View Full Version : Cost Of A Thru Hike SpringerTo Katahdin
How much cabbage to do a thru hike? I'm not going to forage blueberries and poison ivy to eat. What is a reasonable budget. I'm not much of a drinker so I won't spend my time in bars or partying.
kayak karl
02-12-2016, 21:50
$4000 .......
Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
MuddyWaters
02-12-2016, 22:27
You gotta define whats included.
Usually when throw around $ here its not including transportation to/from trail, or gear. Or money spent on rent, storage, insurance , student loans, while on trail, or money needed while looking for work afterwards for or a few months.
These can add many more thousands, more than the cost of hiking, and cant be ignored.
A very few could do it for $1500, most 4000-5000. If you get extravagant, someone here once claimed to have spent $15000. I suppose they bought a lot of rounds in bars.
$1000/month is a good rule of thumb.
ALLEGHENY
02-12-2016, 22:43
$25.00/day
I plan on making the trail my home. I will stop into town to resupply, grab a good meal and hit the trail. The occasional stay in a hostel, cheap motel. I'm just talking the actual cost of the trail, no student loans, credit card bills, phone bills, etc...
I've also got a ride to the trail, and no other travel expenses other than a ride home from hopefully Katadhin
Slo-go'en
02-12-2016, 23:28
I plan on making the trail my home. I will stop into town to resupply, grab a good meal and hit the trail. The occasional stay in a hostel, cheap motel. I'm just talking the actual cost of the trail, no student loans, credit card bills, phone bills, etc...
It's really hard to pin down a number. If you only last a few weeks or a month, it's not going to cost all that much. If it takes 6 months, it will cost a lot. 5K for a complete thru hike is probably a good average if your reasonably frugal.
Puddlefish
02-12-2016, 23:28
I'm budgeting $1,000 a month for hiking/travel expenses only, for as many months as it takes. The only at home added expense will be paying for lawn mowing. I'm budgeting for one day a week in town, but hope to average less than that. Should cover food, supplies, re-gearing, lodging, showers, laundry, medical, postage and even a small entertainment budget. I have an empty credit card soley in the event that my elderly dad falls and breaks his hip again and I need to travel quickly.
ALLEGHENY
02-13-2016, 00:15
I plan on making the trail my home. I will stop into town to resupply, grab a good meal and hit the trail. The occasional stay in a hostel, cheap motel. I'm just talking the actual cost of the trail, no student loans, credit card bills, phone bills, etc...
Lets say you want one hot shower and steak diner once a week.
$75 B&B + $60 food resupply + $40 prime rib = $175/week = 25/day
rainydaykid
02-22-2016, 00:21
I did it for $2300 in 2010, didn't feel like I was being cheap. That included some gear and the bus ride home from Maine, Bangor to Nashville on Greyhound.
rainydaykid
02-22-2016, 00:34
Forgot to mention, I did it in 5 months. I had 4k budgeted for the hike. I did neros close to towns, hiked in, grabbed a town meal and resupply, and got out. Mostly did laundry and bathed on the trail. Rarely drank, grabbed some food out of hiker boxes before I went shopping. I was raised really poor, though, and learned how to be frugal at an early age. I budgeted 4k, and that would have been a pretty extravagant thru if I had spent it all. Learning to be cheap is a lifelong rewarding skill. The less you spend, the less you have to work. I preferred my tent over a hotel room, and stayed in hostels and hotels about 12 times total on my thru. Never did a hotel unless I split it with a couple other hikers. Never saw the point in paying for a bed when I could sleep in my tent for free. I also spent most of my zeros in the woods so I wouldn't be tempted to spend money in town, or be able to. Towns are a black hole that will suck your wallet dry if you let them. I think I dropped about $60 a week on a town meal and resupply, though that number went up in the north.
I'm doing the AT again this year after I finish college in early May. I have some money saved up, so I will probably be more extravagant this time.
Though I have finally gotten my Veteran's Disability after fighting the VA for 12 years, and have money coming in, I'm not going to change my habits and just start blowing through money. I should be able to hike pretty continuously for the next few years. It is for mental issues, and long hikes are very therapeutic for me. It is one of the few things that helps my symptoms, much more than meds and therapy.
Lets say you want one hot shower and steak diner once a week.
$75 B&B + $60 food resupply + $40 prime rib = $175/week = 25/day
Wow. Maybe I'm misreading your post (and I might be) but $60/week for food (not including a restaurant) sounds high for hiking. I have spent no more than $70 for parent and child/week on the trails (any trails), and we did fine, I'm not a tightwad (but I didn't drink alcohol and I rarely eat red meat). This included some food my "supplier," an Adirondacks man who creates delicious, healthy freeze-dried food geared to hikers (but also fine for making at home). I would think the most expensive think would be the B&B. (Was that independent, non-AYH hostel in Virginia, I believe, ever sold? Seemed like an ideal place for hikers or former hikers to own and run.)
