Can i thru-hike on $1000

[JAK]

I don't buy that. Many people on here are more than happy for people to spend their last $7000, just not their first $1000 or $2000. The moochers are the people that depend on such fools, and try and shame others into doing the same.

[brotheral]

absolutely not !!!!

[JAK]

It really only depends on whether you are hiking just for the trail, or for the trail and the towns and services. If you want to do a 2000 mile hike and enjoy town life and services along the way, as most people do, $1000 is not enough. But don't feel morally obligated to spend time and money in towns if all you want to do is hike the trail. The trail after all, is just the trail. If you feel obligated in any way it might be to support all the trail maintainers, or maybe do your own trail maintenance at home for people that come from away to hike trails in your region. Don't get pushed around. Learn from the trail, not the towns.

[JAK]

You've painted up your lips
And rolled and curled your tinted hair
Ruby are you contemplating
Going out somewhere
The shadow on the wall
Tells me the sun is going down
Oh Ruby
Don't take your love to town

It wasn't me
That started that crazy Asian war
But I was proud to go
And do my patriotic chore
And yes, it's true that
I'm not the man I used to be
Oh, Ruby I still need some company
It's hard to love a man
Whose legs are bent and paralyzed
That my wants and needs of a woman of your age
Ruby, I realized
Oh Ruby
Don't take your love to town

She's leaving now cause
I just heard the slamming of the door
The way I know I've heard it
Some 100 times before
And if I could move I'd get my gun
And put her in the ground
Oh Ruby
Don't take your love to town
Oh Ruby for God's sake turn around

[Brittney Floyd]

$1000 would be okay to use but not if you dont want to be comfortable if you are wanting to hike for the enjoyment then only $1000 may not work but if there is some drive in you and you dont want to wait until you are able to save the cash sheesh go for it then kudos for you but you will probably come across alot of trail magic while hiking so you are bound to be fine when it comes to food just worry about your water and a bath every few weeks

[fiddlehead]

I think we have a troll.

Yep, my thoughts exactly.
6 pages on a BS question that comes up every year.

I think maybe it's just one of JAK's friends started it so that JAK could reach 10,000 posts as soon as possible.

[CrumbSnatcher]

I completed a thru-hike for around $1,200 after equipment. It is doable but will test your will.

Here are three keys that I found most important in doing this:
1) Have the will to do it(sounds like you have this) and have a stubborn personality.
2) Thru-hike in under 4 months.
3) Stay out of towns. If you hike into a town, buy some cheap grub and hike to the next shelter.

this is one of the post that stands out the most for me, joe is a stand up guy,it was great to meet him, and yes he rocked the trail for $1,200. but i can't stop thinking that not only was it 200.00 more than the OP wants to spend on his 2012 thruhike, but joe hiked it in 2002 and portions were bigger and prices on everything were less. not sure if you can(don't know you) but rock on :-)

[Johnny Thunder]

But you can't. Sure you can wipe yourself down and get off most dirt and oils but you're going to stink. Try using only a face cloth and cold water, or heating water with a camp stove, and Dr Bronners and hiking 20 miles a day. Then get back to us.

it's possible, at least in the summer, to stay clean while on a through hike. it just takes dedication and the desire to adopt a mentality of living in the woods and not living in town stops between trips in the woods. i had two indoor showers from duncannon to bennington (one being a civilizing scrub in brooklyn). the rest of the time i hung my 4 liter water bag in a tree and showered with bronners. i did this everyday before attempting any camp chores b/c the oil and salt and stuff was easy to remove before it got dry and caked on.

i tend not to agree with jak as a matter of principle. but in this case he is right. if you take the time to maintain cleanliness you can stay out of town for pure-hygiene reasons....beer runs on the other hand...

[max patch]

I think maybe it's just one of JAK's friends started it so that JAK could reach 10,000 posts as soon as possible.

10,000 posts and zero miles on the AT. And it shows.

[Razor]

And the answer is still no!

[max patch]

The correct answer in not "no".

Its "hell no"

[leaftye]

You sure about that buddy. Takes about the same energy to walk with a 25 lbs pack (not food only) doesnt matter how big you are. Of course out of shape people or body buidlers would probably burn more than average.

Nope. I burn 8000 calories a day in 2010.

[TOMP]

Nope. I burn 8000 calories a day in 2010.

Ugh, ok I know everyone will vary on the exact number but lets put it this way all through hikers I know that are honest tell me they cant get enough food regardless of thier size. So no one is saving weight by bringing less food. Even someone small is going through 10 lbs of food at least in what was the hypothetical timeframe 10 days? Probably more toward 20.

[TOMP]

10,000 posts and zero miles on the AT. And it shows.

Thats an odd ratio. I dont think you have to thru-hike to know what your doing but why talk on whiteblaze.net why not pick a general hiker forum.

