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B Thrash
07-31-2003, 19:20
What would be a good estimated cost to thru-hike the AT?. This is to include good equipment, meals, motels, hostels, mail drops, shuttles, replacement of worn out equipment etc.










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totum dependeat

let it all hang out

stranger
07-31-2003, 21:21
I would say if you didn't have any gear, including travel to Springer, and to complete a thru-hike you would probably need around $4-5000. Saying that I am sure there are people who could get by on much less.

Gear costs can vary obviously...For example you could get a Gregory Reality $230, Mtn Hrdwr Waypoint Tent $2-250, 800 fill down bag $3-350.

Or buy a Kelty Trekker pack $100, basic rectangle tarp $30-40 and a Campmor 20 down bag for $120-150. A good water filter can cost you $70-150, Aqua Mira costs less than $15 and can't clog or break. But some things are worth the money, like expensive, ultra-light, bombproof tent stakes.

Trail costs can vary depending on your time limit, your pace, your social preferences, your bar time etc...

Zenpig
07-31-2003, 21:40
After your gear, the basic rule of thumb is a dollar a mile. That is pretty conservative though, plan on two dollars a mile for more restaurant and motel visits in towns.

Lone Wolf
08-01-2003, 00:24
5 grand

Blue Jay
08-01-2003, 08:02
That depends on what you want. I have two friend who go ultra cheap instead of ultra light. I didn't believe it either until I hiked with them. Get your gear at Good Will or Salvation Army. I have a perfect Patagonia fleece I got for 3$ and a Clip Flashlight tent with a small hole in the mesh for $8. You go to every fast food place at 1 PM when they throw out the stale lunch food, offer to clean up the dumpster area. Working class people love this one as they hate doing this job. They just stuff you like a turky with food. This also works well at supermarkets during shift changes. The record for ultra low thruhiker spending, as far as I know, is $300. You do have to listen to rich hikers whine about the "image" of hikers. The locals know we are just homeless and not criminals, but rich hikers blow every thing including safety issues out of proportion. I usually spent around $3000 (middle class hiking). Rich indulgent hiking starts at about $5000. There are some super rich at $10,000, then you can get Cabana Boys to carry your stuff.

bulldog
08-01-2003, 09:17
i spent about 2 grand on my thru hike. i also already had most of my equipment as i grew up camping and backpacking. i also didnt filter my water, have very much clothing, or basically take anything excessive. i also only spent the night in a motel/hotel three times and one of those times was in the doyle before teh place got cleaned up. next time i thru hike though i will plan on spending about twice that figure.

illininagel
08-01-2003, 09:50
Shopping for gear on eBay can often result in significant savings as well...

Youngblood
08-01-2003, 10:14
One of the biggest variables is the number of town stop/stays. I had just retired and tried to see as many of the small towns along the way as I could. I bought all my food locally, ate well when I was in towns and usually stayed at least one night at every town I visited. My guess is that it cost me between $50 to $100 per day when I was in town, depending on whether it was the first or second day and where I was at on the trail, especially Connecticut. The younger thru-hikers that didn't budget for 'town costs' sometimes seemed really frustated/disappointed when they got to towns and could not afford to join the other thru-hikers when they ate restuarant food and stayed in motels. Some of my fondest memories are the town stays, especially hanging out and eating good with my thru-hiker buddies. The towns were kind of like a reward and a short sanctuary from the grinds of the trail (backpacking 2167.5 miles is a LOT of work). I don't know if a lot of us could have made it without 'town stays' along the way, they rejuvinated the spirits and rested the body... but they cost money.

Youngblood

illininagel
08-01-2003, 11:21
Youngblood,

I'm considering a thru-hike in '04...I'm recently retired...and want to approach it the way you did. I like the idea of stopping in towns as a reward (and to refresh) and at this point in my life the money isn't my greatest concern.

I think I have some idea what the backpacking will entail. But, could you give me an idea about the quality of the facilities at the town stops. I'm not one to stay in rundown, cockroach infested motel rooms. I would rather set my tent up in the room than deal with that. Most of the books about the AT that I've read indicate that you should expect "stained mattresses and sagging box springs" during a town stop.

Do most of the towns offer decent places to stay and eat? I'm just not sure what to expect, particularly when starting out in Georgia.

