It took me 6 months to complete my thru hike last year. And i did it with $2500. So it can ben done for $3000.
" Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today"-James Dean
All told, my girlfriend and I spent around $14K over the course of our 5 month hike. I pretty much put everything I could on my credit card and paid it all off when I got home, so I have pretty accurate records for what was spent and what it was spent on.
That cost included:
1. Transport from PA to Springer and also Katahdin back to PA.
2. 6 pairs of trail runners.
3. 2 pack replacements.
4. Trekking pole replacement.
5. Postage for mail drops (2 food drops and swapping out cold/warm weather gear).
6. 5 zero days in NYC visiting with friends.
7. 17 zero/nero days in motels/hostels.
8. Buying 2 complete hammock systems at Trail Days! Yes it was an impulse splurge...!
Last edited by Stink Bug; 11-30-2013 at 18:19.
Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time -- Steven Wright
Just the 5 days in NYC could cost you $14K
I'd take all of this with a grain of salt. The folks that are quoting a low price have previous experience in hiking or just plain don't treat themselves. I'd save up $10k for any hike. Covers all the incidentals, luxuries, side trips, emergencies, gear replacement, and reintegration to society. If I had my gear, previous experience, good physical shape, and a job/place to come back to then maybe $7k
See ya when I get there.
finish your hikes then come back and tell us how it goes. its one thing for someone who as already done it before to do it on the cheap complete another for someone that's never hiked or little experience to do it on the cheap the first time.Originally Posted by ratherbclimbin
Just another data point, my 1000 miles of the AT this last spring cost me around 4 grand. I did not scrimp at all, stayed in hotels rather than hostels for the most part when in town. Used mail drops for trail food (included in cost, of course). This included plane fare and shuttle costs. Didn't need any gear, so none of that included in the 4 grand.
Make a spreadsheet, and add it up.
Trail food - $50 per week
Hotel stay- 1/2 per week (shared)= 30
town meals - 3 per week@ $13 per = $40 (lunch, dinner, next day bkfast)
laundry - $5 per week
For a 20 week hike, even this minimal case with 1/2 day per week in town shows $2500, with 2/3 of the cost occuring ....in town.
Stay out of towns , is the message.
The problem is you need food, more food than you can carry, and you can only get that..... in town.
Throw in multiday town stays, and food binges, and week off for traildays, money for new gear, sidetrips, travel to and from trail, and the sky is the limit. I can see someone easily spending up to $8K or more if they didnt control expenses well.
I always admit to people that my wife did teach me ONE thing...that is.....If you have to scrimp and save money on vacation, you might as well stay at home and save until you dont. The point of going on vacation is to enjoy yourself. Hiking is a vacation.
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 12-07-2013 at 15:22.
A cheap hike can be done and I have as much fun hiking assomeone who spends 8 times as much. HYOH
just a little hungrier
No, you can buy many foods at, or over, 1000 calories per $1if you buy only at the major food stores. Without hitchhiking I can stop at amajor food store every 150-200 miles and resupply. I carry a bucket so there isplenty of room for food. I eat well at around $100 a month.
IMO, there is no way given food prices that anyone hiking (burning 5000+ cal/day) can eat well (or healthy) on $100 per month. You can eat cheap carbs and a lot of crap, but there is no way a hiker is getting what their hiking body requires in the way of proteins, fruits, vegetables, etc. at that price.
Sigh. It’s easy, just go to the store and do the research. Compare price vs calories and make a list of everything that is 800 calories or more per $1. When you buy a real high cal per $ item like lard and peanut butter (found them both at 3000+cal per $1) buy the fruits and vegetables you want. Then figure out how to combine them to make great tasting balanced meals.
Examples- (1= 1 jar or package or can or serving)
1 Peanut Butter, 1 Jelly, and 1 Bread is $3.55 and is over 4600cal
1 Spaghetti and 1 Meat Sauce is $1.98 and over 2000cal
1 Beans, 1 Rice, and 1 Lard is $2.22 and over 2500cal
1 Hotdogs, 1 Tortias, and 1 Ketchup is $2.30 and over 2100cal
Do you know the calories for pancakes cooked in lard and smothered with jelly, butter, and syrup?
Go and look for yourself.
