View Full Version : Thru Hike Budget
goldielocks
09-11-2016, 21:30
What are you planning to save/budget for your thru hike?
Does your budget account for gear replacements on the trail, resupply stops, zero days, etc.? How many zero days is your budget taking into consideration?
jjozgrunt
09-12-2016, 00:53
I have a 156 days to do EtE. Looking at about 12 zero's and 10-20 extra stops in town when I resup, if I feel like it. I can and do regularly hike up to 14 days without beds and showers so not a high priority. I'll resup every 3-5 days. No real idea of food costs in the USA but I gleaned off previous questions about this, that $2-3/mile is about average. But in the end the walk and my body will guide me. So that is what I'm planning on but obviously more in reserve if required.
My wife is flying over towards the end and then after we are going on a 6 week holiday over there.
5K for all expenses after I depart.
trailmercury
09-14-2016, 10:33
8000 from doorstep in Wisconsin back to my doorstep.
half maildrops/half town resupply, maildrop food costs not factored in 8000, shipping costs are
my goal is two showers per week, so the campground/hostel/motel cost will be more than average I would think...
My twelve y/o son is joining for long sections, so that's an extra mouth and body in town...
TM
Puddlefish
09-15-2016, 12:30
I planned on $1,000 a month, with an empty credit card to get me off the trail in an emergency. Took only a few zero days the first month, and didn't spend much more than than $700. Second month I hurt myself and took a pile of zero days trying to recover, maybe ten. Spent about $1,300 that month.
Mostly it depends on how fast you hike, but don't rush to save money, because that won't work either. Met quite a few guys who rushed out fast and took two or three zeros at Neel(s) Gap to recover from blisters. If you do get dinged up, take the zero day to recover sooner, rather than later.
I planned on $1,000 a month, with an empty credit card to get me off the trail in an emergency. Took only a few zero days the first month, and didn't spend much more than than $700. Second month I hurt myself and took a pile of zero days trying to recover, maybe ten. Spent about $1,300 that month.
Mostly it depends on how fast you hike, but don't rush to save money, because that won't work either. Met quite a few guys who rushed out fast and took two or three zeros at Neel(s) Gap to recover from blisters. If you do get dinged up, take the zero day to recover sooner, rather than later.
These dollar figures seem right on the money. I found I consistently spent $800/month.
Slow Trek
09-24-2016, 01:19
Two of us hiked from Springer to Harper's Ferry. No zero days,Mountain House suppers,Dollar General for lunch and breakfast. Cheap motels,several hostels,and nice restaurant meals when we could. 6800.00
I'm budgeting $10,000 for two of us, but that's just the hike and doesn't include gear (OUCH!) or travel back from Maine to Amicalola.
On my thru this year I spent just over $5000. It took me 5 months and 4 days so I was pretty much bang on $1k per month. This included buying one new set of shoes at around $150 and a particularly expensive 4 day trip to D.C. in which I spent around $600-700 (my phone broke and I had to buy a new one which definitely wasn't budgeted for).
I should point out that that budget did not include ANY of my original gear. That was all additional expense before I started hiking which probably amounted to around $1500-2000.
It's worth mentioning that I tended to eat cheaper foods like ramen and Knorr rice sides which definitely kept the costs down.
What do you find yourself spending most of your money on (excluding initial gear purchases)? How expensive was the average hostel or cheap hotel?
Slo-go'en
10-25-2016, 22:38
What do you find yourself spending most of your money on (excluding initial gear purchases)? How expensive was the average hostel or cheap hotel?
#1 food, #2 lodging.
When you add in restaurant meals, the cost of food is significant. On the low end, go to a Dollar General and buy enough food for 3-4 days. That will give you an idea of what it will run you. The Dollar General is the hikers friend. Figure $30 every time you go into a restaurant, including fast food.
Hostels can range from donation ($10 min suggested) to $50+, with a $20 average. Motels can run $50 to $100+.
