Thru Hike Budget

[Wiki]

Me too...I'll be getting paid vacation the first 8 weeks of the hike if I don't take any days off after the first of the year...My LOA also lets me keep my benefits for 90 days so health insurance too...Will probably use COBRA after that.

I cannot wait until April 3rd!

Jealous you're hitting the trail in 2017! I was trying to go for 2016, but financing issues came up now I'm tracking for 2018.

The Holiday hours I discovered recently that I get I'm going to use next year while on orders with the military to get paid twice during a one month period to bolster my savings further.

[Jim Adams]

WOW! I have thru hiked twice and my total for the most expensive hike was $2,800. Zero days can be expensive but not bad if you learn how and where to zero. I had 79 zero days my first year on a 191 day hike. My biggest expense was beer. If you stay in town, rent a room, eat in restaurants and sit in the bar all evening then it can get costly. OTOH, if you restock with at least 1 meal that includes "wanted" items you can eat cheap and greasy in town, carry a six pack out of town and eat that special "wanted" meal that night, the only thing you miss is the cost of a room, an expensive supper and a $30 bar tab......just make sure you camp at least 2 miles out of town so there is no urge to go back.

[TylerJ76]

$7000 just for the hike alone.

That doesn't include any gear, or any travel.

[TylerJ76]

$7000 just for the hike alone.

That doesn't include any gear, or any travel.

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ETA:

I know mine is high, but if I am doing this, I am going to make damn sure I'm comfortable, and $$$ won't be the reason I am forced to stop.

[piratekitty]

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ETA:

I know mine is high, but if I am doing this, I am going to make damn sure I'm comfortable, and $$$ won't be the reason I am forced to stop.

(I'm doing 20,000 after gear. I firmly agree on being comfortable as much as possible.)

[Dogwood]

$20K That's not comfortable that's coddled.

[StubbleJumper]

(I'm doing 20,000 after gear. I firmly agree on being comfortable as much as possible.)

Are you hiring a Sherpa or something?

[piratekitty]

Are you hiring a Sherpa or something?

No. Just plan on being able to stop in town as needed. (recently diagnosed with MS, might need a real bed fairly often.)

[bikeandhike]

Two of us NOBO 2017.

Our budget is $2,500 month for everything including insurance, some storage fees back home, etc.
We intend to take our time and smell the roses, experience as many great breweries as possible, and live.
"Planning" on taking around 6 months to complete.

[gracebowen]

When I hike most of my food will be mailed using prepaid postage. I will hopefully have $500 a month to spend on the trail.
100 lodging
160 extra food
40 misc
Leaves 200 unplanned.

[fastfoxengineering]

I budgeted $1 per mile on the AT and $4K on the pct.
After doing both, I'd say: it is so so nice to have the extra money if you can swing it. I only ended up spending $3k on the pct, but it was much easier knowing I had the money in case something happened.
Being able to buy that burger with a fried egg and coffee or beer (if that's your thing) can make a thru so much better


After the AT I did a 2 part money oriented video: https://youtu.be/7S6WMFgl31w


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Dude I didn't know you were on here. You got a sweet youtube channel. And your well disciplined with your hiking budget. Hope you got enough money to bicycle home lol

[Dogwood]

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ETA:

I know mine is high, but if I am doing this, I am going to make damn sure I'm comfortable, and $$$ won't be the reason I am forced to stop.

Be careful this does't boom-a-rang on you. Generally, hiking means getting accustomed to new comforts not trying to avoid discomfort totally. Expand your comfort zones. Trying to avoid adopting to LD trail life by holding on too tight to off trail comforts can take people off their hikes. Trail towns are sometimes strewn with LD hiker wannabes that succumb to the in town vortex of the coddled hike resulting in off trail coddled life. Beware of the allure of creature comforts and the in town/civilization vortex.