Your perspective, or any other thru-hiker's for that matter, would be appreciated.

Illininagel

meBrad
08-01-2003, 11:28
I have come to understand that my participation in this forum is counter productive. In an attempt to ammend this I am deleting my posts and have requested to have my account deleted

gravityman
08-01-2003, 12:00
There are a number of better hotels, but you will get use to the interesting and colorful places along the trail. It's what makes it worth while. You expand your comfort zone!

Here's a quote from someone's journal that I wrote down. Can't remember who's now...

Life as a thru-hiker :


"What no one told me is that my cleanliness standards would also plummet. I
started hiking the trail with the best of intentions, but, well, reality
intervenes. I admit it. I stink most of the time. I smell okay after a
shower and laundry, but that situation lasts hours at best. Lets face it, a
sponge bath on the trail can only do so much. And, as another hiker friend
told us, putting deodorant on a hiker is like putting perfume on dog poop.
We try, but I'm afraid it's a lost cause.


So, you ask, why am I sharing this with you? I guess it's the Hotel Doyle
in Duncannon that's done it to me. I'm a broken woman. I was actually happy
to get a room here. And it is, to put a kind spin on things, a DIVE. In my
pre-hike days I wouldn't have been caught dead here. Our mattress is
sprung. The lighting is a bare bulb. There's no AC, and the room fan
rattles and wheezes. The ceiling is water stained. The bathroom is down the
hall. And the kicker is--we're considering staying here another night. I
have sunk to a low that I never imagined possible, and it's actually
liberating. We just laugh and deal with it. After you've hiked for four
days, sweating, without a shower, slapping at gnats and mosquitos, anyplace
with running water is a step up.


Pray for me, friends. The Hotel Doyle actually looks good to me..."

illininagel
08-01-2003, 12:22
Gravityman,

Thanks for the interesting perspective from the trail journal. The most that I've backpacked before was a 6 day, 65 mile hike through the Grand Tetons. I have a small sense of appreciation of how it feels to lower my cleanliness standards on the trail. And, I think I could probably deal with that part, although it will take a few days or weeks to adjust my standards.

The part that is harder for me to envision is being willing to sleep in dives in the towns. After our 6 day trip, we checked into a motel that we quickly saw was roach infested. Roaches were scattering off the bedspreads when we turned the lights on upon entering the room. We checked out immediately and found another motel---not luxurious, but clean (meaning, free of roaches). I would have been content to sleep in a campground--what I wanted most at that point was a shower and some food.

There's no question that we will open up our comfort zone. Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting to stay in a palace. I just want running water and a reasonably clean room to sleep in. I don't care if I end up sleeping on a piece of plywood. As long as its not infested with insects.

Maybe I'll change my mind as the thru-hike progresses.

gravityman
08-01-2003, 12:42
Yeah, insects are gross.

I remember one of the first nights on the trail when we started using just our clip flashlight rainfly (we had a piece of tyvek for a ground cloth and just stuck the tent poles into the ground. It's amazing, but we never had a camping spot where this didn't work!). We were camping on dried leaves. We didn't notice when we set up, but there were a bunch of bugs in the leaves that I dubbed "leaf eaters". As we were trying to go to sleep you could here a couple hundred beetls going "crunch, crunch, crunch" Bothered me much more than my wife. She still makes fun of me for being bothered by that!

Anyway, we never say coachroaches like that in any place we stayed. I'm sure there was a small number of bugs, but never such a large number.

Our rental car in Hawaii had a large number of coachroaches though! We left an empty coffee cup in the holder one evening, and when we came back it was covered with about 50 of various sizes. YUCK! Didn't take any naps in that car!

You'll be fine. This is not something to even think about, seriously. You'll always be able to find a place to stay that meets your requirements. Just don't stay at mountain mama's. That place had the WORST reviews. Of course if it is raining...

Gravity Man

Youngblood
08-01-2003, 14:35
Illininagel,

I think your question has been answered about as well as it can be. Did I stay at motels that I would not have even slowed down for if I was in my car? YES! What are you going to do, walk/hitch another 10 or 20 miles to another place. Heck, you just laugh about it and do the best you can. Like others mentioned, you will sometimes be glad that you got a room. On the bright side, the price is usually pretty amazing at some of those places. The conditions of the motels/hostels along the way it is not something that you should fret over.

Youngblood