I budgeted $1 per mile on the AT and $4K on the pct.
After doing both, I'd say: it is so so nice to have the extra money if you can swing it. I only ended up spending $3k on the pct, but it was much easier knowing I had the money in case something happened.
Being able to buy that burger with a fried egg and coffee or beer (if that's your thing) can make a thru so much better
After the AT I did a 2 part money oriented video: https://youtu.be/7S6WMFgl31w
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
To answer OP's question I'm looking to follow the 1K a month model, though the truly daunting tasking is ensuring I have enough money saved up to cover all my bills while I'm hiking.
I've found my company has a reasonable Leave of Absence policy that will allow me to take all of my vacation and personal time....so I'm currently banking up as much of that as I can in an attempt to get paid while I hike.
garlic08
10-27-2016, 07:44
Ditto #1 food, #2 lodging. My breakdown by rough category: Trail food $800, town food $700, lodging $800, gear replacement $400, travel to/from $700. Came out to $1000/month for a 3.5 month hike, which is my average on other long trails as well. I had budgeted $5000, so I had a good contingency fund which felt very comfortable.
I shared lodging costs with a hiking partner. We only zeroed three times, but didn't spare expenses for good restaurants and lodging when available, which was pretty often on the AT.
My friend's food costs were appreciably higher than mine. I was more frugal at grocery and restaurant stops. I was happy with raisins, he'd buy dried blueberries, for example. I didn't drink alcohol on the hike, which can make a difference for some.
WalkWithUs
10-27-2016, 09:24
We are budgeting ourselves around $10,000 (two of us hiking the trail) and expecting to complete it in just over 5 months. We'll see how it goes but figure $1000/month is pretty reasonable. That should cover our resupplies, gear replacement (unless something expensive breaks) and zeros. As others have mentioned, depending on how many zeros you take or how lavish you are when getting into towns can significantly increase your costs.
We aren't really one to plan our zero days ahead of time. If we encounter a cool enough town or just need the rest we will take the zeros. Otherwise we want to press forward.
trailmercury
10-27-2016, 09:44
To answer OP's question I'm looking to follow the 1K a month model, though the truly daunting tasking is ensuring I have enough money saved up to cover all my bills while I'm hiking.
I've found my company has a reasonable Leave of Absence policy that will allow me to take all of my vacation and personal time....so I'm currently banking up as much of that as I can in an attempt to get paid while I hike.
Me too...I'll be getting paid vacation the first 8 weeks of the hike if I don't take any days off after the first of the year...My LOA also lets me keep my benefits for 90 days so health insurance too...Will probably use COBRA after that.
I cannot wait until April 3rd!
PaulWorksHard
10-27-2016, 15:43
I spent $5000 for a 141 day thru hike. I took 11 zeroes and spent 35 nights in hostels/motels. For the most part, I got resupply packages mailed to me and did not buy trail food in towns along the way. My food in resupply packages cost about $12/day. Buying along the way would have cost significantly more. As the hike went on, I stayed in towns more frequently and started eating two entrees for dinner at restaurants. Restaurant meals consumed a big part of my budget. Hostels cost from $10 - $35. Best deal was at Appalachian Dreams where I paid $20 for a bunk, laundry, shower, dinner and breakfast. Motels varied from $40 - $85. CT, VT, MA and NH were expensive for lodging.
josh_ATL
10-30-2016, 22:29
I hiked about 1200 miles last year and ended up spending about $1000/month. That included hotels/hostels, food and gear replacement.
Two points many thruhikers don't anticipate:
1. New England is more expensive than down south...especially lodging.
2. An injury like a sprained ankle or contracting Lyme Disease can keep you in town for several unplanned zero days...very expensive especially if not anticipated in the hiker budget.
