how much money should I have?

[Datto]

3) Learn to like Ramen Noodles, peanut butter, instant potatoes, instant rice, and oatmeal - - buy big canisters and re-use your ziplocks

That is good advice to help you spend less money.

For me, after having so much of those on my AT thru-hike and on the PCT -- I'm gagged just by reading the text describing those items. Particularly the Ramen Noodles and Lipton's Noodles and Pop-tarts (although I ate tons more of those on the PCT than I did on the AT). I'm glad my maildrop support person on my AT thru-hike was able to mix/vary the contents of maildrops she'd sent me on the AT so I always had something good to eat to offset the lightweight food items that gag me now.

I'm just recently beginning to be able to eat hot dogs after my buddy Tony and I ate so many hot dogs in college.

You should let your folks know that they can send you some goodies in the mail that you can't normally find in trail towns for resupply. Variety is the main thing (you'll eat anything not tied down as a pet but it would be good if you could get some variety -- mainly things heavy with fat is what you'll be craving).


Datto

[Oddin]

Thanks again for all the advice. I think i got a pretty good idea of what I will do, i got a couple months to decide. I will be getting prepared for the trip starting tommorow by walking a minimum of 10 miles a day with gear to get the feel of it, the stress and hunger and everything. I still have a little while to decide.

[Dogwood]

Attachment 19599

Oy vey...

LOL LOL LOL I immediately had the same thought.

how much money should I have?

Since you are asking this question probably more than you think you should have!

[Leanthree]

good advice from Papa D. I agree with all the haters who think it is a terrible idea but you should give it a whirl. Life happens fast and you have the time now. Worst case, you had a great couple of months and are broke. Best case is you have a great thru-hike and are broke.

To get further along, I'd also start later. If Nobo then late april. The one thing which could kill your budget would be to get a bad winter storm and have to hole up in a town for a week. You are young and should be able to manage the bigger miles eventually to make up for the late start.

[Fal and Hercules]

my advice, plan on stopping at every AYCE place within hitch-hiking distance and staying there three hours. you will need that many calories. 14 years ago, Hiawasee had Daniels, Franklin had a Pizza Hut and they might have an AYCE lunch, The Home Place in Catawba, Virginia, Pizza Hut lunch in Cloverdale.....Duncannon, PA had a truck stop that might have a AYCE lunch. One of our friends stopped into a McDonalds and had one of everything on the menu
do the research and enjoy the planning. Costs double north of Maryland for food.
check out towns like Erwin, TN with shelters near town on both south and north, so you can have a Pizza Hut lunch for three hours then shower at Uncle Johnny's and leave town
we also enjoyed doing the math in the grocery stores, in 1999 a coconut cream fried pie was 50 cents and contained 510 calories, ten calories per penny.
the places to eat along the trail come and go, your hike will be an adventure, be as flexible as possible. every man that I know lost thirty pounds, food is fuel,your body becomes a well tuned machine, you must refuel.

[Dogwood]

How much money should I have?

Can I get some advice? YOU SURE CAN.

Seriously, here on WB, this topic comes up every few days for like the past four years!

First, welcome to WB. I see you are new. Here's some advice. When you logged on to WB and hit the "Today's Posts" tab a SEARCH button popped up on the upper left. Hit it and do a THREAD search typing in key words something like "How Much Does It Cost To Hike The AT?" Search as far back in time as you desire to review threads discussing this topic. You'll get an insidious amount of advice and LOTS and LOTS of useful info on how to hike the AT cheaply. Good luck in your searches and hiking the AT.

[Oddin]

only reason i didnt do a search is because most people include costs for motels, I plan on rarely staying in a motel and was wondering what the food part alone would cost, thanks for the welcome tho

[The Cleaner]

Attachment 19599

Oy vey...

+ 1...........

[Dogwood]

only reason i didnt do a search is because most people include costs for motels, I plan on rarely staying in a motel and was wondering what the food part alone would cost, thanks for the welcome tho

Then do the search and factor out the motel costs. C'mon! Here's something REAL it seems you need hear. NO ONE is able to TELL YOU how much YOU will spend on a AT thru-hike. That includes telling you what you will specifically spend on food. Even offering a ballpark range what you will spend on food alone is dubious. Too many variables involved with food costs. Listen to what I'm saying. I'm trying to help you. Take into consideration the advice of others on how to spend wisely, how to cut thru-hiker/hiking costs. This includes all the possible costs associated with a AT thru-hike. YOU need to take it from there! IMHO, if you will do that, and avoid being lazy expecting someone else to come up with an answer FOR YOU, that's the BEST way FOR YOU to proceed! If you aren't willing to do that I strongly suspect you will have a difficult time completing a thru-hike! If you will not do that, just section hike until the money runs out and call yourself whatever you like. I've met many AT hikers who get SO CAUGHT UP with feeling the need to label themselves as thru-hikers when in fact what they really wind up being is section hikers.

There really is no need for others to TRY to write a book on how much it will cost YOU to thru-hike the AT when it will most likely largely not apply to YOU because NO ONE here on WB intimately knows you, your desires, discipline level, specific situation, etc.

[88BlueGT]

Don't forget about inflation...