Could you kindly break down the $60/weekly for food for one person? Not a criticism, just wondering. Maybe I should budget more for my thru-hike.
Slo-go'en
02-25-2016, 11:20
$60 a week for food does sound a little high but it can get close to that pretty easily.
Here's a "typical" diet and a guess at "average" prices and is probably a bit skimpy on how much you really end up buying. Add 10-20% if not shopping at Dollar General or Walmart.
7 tuna packets at $1.25 each = 8.75
7 Knorr sides at $1.00 each = 7.00
1 box of pop tarts = 4.00
bag of Fritos Corn chips = 4.00
7 power bars/cliff bars = 7.00
7 candy bars = 7.00
1/2 pound block of cheese = 4.00
bag of bagels = 4.00
total-------------------------- $45.75
ALLEGHENY
02-25-2016, 17:21
I was on a vacation, having a great time.
Not UL
Not in a hurry
Not a high processed, chemical, and sugar junky. I like real food
Not out to prove anything but to myself.
You know what they say about grocery shopping on an empty stomach.
I bought what ever I felt like. I liked to make my own trail mix with non instant oats or granola, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, dark chocolate morsels or DC m&m, what ever I could get.
I don't think I ate too many Knorr sides, I did doctor them up with my deer jerky.
Tuna packs sometimes, I liked cans of tuna in olive oil and cans of Alaskan Red Salmon. I wanted fat and protein. Crackers like triscete sp.
Fresh fruit& veg; I would carry squash, carrots, avocado, apples, grapefruit, etc...
Candy bars of course, but not so often. That trail mix I made had everything I wanted for snacking. Never ate a pop tart, not in years.
Cheese, Summer sausage, Peperoni, deli meat (turkey & beefs)
Weakness for B&J IC, Qts of milk or halves.
I bought what ever I felt like. Just took out the Visa. and paid it off each month.
I didn't budget or worry about money.
I spent about 44K-45K on trail and trains. Lodging in a better place was a treat. Five zeros, I did not stay at many hostels, many of I wouldn't let your dog bed in.
$25/day for a vacation.:sun
HYOH :p
P-SQUARED GAME 2012
Lone Wolf
02-25-2016, 17:30
How much cabbage to do a thru hike? I'm not going to forage blueberries and poison ivy to eat. What is a reasonable budget. I'm not much of a drinker so I won't spend my time in bars or partying.
$3000 - $6000
ALLEGHENY
02-25-2016, 17:37
Pack was heavy 30# - $%+*#;see not ul, not in a hurry.
Sure I burned up calories, I needed to eat good.
I still ended up skinny, but you should of seen my legs.
Slo-go'en
02-25-2016, 18:06
I'm going to try and account for every penny spent on my upcoming hike of 38% of the AT by keeping a ledger. I've never really tried to track of how much these trips cost me.
ALLEGHENY
02-25-2016, 18:26
Wow. Maybe I'm misreading your post (and I might be) but $60/week for food (not including a restaurant) sounds high for hiking. I have spent no more than $70 for parent and child/week on the trails (any trails), and we did fine, I'm not a tightwad (but I didn't drink alcohol and I rarely eat red meat). This included some food my "supplier," an Adirondacks man who creates delicious, healthy freeze-dried food geared to hikers (but also fine for making at home). I would think the most expensive think would be the B&B. (Was that independent, non-AYH hostel in Virginia, I believe, ever sold? Seemed like an ideal place for hikers or former hikers to own and run.)
Could you kindly break down the $60/weekly for food for one person? Not a criticism, just wondering. Maybe I should budget more for my thru-hike.
"Maybe I should budget more for my thru-hike."
Yes you should, you might have so much fun and want to do a yo yo. Then it will be double. Or maybe a hurricane, or maybe a landslide, or hiker- flu, or just about anything could happen like in real life. But you could always resort to being a section hiker and give up on your dream.
Guideline for traveling: Take half of what you think you need and twice the money.
ALLEGHENY
02-25-2016, 20:27
Guideline for traveling: Take half of what you think you need and twice the money.
And put some in reserve.
I got messed up talking about money in my posts and abbreviated hundreds with a K. Way too much.
jj dont play
02-25-2016, 20:31
And put some in reserve.
I got messed up talking about money in my posts and abbreviated hundreds with a K. Way too much.
Yea I was thinking dang you must of stayed at some really nice places and ate nothing but filet mignon
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
ALLEGHENY
02-25-2016, 20:48
I'm going to try and account for every penny spent on my upcoming hike of 38% of the AT by keeping a ledger. I've never really tried to track of how much these trips cost me.
I looked at my statements of credit card and bank withdraws after one of these posts on here. Then I added it up. If I recall it was $4470 not counting pre hike gear purchase. I have no true idea what each item cost. I was just throwing a general example of what it may of cost me each week on average.
ALLEGHENY
02-25-2016, 21:12
Yea I was thinking dang you must of stayed at some really nice places and ate nothing but filet mignon
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sorry!
