backpacking foods:

Peanut Butter: $5.49 / 40 oz
Dried Pasta Side: $1.10 / 4.4 oz
Granola: $3.29 / 12 oz
Oatmeal: $2.75 / 12.3 oz
Raisins: $2.49 / 10 oz
Cashews: $9.69 / 18.25 oz (peanuts are cheaper)
Cliff Bar: $1 to $2 (more expensive if bought individually vs a multi-pack)
Snickers Bar: $0.89 / 2.07 oz
Freeze-Dried Meal: $8 to $10 per meal
Fast Food Meal (aka McDonalds): $6 to $8
Basic Restaurant Meal: $15 to $25 (not including alcoholic drinks, dessert, etc.)

These grocery prices seems to be high. Avoid places like Whole Food Markets, (aka: "Whole Check Market"). While their product line is good, you can usually find similar, or identical, high-quality foods at stores like ShopRite or PriceRite in the northeast. Aldi's is also a good inexpensive place to shop.

You can also save a lot of $$$ by purchasing store brands instead of name brands. The store brands are often a name brand product that have been packaged under the store name. In some cases, a store brand is a better product than a name brand item.

As another poster said, check out the dollar stores. Lots of buying choices to be found.

[Farr Away]

...
Food is exempt from sales tax in most states. Can folks along the trail fill in real information please. I'm in Texas and we can't remember if Tennessee and North Carolina charge tax on food.
...
Wayne


Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."

Tennessee charges tax on food.

-FA

[Mooie]

hi all........a good thread....im also from UK looking to NOBO AT spring 2017.......all have been very useful..........thank you.

[gracebowen]

Rocketsocks. Wow did you really mean 2 avocado costs $5. Im gonna check your profile because im curious as to where you live to pay that much.

Where I live I can get a small one for .58.

Some of the other prices I am seeing are also a bit more than I pay. Im in Texas.

[gracebowen]

Ok I noticed it does show location on main page its just super tiny on my tiny cell phone. Wow NJ is expensive.