[Bender8982]

Everyones cynicism and prejudice towards me(an American veteran) i honestly find disgusting, as i thiought this was a group of intelligent, warm-hearted, kind, open-minded individuals. I must say with sadness, that i have been proven wrong. JAK was correct, i have "decided" to budget $1000 as a personal challenge. PLEASE tell why hiking a 2000 mile trail is even considered an accomplishment is you pussy-footed your way down the trail on a pansy ass 6-7 month hike. stopping every couple days and enjoying a nice hot shower, and a few warm meals, curled up in a hotel bedroom. I want to finish and know that "I" did something hard. i want to feel the pain, call me a masochist, but i wouldnt feel any pride if i had a luxurious trip up the AT. The negative critics on here are probably the same people who would hike up Everest with a team sherpas to carry all your gear because youre too busy sipping fine coffee. I am a man, and i want to do this as a matter of pride, a personal challenge. I am about to begin Medical school and i want this last challenge before i spend the next 5-10 years in school and residency. And for the record im not a vagrant..I am a college educated man, that has my house in order. I have "Plenty" of money in the bank, That I earned Myself. i have no financial concerns. Thank you.
P.S. as TOMP stated, Frugality is a "virtue" as defined by Benjamin Franklin, and apparently many of you missed that lesson in life. I apologize I am being offensive, but I am myself offended by a few of these comments.

[Bender8982]

and no this wasnt a troll, i havent a clue who JAK is. I did not mean to state that i only possessed $1,000.00 just that it was my budget. I apologize for any confusion on that front. Also, i have never begged or even asked in my life for anything that i could not get myself, so i will not be burden, i would accept failure like an adult and go home in the event that i ran out of money.

[prain4u]

CAN YOU COMPLETE A THRU HIKE ON $1.000?

On paper, and in theory, "Yes". However, in reality, the answer is a big "NO!"! (Not if you want to be healthy at the end of the hike). You simply can't get enough (and enough varied) calories on that budget. Furthermore, in the real world, "crap happens". Equipment breaks--and needs to be repaired or replaced. You twist an ankle. You become ill. The weather get's crappy. All of those types of things can slow down your hike (and extend your total number of days and increase your costs).

Furthermore, WHY would you want to do a thru hike on such a low budget--with the "fear" of running out of money handing over your head and dictating your every decision? That "pressure" would quickly become a mental drain and take the "fun" out of the hike. (In my never humble opinion).

SUGGESTIONS:
1) Start hiking with the goal of "getting as far as I can get" before the money runs out. Then go home when the money is almost gone. (Retain enough money to get home).

2) Wait one more year to start your hike. Save up to "do it right".

3) Do a Southbound thru hike--starting in June of early July--and do everything in you power to earn, save, borrow, or counterfeit some more money between now and then.


Have fun!

[buff_jeff]

Everyones cynicism and prejudice towards me(an American veteran) i honestly find disgusting, as i thiought this was a group of intelligent, warm-hearted, kind, open-minded individuals. I must say with sadness, that i have been proven wrong. JAK was correct, i have "decided" to budget $1000 as a personal challenge. PLEASE tell why hiking a 2000 mile trail is even considered an accomplishment is you pussy-footed your way down the trail on a pansy ass 6-7 month hike. stopping every couple days and enjoying a nice hot shower, and a few warm meals, curled up in a hotel bedroom. I want to finish and know that "I" did something hard. i want to feel the pain, call me a masochist, but i wouldnt feel any pride if i had a luxurious trip up the AT. The negative critics on here are probably the same people who would hike up Everest with a team sherpas to carry all your gear because youre too busy sipping fine coffee. I am a man, and i want to do this as a matter of pride, a personal challenge. I am about to begin Medical school and i want this last challenge before i spend the next 5-10 years in school and residency. And for the record im not a vagrant..I am a college educated man, that has my house in order. I have "Plenty" of money in the bank, That I earned Myself. i have no financial concerns. Thank you.
P.S. as TOMP stated, Frugality is a "virtue" as defined by Benjamin Franklin, and apparently many of you missed that lesson in life. I apologize I am being offensive, but I am myself offended by a few of these comments.

Talk is cheap.

People outlined potential problems and hurdles to completing the trail on $1,000. If you wanted everyone to be impressed with your goal, and basically just tell you what you wanted to hear, why start this thread? Are you that sensitive that you can't take hearing the problems inherent to your "plan"?

Come back when you've actually done this. Believe me, I think frugality is a good thing, and I really do hope you succeed. However, It's easy to call others' hikes "pussy-footed" from the confines of your home.

[Kookork]

Thats an odd ratio. I dont think you have to thru-hike to know what your doing but why talk on whiteblaze.net why not pick a general hiker forum.

I am one of those hikers that has ZERO miles on AT.

I am pretty sure that one can post here on whiteblaze.net ,be helpful with minimal or zero AT mileage. AT is not the only trail that teaches hikers how to hike.It is just the dominant trail that is talked about here on WB.
I am quite sure that there are plenty of posters here that are not AT thru hikers and post regularly here. Your post gives me the feeling that you feel privileged about posting here just because you are an AT thru hiker.Not a good feeling.

Having some respect for someone that has been posting in this forum for 10000 post is not going to hurt you no matter of their AT mileage. Choosing which forum they want to post their opinion is not your decision ,never been, never will.

[TOMP]

[QUOTE=Bender8982;1253862] P.S. as TOMP stated, Frugality is a "virtue" as defined by Benjamin Franklin, and apparently many of you missed that lesson in life. [QUOTE]

I did not say this, please do not misquote me. That was part of the JAK spamming brigade. I just corrected him on it. If you didnt misrepresent yourself I dont believe you would have gotten as many vagrant, moocher comments. People would have known that you have more funds if needed. I think this stems from peoples experience with low fund hikers that turn into moochers. If you are out there this year you will see a couple. With that said just as many people will doubt you, and it sounds like you have your mind made up to prove em wrong. So good luck and I did not mean to disrespect a vet, thank you for your service.