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adnone1art
05-07-2015, 21:45
Any recommendations on keeping the cost down on a thru hike?

fizz3499
05-07-2015, 21:55
Try not to spend an excessive amount of time in towns and watch your budget closely when your in one.

jj2044
05-07-2015, 22:04
you could always learn to use the search bar...... this topic might of been cover once...... or 150 times in the last couple years... and even a couple times in the last couple weeks..

Sarcasm the elf
05-07-2015, 23:11
you could always learn to use the search bar...... this topic might of been cover once...... or 150 times in the last couple years... and even a couple times in the last couple weeks..


Well that's not exactly an appropriate way to welcome a new member who is asking an honest question. Besides, I've been around here for years and I still can't get the search bar to work half the time.

A quick google search of the site did bring up a few threads, but most of them aren't that recent.

https://www.google.com/search?q=2015+cost+of+thru+hike+site%3Awhiteblaze. net&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS621US621&oq=2015+cost+of+thru+hike+site%3Awhiteblaze.net&aqs=chrome..69i57&sourceid=chrome-mobile&espv=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en-US

Rocket Jones
05-08-2015, 05:58
+1 to what fizz and elf said. Also, hike faster or hike longer days. The fewer days you're on the trail, the less money you spend.

bigcranky
05-08-2015, 08:23
There are a lot of threads every year on how to have a cheap thru hike. Most of the time someone will post that they only have $1500 or whatever to spend, and ask if they can hike the whole trail on that. The general consensus is usually "no" and the original poster gets all bent out of shape and the thread deteriorates from there... :)

So, some suggestions:

1. Figure out the gear you need ahead of time. Do some hiking, even just weekends, but a week long hike on a similar trail is very helpful. Replacing suboptimal gear can get expensive on the trail. It's much cheaper to try something ahead of time and if it doesn't work you can return or sell it on. You don't need really expensive gear to hike the AT anyway.

2. Plan to buy food along the way. Yes, it looks cheaper to buy in bulk at Costco before you leave then send mail drops, but the postage gets pretty expensive and you end up with a lot of food you might not like. Almost everywhere on the AT you can get to a real grocery store at least once a week, often every few days.

3. As noted above, stay out of towns. You can't spend money on the trail itself, but a town stop can suck your wallet dry. Restaurant meals (and you will be HUNGRY), beer, motel rooms, more restaurant meals, a second night in the motel, etc. It's easy to drop a couple of hundred dollars in a town stop, and in the South you can do this every few days....

To minimize the cost, plan to sleep on the trail just before town, come into town early, hit the grocery store for resupply, get a nice lunch at an all-you-can-eat place or the local diner, and keep walking. If there is a hostel or a YMCA see if you can pay a few bucks for a shower and some laundry.

If you really need a "zero day," but want to make it cheaper, do a "nero" -- sleep on the trail near town, come into town and get a room, spend all day doing your chores, get a good night's sleep, then hit the trail. If you need more rest, just hang out in town all day and leave late in the afternoon to camp on the trail just past the town. This gives you most of two days off, but only one night in a paid hotel room.

Also, take advantage of low-cost hostels run by folks who love the trail. Kincora, for examples, is very inexpensive but offers showers, laundry, and a ride to the grocery store.

4. Don't drink too much and quit smoking - these are fun but expensive luxuries.

5. Hike longer miles. Much of the cost of a thru-hike is just the cost of living on the trail. If you can hike the whole trail in 5 months instead of 6, you saved 16%. In 4 months instead of 6, a 33% savings. I usually figure it costs me about $1000/month to hike, so a shorter hike will save some serious money.

6. Don't make any friends. OK, I'm kidding, really. But if you do fall in with a group of fun, friendly people, and they want to go into town and spend a couple of days partying, it's hard to resist.

There are lots of other suggestions out there - these are the basics.

Good luck and happy trails.

garlic08
05-08-2015, 08:39
It helps if you're a thrifty person. I hiked the AT with a partner and he spent nearly double on food than what I did (and we're talking about over $1000), even though we bought food in the same stores and ate in the same restaurants. He would seek out expensive "luxury" items, I would look for bargains. And we both enjoyed the hike and the company.

It's been said very well above, but I'd stress the time concept. I think a month on the trail costs much the same whether you hike 300 miles or 600 miles.