All this talk about food costs, I thought was only a very small percentage of my hike cost. Well.... is Beer included in "food" ?
I think it's in the entertainment or mental health categories depending upon one's reason for drinking it (other than it's cold and tastes good).
the person who spends 1000 total on a through and eats as well / much as the person spending 8000 is figuring out how to mostly freeload
if you cannot see this and must argue against reality --- well................ there is little reason to read your posts, there are better fantasy authors
Is there any chance that you were featuredin Squatch's A.T. Documentary? I seem to remember him talking to someone hiking carrying an extra 5-gallon food bucket.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
I remember you George J. we worked together at hardcore this year and you should know I’m not in fantasy land or a freeloader.
Yes, I’m the one in Squatch’s documentary.
I think looking at food expenses can be important for some. Food was nearly 50% of my AT expenses, and I paid attention to what I spent. I spent about $750 on trail rations, and about the same amount on town food. That was about $15/day total. My total hiking cost was about $3500.
An AT hike is not a pure vacation for everyone. For some, it's a pilgrimage of sorts, or something they're driven to do, or an adventure, or an athletic feat. For many, it needs to be done on a shoestring budget. Not me, but I understand those who do it differently.
I also enjoy hearing about those who hiked the AT differently than I did. To me, the diversity was part of the attraction of the AT. A bucket o'food? Now, I would have liked to have seen that.
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
OK, this is the math that brought me to the skepticism:
using the quoted 1 to 8 spending ratio, I went with 1000 on the low end and 8000 on the high end - to me that is a wide but realistic span of total expense (other than those who have to include international travel) - there are of course expenses other than food so 400 left for food would be about it - a fast pace would allow 4 month completion ( if everything goes almost perfect ) - so a 100 per month makes the numbers come together .......
OK, so the bucket of food, which I now remember, would be the key - enabling the majority of food purchases at the few locations along the trail that are truly econmical - I believe that is the framework of the theory .. but
in reality, the numbers still do not work out - and I stand on my skepticism for the benefit of the newbie who gets an unrealistic picture of the hardships vs enjoyment and hunger associated with a sub-minimal budget - points I consider in this conclusion:
1)hauling a lot of food makes for a slower hike, so the 4 month timetable (and hence the minimal budget) becomes increasingly less realistic
2) the extra load is nearly universally regarded to make a less enjoyable experience(especially starting and in the areas of tougher trail conditions)
3)a heavy load is more likely to result in injury - 7 years ago, less than 24 hours in the Berlin NH hospital for a broken ankle was over 30,000 for a buddy - what would it be today? - makes the food saving seem insignificant - a solid plan for economy would try to minimize, not increase chance of injury
4) As others have posted here, the needed nutrition does not jive with the quality / quantity of the food budget ( derived from using this 1 to 8 ratio ) no matter where along the trail it is purchased (but especially in the north end) - I consider my food/ and other consumables budget far from extravagant, yet with some postage etc it never ends up less than 20 per day (food,drink, fuel, TP, soap etc)
all right, in case any one is still reading this by now, I will plug in some less dramatic/ controversial numbers that would be more realistic/ repeatable / not relying on the best luck to work
The modified original:
"A cheap hike can be done and I have as much fun hiking assomeone who spends X8X - 4- times as much. HYOH"
keeping the high end the same leaves a 2000 budget
adding some to the non- consumable end leaves 1000 - stretching the schedule to 5 months leaves 200 a month - now it is looking real -
some of these months in the middle of trail the 100 with no hitching may be doable, this also coincides with less hazardous trail conditions ( and the hikers being tuned up) that make the extra load feasible - the first full supermarket within a short distance of the trail that I can recall is Erwin - before this, IMO obtaining and carrying weeks of food without outside assistance is not a plan to be promoted as feasible
so at the more expensive/ less convenient north and south ends the budget could be over 200 a month / 15 a day - that is in the range of healthy / not hungry but still a very minimal budget
In the end, I am not arguing with your system, only with your price points
While I don't completely disagree, one of us is going on vacation to enjoy himself and one of us is staying home on a third of the income and twice the costs. More than twice, actually, since I'm putting two on the trail. But the kid's been an income drain for a lotta years, so I really shouldn't count her in this calculation...
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