Greenlight
10-31-2016, 08:22
I'm not stepping foot on the trail without $6000 for expenses. This is on top of the normal monthly expenditures such as mortgage, utilities, etc. This should be plenty for food, gear replacements, and very few zero days in towns. I'll go to town. I'll eat at the AYCEs, I'll do laundry and take opportunistic showers but at the end of the day, most zero days, I'm climbing back up into the woods to sleep in my trusty hammock. It doesn't ask me for money every night.
What are you planning to save/budget for your thru hike?
Does your budget account for gear replacements on the trail, resupply stops, zero days, etc.? How many zero days is your budget taking into consideration?
Me too...I'll be getting paid vacation the first 8 weeks of the hike if I don't take any days off after the first of the year...My LOA also lets me keep my benefits for 90 days so health insurance too...Will probably use COBRA after that.
I cannot wait until April 3rd!
Jealous you're hitting the trail in 2017! I was trying to go for 2016, but financing issues came up now I'm tracking for 2018.
The Holiday hours I discovered recently that I get I'm going to use next year while on orders with the military to get paid twice during a one month period to bolster my savings further.
Jim Adams
11-01-2016, 01:25
WOW! I have thru hiked twice and my total for the most expensive hike was $2,800. Zero days can be expensive but not bad if you learn how and where to zero. I had 79 zero days my first year on a 191 day hike. My biggest expense was beer. If you stay in town, rent a room, eat in restaurants and sit in the bar all evening then it can get costly. OTOH, if you restock with at least 1 meal that includes "wanted" items you can eat cheap and greasy in town, carry a six pack out of town and eat that special "wanted" meal that night, the only thing you miss is the cost of a room, an expensive supper and a $30 bar tab......just make sure you camp at least 2 miles out of town so there is no urge to go back.
TylerJ76
11-23-2016, 09:22
$7000 just for the hike alone.
That doesn't include any gear, or any travel.
TylerJ76
11-23-2016, 09:24
$7000 just for the hike alone.
That doesn't include any gear, or any travel.\
ETA:
I know mine is high, but if I am doing this, I am going to make damn sure I'm comfortable, and $$$ won't be the reason I am forced to stop.
piratekitty
11-27-2016, 17:17
\
ETA:
I know mine is high, but if I am doing this, I am going to make damn sure I'm comfortable, and $$$ won't be the reason I am forced to stop.
(I'm doing 20,000 after gear. I firmly agree on being comfortable as much as possible.)
$20K That's not comfortable that's coddled. :)
StubbleJumper
11-27-2016, 19:36
(I'm doing 20,000 after gear. I firmly agree on being comfortable as much as possible.)
Are you hiring a Sherpa or something? :jump:jump:jump:D:D
piratekitty
11-27-2016, 21:28
Are you hiring a Sherpa or something? :jump:jump:jump:D:D
No. Just plan on being able to stop in town as needed. (recently diagnosed with MS, might need a real bed fairly often.)
bikeandhike
12-10-2016, 15:04
Two of us NOBO 2017.
Our budget is $2,500 month for everything including insurance, some storage fees back home, etc.
We intend to take our time and smell the roses, experience as many great breweries as possible, and live.
"Planning" on taking around 6 months to complete.
gracebowen
12-10-2016, 15:12
When I hike most of my food will be mailed using prepaid postage. I will hopefully have $500 a month to spend on the trail.
100 lodging
160 extra food
40 misc
Leaves 200 unplanned.
fastfoxengineering
12-10-2016, 15:21
I budgeted $1 per mile on the AT and $4K on the pct.
After doing both, I'd say: it is so so nice to have the extra money if you can swing it. I only ended up spending $3k on the pct, but it was much easier knowing I had the money in case something happened.
Being able to buy that burger with a fried egg and coffee or beer (if that's your thing) can make a thru so much better
After the AT I did a 2 part money oriented video: https://youtu.be/7S6WMFgl31w
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Dude I didn't know you were on here. You got a sweet youtube channel. And your well disciplined with your hiking budget. Hope you got enough money to bicycle home lol
\
ETA:
I know mine is high, but if I am doing this, I am going to make damn sure I'm comfortable, and $$$ won't be the reason I am forced to stop.
