View Full Version : Another how much..question.
Runsalone
09-07-2010, 22:08
About how much $$$ would you take for a 1 month..ish hike in late april? Im figurin around a grand, I didnt budget from my little jaunt in 08 so I dont remember how much per week I spent exactly. 250 a week sounds like plenty to me I think, including town stops and all. Open to opinions!
Lone Wolf
09-07-2010, 22:15
where? what section?
pattydivins
09-07-2010, 22:19
You can do it for free if you just sleep in shelters, make your own shelters out of sticks and leaves, and eat plants for nutrition. Don't be afraid to throw sticks at small game (rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, etc.) to stun them then run over to them and rip their heads off and eat them for protein.
couscous
09-07-2010, 22:27
In that case .. these would make handy double-duty trekking poles ..
http://www.woodlanddirect.com/core/media/media.nl;jsessionid=cN2nMG0J9QT3G0vndCzTnQfBGMQk2G SMjCFg1tx1S2Z2pYv8Q2zyJH11GyTRprchn6FNXKRWQ9BgbGpw pSnc3HpM6YqQ9jC8r5ZD3Tr6yJZwXB8T2t2vBfrTGpnPh1g6%2 1-925749222?id=149457&c=483668&h=f620a3a01cd116ca8408
Different Socks
09-08-2010, 18:39
$1000 for one month!!!! LMAO!!! A grand would be about 1/3 of my budget for the whole trail.
$1000 for one month!!!! LMAO!!! A grand would be about 1/3 of my budget for the whole trail.
Yeah, that seems like a lot of money for a month on the AT.
How often do you think you'll resupply?
Johnny Thunder
09-08-2010, 20:42
bring the grand. don't overthink it. you probably won't spend it but why worry about running out. it's vacation.
plus, section hiking costs more per day than thru-hiking b/c the fixed costs (i.e travel expense, etc) of thru-hiking can be spread out over the course of a longer thru hike.
Lone Wolf
09-08-2010, 20:45
bring the grand. don't overthink it. you probably won't spend it but why worry about running out. it's vacation.
plus, section hiking costs more per day than thru-hiking b/c the fixed costs (i.e travel expense, etc) of thru-hiking can be spread out over the course of a longer thru hike.
i agree with johnny.
$1000 for a month sounds about right. I personally wouldn't start with less.
Nazarene
09-08-2010, 21:16
Is the cost of gear, traveling to the trail and back from wherever you live included in the cost? If not, I really do think 1000$ is alot. Do you plan on stopping in towns to spend money on leisure? I guess it depends on all you want to do.
Serial 07
09-08-2010, 22:10
johnny's right...haven't been on here in a while...HI everyone!
About how much $$$ would you take for a 1 month..ish hike in late april? Im figurin around a grand, I didnt budget from my little jaunt in 08 so I dont remember how much per week I spent exactly. 250 a week sounds like plenty to me I think, including town stops and all. Open to opinions!Alot more tempations and expectations today compared to when I was a student. Alot easier to go into debt also. I got by on very little when I was 16-20 and travelling across the country with my sailboat, going to regattas, living out of my car, grocery stores, limited beer budget. Extra money would be spent on the boat, not on fancy food or expensive bars, not when there was a grocery store and beer store just around the corner. Different world today though. Today it seems kids and other people are expected to either work harder, or run themselves deeper into debt, or stay home. Actually, I think we are expected to run ourselves deeper into debt regardless. Anyhow, if you can hike on $100 a week, and I think you can if you have the willpower, then I say more power to you. If it means that you will be able to hike more, rather than less, then that would seem to be the best justification in my view. If you have the money, and you will hike more spending $500 a week than $250 a week, then that is the better budget for those circumstances.
Whatever budget enables you to get out and hike more. That's the answer.
When I hike the Fundy Footpath, Fundy National Park, Dobson Trail, or some other local trail up to 5 days, which is all the time I have now, it is just gas and cheap groceries, and gas and maybe a breakfast someplace on the way there or the way back. Say $10-$15 per day on average, travel and meal stops included. That is what hiking and paddling and cross-country skiing cost me. But that is because my own hot shower and warm bed and family are just a 1-3 hour away. If I was away on the AT, it would likely involve getting dropped off by my wife and picked up again 2-4 weeks later. I would probably do it as cheap as $100 per week, not counting travel, but there would be some extra cost on the way down and at the starting point with the family, and at the end point with the family and the trip home. That would easily make it closer to $250 per week, not counting gas. It would be tempting to spend a little more in between, on just myself with whatever friends I met enroute, but I would rather leave that money for my wife and daughter to do some shopping or whatever, on the way down or back or while I was gone. Just the way it is. Everyones situations and motivations are different.
As far as freeloading, I will take a free beer if offered, but I keep score and return such favours to others. It would bother me if I was to receive alot of trail magic without having the opportunity to return such favours, or spend a little more in smaller places along the way. With that in mind I would probably extend my in-between budget to $150 per week rather than $100, not counting the start and end extras. Some places are hard though, when everything is geared for tourists and todays cost of living, to just grab a simple breakfast and coffee some place and leave a fair tip. I have no idea if places like that even exist anymore. If I do hike the AT I would like to think that they do, but everyone today pretty much lives in the same world as we do, and it aint that easy. It does seem to be a case of go big or stay home.
4eyedbuzzard
09-09-2010, 00:37
I've heard that the average thru-hike budget is now around $4K or so, so $1000 for a month isn't that extreme, just a bit more. I think you can likely live pretty well from a trail standpoint while hiking on that kind of money (roughly $30/day) - stay in a few motels / hostels, eat at some restaurants, have a few drinks, etc. - and buy good food.
I like to eat well and will carry meat for the first 2 days out of town, fresh veggies, fruit, etc. so I could easily spend $10 just on food for one trail dinner. A small container of honey is $5. One apple can now cost over a dollar. I think people tend to under-estimate food costs. You eat a lot more hiking than at home (at least I do), and the places you buy from and smaller portions you buy aren't usually as cheap as what you can buy if you're home and able to "shop" for good prices / deals / coupons / bulk, etc.
And hey, if you don't spend it all, that's fine too. Better to have too much money than not enough.