[prain4u]

Even if you are SUPER frugal, there are a couple things that will drive up your food budget to an amount that is higher than you can imagine when you are sitting at home behind a computer screen:

1) The amount of calories that your body physically needs to consume every day on a long hike is very large. I checked several online sources, and most sources seem to indicate that our bodies burn 500-700 calories PER HOUR while backpacking (depending upon your weight, pack weight, terrain, etc). That is A LOT of calories that you need to replace each day--and that is in addition to the roughly 1,700- 2,200 calories that your body needs daily just because you are alive. So, you are probably looking at needing to consume 5,000 to 8,000 (or more) calories per day (unless you are going to have significant and unhealthy weight loss). That is 2 to 4 times the amount of food that you probably eat on a typical day at home.

The more food that you must eat = More cost.

For the heck of it--here are a couple of online calorie calculators for you to goof around with. They allegedly calculate how many calories a typical person of a certain body weight will burn while backpacking:

http://www.fitwatch.com/phpscripts/s...category_id=06

http://www.self.com/calculatorsprogr...et=7.0&submit=

http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc


2) It is not like you will run into a large discount grocery store every few days. That means that you will be paying some fairly high food prices at convenience stores and at the small town Mom and Pop grocery stores. Those food prices are generally going to be MUCH higher than you would pay for food at a large grocery store at home.

Those two factors tend to significantly increase your food costs on a thru hike--and there is really no way to significantly reduce those costs--no matter how frugal you are. (Sure, you can do mail drops using cheaper food from home--but when you add the cost of mailing the food--you are once again looking at a pretty costly food budget)

[nitewalker]

Well, if all you can get is $1500 that's how much you'll have - it doesn't matter how much you should have.

Try it - worse case you can just hike until you run out. Beats sitting at home.

now thats a great answer and no beating around the bush...as nike says JUST DO IT!!!!

[Winds]

Oddin, thought I leave a couple notes since you are new here. I am planning myself, so I am not an expert here.

In this thread, you have a number of seasoned veterans responding, understand their words. Others, disregard.

$1,500 is considered EXTREMELY thin (and yes, most will say you just can’t do it on that budget). Your execution of a thru-hike on that amount would need to be expertly frugal with specific world-class talents in fitness and improvising. You’d also need an exceptional amount of luck. Has it been done? Yes, and you can read some of their plights in this site. Understand though that you’d want to have more money so yes, earn what you can, and sell what you are willing to see this dream come true.

One thing no one seemed to mention here - is no matter what you take, see if you can con your parents into setting a grand aside for you to borrow just in case. THAT could be your saving grace if needed.

When I started collection information, I put together the below list of what actually costs money once you are on your way. It’s not perfect, but may guide you better to things you didn’t think about.

With that, I wish you well, and hope that your adventure is very successful for you!

What costs $$$ DURING a thru-hike:

ATM Charges
Batteries
Clothing (new)
Clothing repairs
Emergencies (health, family/friend, etc.)
First aide supplies (sun screen, mole skin, anti-septic, etc...)
Food
Fuel
Gear (new or replacement)
Gear repairs
Hygiene items (soap, toothpaste, toilet paper, etc.)
Insect Products (Premethrin, Picaridin, DEET, etc)
Laundry services / supplies
Lodging (hotels, hostels, campsites, cabins, shelters, lean-tos / permits)
Mail drops (receiving) incoming supplies/food
Mailing bounce boxes, supplies home, postcards, gifts, etc...
Buying Winds an expensive and cool keepsake!
Maps
Phone card / cell phone charges
Restaurants
Showers
Shuttles
Town entertainment (movie, alcohol, etc.)

[Monkeywrench]

You MIGHT be able to squeak by on $1500, especially if your parents will pick up the slack when/if you need equipment replaced. But you need to be prepared for the scenario where you fall in with a group of other hikers and are having a great time on the trail, then you get to town and everyone checks into the motel and heads to the local watering hole for food and beer. You can't go with them. Say goodbye, head to the store and stock up on Ramen noodles, hitch back to the trail, and go sleep in the woods in the rain.

[Mags]

He is not hiking on $1500. He is hiking on $1500 plus whatever his parents put in for food , extra gear and other assorted emergencies.

$1500 + (What Parents kick in) = doable.

If that is the case, should not be a problem.

[capehiker]

When I first got thru hike fever 15 years ago, I remember the consensus was $1.00 - $1.50 a mile. It's interesting to me as time passes the cost of everything elevates and sometimes you don't even realize it. Now that I'm in planning mode, the cost $3,000-$5,000 is a little sticker shock. I plan on doing this without credit cards so I'm going to adjust my AT fund accordingly.

[soulrebel]

Are you currently homeless? If yes, then you'll do great!

[soulrebel]

Beer, mexican food, pizza, all that stuff just taste too good...

[SawnieRobertson]

Well, if all you can get is $1500 that's how much you'll have - it doesn't matter how much you should have.

Try it - worse case you can just hike until you run out. Beats sitting at home.

WONDERFUL post!

[Jalum]

If you eat nothing but poptarts, ramen, tuna, bagels, cheese and trailmix, the thru hike will probably cost about $2300 in food alone. If your parents are maildropping that to you, and you have another $1500, you're good to go. But your budget is really $4000+, not $1500.