Be careful this does't boom-a-rang on you. Generally, hiking means getting accustomed to new comforts not trying to avoid discomfort totally. Expand your comfort zones. Trying to avoid adopting to LD trail life by holding on too tight to off trail comforts can take people off their hikes. Trail towns are sometimes strewn with LD hiker wannabes that succumb to the in town vortex of the coddled hike resulting in off trail coddled life. Beware of the allure of creature comforts and the in town/civilization vortex.
As you can see from the responses folks are all over the map on costs. Some get by on $500 a month and others burn through $2000 a month (most people underestimate their costs by a lot). But you have to decide how you specifically are going to hike to get an idea of what it will cost you as most of the costs are due to ones tolerance for dirt/lack of beds/lack of showers and such. If you are going to want to stay in lots of motels (by yourself is even more expensive) and don't like cheap lodging costs go way up. The kind of restaurant meals you eat while in town makes a big difference. How many nights you stay in hostels and motels makes a huge difference. If you drink a lot it makes a big difference. What kind of food you carry in your pack makes a big difference - MountainHouse is very expensive and ramen is cheap with lots of options in between. Mailing yourself food costs a LOT more not less (and is inconvenient as hell also) as folks who state it is cheap are not counting the postage and the fact that most of them end up tossing a lot of it in the hiker box and buying food at the store (I know of folks on the PCT who spent $400 on postage alone). What kind of shoes you wear impacts your costs a lot also as the lightest running shoes often only last 300 miles as compared to some shoes which will last 1500 miles. And so on and so on.
If you want/have to go cheap then it helps a lot to do the following:
1. NO ZEROS. Stay away from towns as much as possible. Time arrival in the morning, get your stuff done, and hike out of town.
2. Never stay in a motel room by yourself - share costs. Or even better never stay in motels.
3. Eat at cheap restaurants when in town and stay away from expensive meals.
4. When you buy trail supplies think about cost per calorie.
5. Avoid buying beer/drinks (yeah I know the odds on this!).
6. Hiking lots of miles per day is a huge one. 30 days less on the trail over a thru will save a ton of money.
If the way you want to hike will result in higher costs you just have to have the money to do it your way. There is no right or wrong.
“Estimate the expenses of your trip, and take more money than your estimate.” - How to Camp Out by John Mead Gould (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17575), 1877
“Estimate the expenses of your trip, and take more money than your estimate.” - How to Camp Out by John Mead Gould (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17575), 1877
Some things never change.
You aren't required to spend all of your budget.
Wayne
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Greenmountainguy
01-03-2017, 19:23
And I thought Spartan Racing was expensive! I have never done a thru hike, but I suspect anything short of $5000 would be pinching pretty tightly. I would expect to replace shoes at the least and unless you had bomb-proof equipment, some other stuff. Being on foot means you cannot shop around or wait for a mail delivery. Transport to and from the trailheads, restaurant meals, batteries, showers, motels, luxuries, etc.
It is not a cheap vacation.
And I thought Spartan Racing was expensive! I have never done a thru hike, but I suspect anything short of $5000 would be pinching pretty tightly. I would expect to replace shoes at the least and unless you had bomb-proof equipment, some other stuff. Being on foot means you cannot shop around or wait for a mail delivery. Transport to and from the trailheads, restaurant meals, batteries, showers, motels, luxuries, etc.
It is not a cheap vacation.
This is a point that many miss. Light trail runners or just basic running shoes do not last very long. Almost all are totally shot at 300 miles (yes I know that many of you use them longer but they are shot and you raise your risk of injury). The heavy trail runners are usually not good for more than 500 miles. So you need to plan on 4-6 pair of the top end shoes and maybe as many as 8 of the lightest ones (I know of one person who was on his 9th set of shoes when he finished the PCT). This costs a lot of money. One can easily spend $700 on shoes for a long thru hike.