I did not live that high on the hog. Regular national chain motel and some touristy B&B $50 - $80. Maybe not steak every week but after a shower and shave, haircut (3). A nice sit down restaurant, tips , and I like a beer or two. Just like grams, consumables add up. I had the means and I was on vacation.
MuddyWaters
02-25-2016, 22:15
Wow. Maybe I'm misreading your post (and I might be) but $60/week for food (not including a restaurant) sounds high for hiking. I have spent no more than $70 for parent and child/week on the trails (any trails), and we did fine, I'm not a tightwad (but I didn't drink alcohol and I rarely eat red meat). This included some food my "supplier," an Adirondacks man who creates delicious, healthy freeze-dried food geared to hikers (but also fine for making at home). I would think the most expensive think would be the B&B. (Was that independent, non-AYH hostel in Virginia, I believe, ever sold? Seemed like an ideal place for hikers or former hikers to own and run.)
Could you kindly break down the $60/weekly for food for one person? Not a criticism, just wondering. Maybe I should budget more for my thru-hike.
A lot depends on where you buy resupply. Some places are higher than others. As well as how many calories you eat. $10 per day isnt high by any stretch if you like some jerky protein, meat sticks, etc. You can easily hit $15 per day for trail food. Want a mountainhouse for dinner occassionally, its another $8 . If you like prepackaged items for simplicity, it also gets more $$$.
4 oz of beef jerky ALONE would be $8 at a convenience store, and only 320 calories. Slim jims and beef sticks are ~$1-2 each with tax. Snickers or peanut mms, $1.50 each, etc. These are high cal/oz. 10 snickers would only be 2400 cal, but would cost $15.
FooFooCuddlyPoops
02-26-2016, 02:05
Another way to save money for the hike is too watch out what you buy on gear pre-hike. Do you need sea to summit dry bags or can you get by with a off brand?
I am am planning my first long distance section hike (va - ???) part of my budgeting is pre-hike as well. While I went cheap in some places, I splurged on others. Clothing doesn't have to be top notch. Pack, Shelter, bedding, I ran by the rule of each item has to be under 2.5-3lbs. My hammock system was expensive as heck, but my bedding is homemade while still being light weight.
This is where it can add up. If your worried about money, make sure you don't spend it off trail before you get on to it. I cut back on eating out, drinking, traveling, etc before my hike. I am basically living very frugally until my 3-4 month vocation.
OK, thanks for breaking that down.
$60 a week for food does sound a little high but it can get close to that pretty easily.
Here's a "typical" diet and a guess at "average" prices and is probably a bit skimpy on how much you really end up buying. Add 10-20% if not shopping at Dollar General or Walmart.
7 tuna packets at $1.25 each = 8.75
7 Knorr sides at $1.00 each = 7.00
1 box of pop tarts = 4.00
bag of Fritos Corn chips = 4.00
7 power bars/cliff bars = 7.00
7 candy bars = 7.00
1/2 pound block of cheese = 4.00
bag of bagels = 4.00
total-------------------------- $45.75
I think this is very conservative. This amount of food wouldn't last me 4 days.
MuddyWaters
02-27-2016, 12:48
I think this is very conservative. This amount of food wouldn't last me 4 days.
Exactly. Thats probably generously 2000 cal per day, not 4000
At minimum multiply by 1.5+
Bagel 150
Cliff bar 210
1 oz cheese 100
Tuna pack. 80
Pop tart 200
Candy bar 240
Knorr side 500
Fritos 2 oz 360
Maybe around 5000 just to play it safe. Always better to have too much than not enough!
ok the highest number I have seen on any spending thread was 10K - excluding medical expenses does anyone have tales of a higher number
Puddlefish
02-29-2016, 02:01
ok the highest number I have seen on any spending thread was 10K - excluding medical expenses does anyone have tales of a higher number
I was considering hiring a personal shopper/chef/shuttle driver to meet me at the roads, for resupply and fresh laundry delivery. Maybe hire some Trail Sherpas as well, but that might be considered tacky.
33900
MuddyWaters
02-29-2016, 02:53
ok the highest number I have seen on any spending thread was 10K - excluding medical expenses does anyone have tales of a higher number
Sisu's 2014 trail journal claims $12000. Some special circumstances, but especially off season without others to share expenses, waiting out cold weather in towns, hostels and trail infrastructure closed, and trying to eat healthy. He did say he coyld do a conventional hike for half of that. Basically, he was 2x overbudget.
Feral Bill
02-29-2016, 16:01
To be optimistic, we have to eat anyway, so the added cost of eating on the trail is around zero. Same for replacing worn out clothes, having a meal out and a drink, or even an occasional night in a motel. See, now we're getting a really cheap vacation.:)
ALLEGHENY
02-29-2016, 16:13
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php/73587-how-to-hike?highlight=mt+squid
Wish I had found this 4 years ago.