how to moneeeeeyyyy????

[letmebefreee]

alo, me and my wife are going to be thru hiking in march of this year and are curious how past thru hikers have carried there $$$. In what forms cash?, how much?.... debit card? ATM? we plan on using 5 or 6 mail drops only and have heard that u cant really send yourself cash nor would it be that reliable if i could so ..... just curious and thanks for the help :P

[Blissful]

I carried $100 in cash in various spots and had a debit card (of which you need a back up that can be mailed to you in case the strip is worn off) and a credit card. You can get cash back on the trail in many grocery stores and cash back at the PO as well as using ATMs.

[garlic08]

I carried about $200 in cash and two cards, in case something happened to one card (like the time the bank got bought by another bank and changed the account numbers and I was screwed for while). Once a lightning storm took out the telephone system in a small town and I got a real nice $120 motel room for $50 because I had cash. And I just opened an account with a debit card that refunds all ATM fees (at Schwab).

[Miner]

I carried my Driver's License and 2 CC and a debit card; I didn't keep them all together either since loosing everything at once would suck since it would take several days to replace any cards. I also carried between $40 to $200 at all times (it varried depending on what I knew about the towns coming up and how much I just spent as I left).

[Ron Haven]

If you go into hiker friendly motels they will usually always discount rooms a little bit for cash.

[stranger]

I always make sure I LEAVE town with atleast $100 so when I get to the next town I'm covered even if I can't access money. I've never had a problem accessing money through an ATM, although during Trail Days and things like that it's common for ATM's to run out of money.

Also, not a bad idea to bury some emergency money in the bottom of your pack just in case

[Jack Tarlin]

I agree with everything said above.

In the older days, there were lots of places where there were no banks, no ATM's, no places you could get cash back on a purchase, etc.

Things have changed a lot.

Nevertheless, there are still places that don't take credit cards, or times where you may well need cash for a purchase (like a shuttle, etc.)

I think it's a really good idea to carry at least a hundred bucks, and probably more, in twenties. Just rathole them deep in your wallet somewhere; sooner or later you'll be glad you have them.

If you don't need 'em and they're still there at the end of your trip, well there's your victory steak dinner, but better to have this money available whenever you may need it rather than NOT have it when you REALLY do.

[Doctari]

I do traveler's checks mostly. Last trip My wife & I (separate locations) found a few people who had never heard of them, we had to teach quite a few clerks how to use them.
I think next time I will get a few types of prepaid Credit Cards & leave the TCs alone.
I also carry cash, like the others above, usually around $100.00.

I safety pin the majority of my cash inside the very bottom of my pack (In a zip lock). before I started pinning it, it once came out with my food bag, fortunately I saw it, but that could have been a disaster. The rest is in a designated pocket, also pinned in place as above, as it shares space with other stuff so could get accidentally pulled out with (for example) my camera.

[leaftye]

I think I'd want to carry more on the PCT. Those remote high mountain towns are expensive. I can't see $100 of remote town food lasting to the next resupply point. If anything, I'd call $100 about the right amount of money to grab a meal and hitch to the nearest atm.

[Bronk]

I got a nylon change purse that hangs around my neck...carried ID card, debit card and $300 cash at all times. I figured that was enough for a motel, a meal or two and a bus ticket should anything go wrong.

[sbhikes]

On the PCT I usually had about $200, a credit card and my ATM card. As I progressed up the trail, I realized that if I carried more cash I would pay less ATM fees, so I carried a pretty big wad.