Besides the fact that I have tender feet which do not like the light trail shoes I also factor this cost into gear selection. One can take one of the more rugged yet light hiking shoes (my favorite has been the Vasque Breeze low top non/gortex) and you can get even the CDT in with just 2 pairs. That saves about $400. And many of them have to have the shoes overnighted to a resupply point adding in another significant cost.
When I hike most of my food will be mailed using prepaid postage. I will hopefully have $500 a month to spend on the trail.
100 lodging
160 extra food
40 misc
Leaves 200 unplanned.
Depending on where you are and how much you want to stop in town that may be pretty hard to make it on.
In many of the towns along the trail it will be hard to find lodging $50/night. New England, mid-Altantic anywhere on the PCT.
Meals in town (don't forget how much food we start eating) can easily eat up $40/day and many go way over that when you include alcohol.
If you are including gear replacement and new shoes in that $500 total it will be tight to say the least.
gracebowen
01-07-2017, 00:59
Not more than once a week in town probably less. Only one resturaunt meal 10 or less. Maybe more if AYCE. Plan to use AYCE when available for town food.No alcohol.
A couple cost analyses I've found:
https://longstride.net/at2016/cost-analysis
http://www.bemental.me/trail-analytics/
jeremys
very useful for folks to see how easy it is to spend a lot.
gracebowen
Check the links they will help you. One of the ways folks end up spending a lot more than they intend to is that almost everyone falls into a group of hikers who become your buddies for a time if not the whole trail. Just hanging with them and accommodating everyone's desires and trying not to get separated from them will naturally run one into more stops and zeros and hotels and restaurants. It just adds up quickly. And slacking as the first link describes will add costs quickly also.
fastfoxengineering
01-08-2017, 22:10
I have the money. But one of my goals on thee AT is to hike for as cheap as possible for a disciplined learning experience. I have some ld hiking experience and I know for new people the allure and comfort a town visit does for one after a few tough days on the trail. After lightening my load and becoming a more efficient hiker. I find I have less and less of those tough day stretches and no longer feel the need to stay in town every few days. Out here in the East. I'm usually gross after two weeks hiking in our woods, and looking for laundry and a shower.
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gracebowen
01-09-2017, 00:30
1100 for a resturaunt meal. Speechless. I know I will have to be very careful with money. I am used to it. I support 5 sometimes 6 people on 2500 a month.
Ive done the math and for me food mailed works. I can get a weeks worth of food for $50. I did the math and its enough calories. Shipping is $20 rounded up.
I dont expect to find the repetitive foods too oroblematic because I am used to it. I am also used to eating food I am not overly fond of just because its food.
If in a group and they go to a place I cant afford to actually eat at I can get the daily special or appetizer.
I already do this so again I am used to it. I also know ways to compensate for minor overspending. I can alyays head back to the trail and zero there if I dont want to leave my group behind.
I know my way wont work for everyone but I can make it work. Ive almost always been below the poverty level but I rarely feel poor. 2 years ago I got a part time job and I now make about $500 a year over the poverty level for my family size.
MtDoraDave
01-09-2017, 08:22
Looks like it'll be a while before I can afford my thru hike. Saving $35/ week, it's going to be quite a few years before I have saved the cash to hike AND pay mortgage. Looks like I'll need to have at least $10k saved prior to starting a thru; more if I want to be more comfortable. Fear of running out of money or having to pinch pennies for the last month of a long hike would take some of the pleasure out of it for me.
Slo-go'en
01-09-2017, 14:09
I know my way wont work for everyone but I can make it work. Ive almost always been below the poverty level but I rarely feel poor.
You really don't know if your way will work for you either until you go out there and try. Hopefully it will. It's really hard to resist a big meal or two or three in town when your really hungry or not to spend an extra day at the hostel when you get up and find it's still cold and raining out.
lwhikerchris
01-15-2017, 16:52
$1000/month and you will be comfortable.