RED-DOG
05-08-2015, 09:45
Carry more food, the more food you carry means less time spent in towns, less time spent in towns means you save money, you only spend money when in towns or at a hostel such as standing bear farm hostel where you can buy a resupply, and if your going to spend the night in a town try to stay at a hostel their cheaper than hotels, and try to get work for stay at hostels.

Walkintom
05-08-2015, 10:09
Solid advice, right there. Take it to heart and you'll hike cheaper.


There are a lot of threads every year on how to have a cheap thru hike. Most of the time someone will post that they only have $1500 or whatever to spend, and ask if they can hike the whole trail on that. The general consensus is usually "no" and the original poster gets all bent out of shape and the thread deteriorates from there... :)

So, some suggestions:

1. Figure out the gear you need ahead of time. Do some hiking, even just weekends, but a week long hike on a similar trail is very helpful. Replacing suboptimal gear can get expensive on the trail. It's much cheaper to try something ahead of time and if it doesn't work you can return or sell it on. You don't need really expensive gear to hike the AT anyway.

2. Plan to buy food along the way. Yes, it looks cheaper to buy in bulk at Costco before you leave then send mail drops, but the postage gets pretty expensive and you end up with a lot of food you might not like. Almost everywhere on the AT you can get to a real grocery store at least once a week, often every few days.

3. As noted above, stay out of towns. You can't spend money on the trail itself, but a town stop can suck your wallet dry. Restaurant meals (and you will be HUNGRY), beer, motel rooms, more restaurant meals, a second night in the motel, etc. It's easy to drop a couple of hundred dollars in a town stop, and in the South you can do this every few days....

To minimize the cost, plan to sleep on the trail just before town, come into town early, hit the grocery store for resupply, get a nice lunch at an all-you-can-eat place or the local diner, and keep walking. If there is a hostel or a YMCA see if you can pay a few bucks for a shower and some laundry.

If you really need a "zero day," but want to make it cheaper, do a "nero" -- sleep on the trail near town, come into town and get a room, spend all day doing your chores, get a good night's sleep, then hit the trail. If you need more rest, just hang out in town all day and leave late in the afternoon to camp on the trail just past the town. This gives you most of two days off, but only one night in a paid hotel room.

Also, take advantage of low-cost hostels run by folks who love the trail. Kincora, for examples, is very inexpensive but offers showers, laundry, and a ride to the grocery store.

4. Don't drink too much and quit smoking - these are fun but expensive luxuries.

5. Hike longer miles. Much of the cost of a thru-hike is just the cost of living on the trail. If you can hike the whole trail in 5 months instead of 6, you saved 16%. In 4 months instead of 6, a 33% savings. I usually figure it costs me about $1000/month to hike, so a shorter hike will save some serious money.

6. Don't make any friends. OK, I'm kidding, really. But if you do fall in with a group of fun, friendly people, and they want to go into town and spend a couple of days partying, it's hard to resist.

There are lots of other suggestions out there - these are the basics.

Good luck and happy trails.

RED-DOG
05-08-2015, 10:09
Carry more food, the more food you carry means less time spent in towns, less time spent in towns means you save money, you only spend money when in towns or at a hostel such as standing bear farm hostel where you can buy a resupply, and if your going to spend the night in a town try to stay at a hostel their cheaper than hotels, and try to get work for stay at hostels.

Just in case you don't know, work for stay is when you perform a duty such as washing dishes or working in the garden and the hostel owner/caretaker lets you stay the night for free, i have received work for stay a bunch of times on all three of my thru's.

Wyoming
05-08-2015, 15:26
Lots of good advise above but one quibble.

The idea of hiking long days is good but it has to be done with a big helping of common sense. When you first start out hiking long days are probably the worst thing you can do. You are not in shape yet and doing it will dramatically raise your chances of injury (get hurt and it is much higher expenses and maybe ends the hike - this mistake happens to dozens of hikers every year). A second thing about long days (and this applies more in the beginning than later also) is that this requires much more energy and it wears you down. It is common for many big day hikers to take zeros more often than someone who might be doing good distance but not real long distance every day. Zeros of course are the biggest cost booster there is.

To give an idea what I mean above. I thru'ed in 06" and averaged 21 mpd from Kincora Hostel to New Hampshire. But I only exceeded 25 mpd 2 times on the entire hike and I think my max day was under 26 miles.

Mags
05-08-2015, 15:35
Big Cranky said it all. Excellent post.

MuddyWaters
05-08-2015, 16:09
Also dont start till mid april at earliest. Cold weather will force you into towns for days.