[Wyoming]

As you can see from the responses folks are all over the map on costs. Some get by on $500 a month and others burn through $2000 a month (most people underestimate their costs by a lot). But you have to decide how you specifically are going to hike to get an idea of what it will cost you as most of the costs are due to ones tolerance for dirt/lack of beds/lack of showers and such. If you are going to want to stay in lots of motels (by yourself is even more expensive) and don't like cheap lodging costs go way up. The kind of restaurant meals you eat while in town makes a big difference. How many nights you stay in hostels and motels makes a huge difference. If you drink a lot it makes a big difference. What kind of food you carry in your pack makes a big difference - MountainHouse is very expensive and ramen is cheap with lots of options in between. Mailing yourself food costs a LOT more not less (and is inconvenient as hell also) as folks who state it is cheap are not counting the postage and the fact that most of them end up tossing a lot of it in the hiker box and buying food at the store (I know of folks on the PCT who spent $400 on postage alone). What kind of shoes you wear impacts your costs a lot also as the lightest running shoes often only last 300 miles as compared to some shoes which will last 1500 miles. And so on and so on.

If you want/have to go cheap then it helps a lot to do the following:
1. NO ZEROS. Stay away from towns as much as possible. Time arrival in the morning, get your stuff done, and hike out of town.
2. Never stay in a motel room by yourself - share costs. Or even better never stay in motels.
3. Eat at cheap restaurants when in town and stay away from expensive meals.
4. When you buy trail supplies think about cost per calorie.
5. Avoid buying beer/drinks (yeah I know the odds on this!).
6. Hiking lots of miles per day is a huge one. 30 days less on the trail over a thru will save a ton of money.

If the way you want to hike will result in higher costs you just have to have the money to do it your way. There is no right or wrong.

[Mags]

“Estimate the expenses of your trip, and take more money than your estimate.” - How to Camp Out by John Mead Gould, 1877

[Venchka]

“Estimate the expenses of your trip, and take more money than your estimate.” - How to Camp Out by John Mead Gould, 1877

Some things never change.
You aren't required to spend all of your budget.
Wayne


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[Greenmountainguy]

And I thought Spartan Racing was expensive! I have never done a thru hike, but I suspect anything short of $5000 would be pinching pretty tightly. I would expect to replace shoes at the least and unless you had bomb-proof equipment, some other stuff. Being on foot means you cannot shop around or wait for a mail delivery. Transport to and from the trailheads, restaurant meals, batteries, showers, motels, luxuries, etc.
It is not a cheap vacation.

[Wyoming]

And I thought Spartan Racing was expensive! I have never done a thru hike, but I suspect anything short of $5000 would be pinching pretty tightly. I would expect to replace shoes at the least and unless you had bomb-proof equipment, some other stuff. Being on foot means you cannot shop around or wait for a mail delivery. Transport to and from the trailheads, restaurant meals, batteries, showers, motels, luxuries, etc.
It is not a cheap vacation.

This is a point that many miss. Light trail runners or just basic running shoes do not last very long. Almost all are totally shot at 300 miles (yes I know that many of you use them longer but they are shot and you raise your risk of injury). The heavy trail runners are usually not good for more than 500 miles. So you need to plan on 4-6 pair of the top end shoes and maybe as many as 8 of the lightest ones (I know of one person who was on his 9th set of shoes when he finished the PCT). This costs a lot of money. One can easily spend $700 on shoes for a long thru hike.

Besides the fact that I have tender feet which do not like the light trail shoes I also factor this cost into gear selection. One can take one of the more rugged yet light hiking shoes (my favorite has been the Vasque Breeze low top non/gortex) and you can get even the CDT in with just 2 pairs. That saves about $400. And many of them have to have the shoes overnighted to a resupply point adding in another significant cost.

[Wyoming]

When I hike most of my food will be mailed using prepaid postage. I will hopefully have $500 a month to spend on the trail.
100 lodging
160 extra food
40 misc
Leaves 200 unplanned.

Depending on where you are and how much you want to stop in town that may be pretty hard to make it on.

In many of the towns along the trail it will be hard to find lodging $50/night. New England, mid-Altantic anywhere on the PCT.

Meals in town (don't forget how much food we start eating) can easily eat up $40/day and many go way over that when you include alcohol.

If you are including gear replacement and new shoes in that $500 total it will be tight to say the least.

[gracebowen]

Not more than once a week in town probably less. Only one resturaunt meal 10 or less. Maybe more if AYCE. Plan to use AYCE when available for town food.No alcohol.

[jeremys]

A couple cost analyses I've found:

https://longstride.net/at2016/cost-analysis

http://www.bemental.me/trail-analytics/