View Full Version : Money on the trail
TeamLoblolly
12-26-2012, 17:23
Question, if I have 10 mail drops on a thru hike, how much money does someone with experience figure they will use along the trail? I wont be staying in any motels and will RARELY ever eat at a retail establishment. I will just be resupplying along the way. I also understand that everyone's eating habits are different and some could go with less. Whats your bare minimum? Thanks
The reality of the trail for almost every thru-hiker will change their thinking on several issues by the time they fininsh the hike. Judging from the tone of your question I'm thinking that you are thinking that you won't need more that $1,000 bucks to complete a thru-hike on the AT. I thought that way once. I'm a skin flint, I eat off the dollar menu and pocket the extra crackers at Wendy's. I once spent half the summer sleeping in a refridgerator box. I'm here to tell you that I will not go on another AT thru-hike with less than $4,000 bucks and about a dozen mail drops. What changed for me was my behavior. Before the hike I would not stay in a hotel, nor would I eat 4 resturant meals in one day. I changed my mind about that. I guess thats what utter exhaustion will do to you.
The reality of the trail for almost every thru-hiker will change their thinking on several issues by the time they fininsh the hike. Judging from the tone of your question I'm thinking that you are thinking that you won't need more that $1,000 bucks to complete a thru-hike on the AT. I thought that way once. I'm a skin flint, I eat off the dollar menu and pocket the extra crackers at Wendy's. I once spent half the summer sleeping in a refridgerator box. I'm here to tell you that I will not go on another AT thru-hike with less than $4,000 bucks and about a dozen mail drops. What changed for me was my behavior. Before the hike I would not stay in a hotel, nor would I eat 4 resturant meals in one day. I changed my mind about that. I guess thats what utter exhaustion will do to you.
I agree with Moldy for the most part - - I think that when you get to your mail drops, you'll find that you don't need much of what you send to yourself and will just bounce it. You only need mail drops for stuff you can't buy (specialty foods, contact lenses, spare eyeglasses, that sort of stuff) - - it's fun to get a drop but they are sort of out-dated. You might consider backing off to about 6 mail drops. Now, about the money: you can do a spartan hike on $1000 plus a full gear-kit if you really want to (no booze, no movies in town, real hotel rooms on a cold rainy night, very little gear replacement and lots and lots of oatmeal and peanut butter etc.) - it can be and does get done. But like Moldy, I suggest that if you have a good cash reserve, your chances of completing a thru-hike will improve.
A reasonably fast thru hike will save you money. Let's say you do a 20 week thru hike(which is faster than most). To hold this pace of about 15 mpd you'll need to build up to a 20 mpd capibility pretty fast because you WILL want a zero here and there. I think you will spend about $150 per week (that's $20 per day - - this includes food, fuel, gear replacement including shoes, socks, etc.) 20 +/- p.d. x $140 would be $3000.00 In the poker world, that would still be called "short stacked" but it is at least plausible. Now, if you are starting fresh with buying gear, another $1000 is barely going to cover it, so that puts Moldy's number pretty spot-on.
Start with $300 cash and plan on spacing out 6 mail drops with $200 cash in each drop (all 5s 10s and 20s - - be careful not to flash a lot of cash around and hide it good (not in your pack - - I like a pocket inside your rain pants or something). This is half your budget. Hostels and local businesses appreciate cash. Plan on putting the other half of your budget money - $1500 - on your credit card (get a pre-paid one if you need to). If possible, it would also be good to have someone that can send you some emergency money if needed.
Lone Wolf
12-26-2012, 18:46
Question, if I have 10 mail drops on a thru hike, how much money does someone with experience figure they will use along the trail? I wont be staying in any motels and will RARELY ever eat at a retail establishment. I will just be resupplying along the way. I also understand that everyone's eating habits are different and some could go with less. Whats your bare minimum? Thanks
you have any LD hiking experience? if not, good luck with that plan. i don't see you stickin' to it
max patch
12-26-2012, 18:47
I wont be staying in any motels and will RARELY ever eat at a retail establishment.
Good luck with that....
I spent $2,000 on my thru 25 years ago. I'm guessing I'll spend $5,000 next year - and won't be surprised if I spend more.
you have any LD hiking experience? if not, good luck with that plan. i don't see you stickin' to it
Lone Wolf is known here as a nay-sayer (or some might say a "realist") - - you should hike your own hike - - you certainly CAN do it in a very spartan way - - most people spend about $2 per mile but most people also probably stop too much, drink too much booze, stay in too many hostels, and have too much town fun. Above all else, hike your OWN hike - - there is about a 70% chance that Lone Wolf is right though
you have any LD hiking experience? if not, good luck with that plan. i don't see you stickin' to it Sinister? Yes. Corect in his yiews, always.
Sinister? Yes. Corect in his yiews, always.
He might be correct in his "yiews" but I would differ with him quite a bit on many of his views :rolleyes:
Slo-go'en
12-26-2012, 22:51
I wont be staying in any motels and will RARELY ever eat at a retail establishment. I will just be resupplying along the way.
Yea right, you have about a one in a million chance sticking to that for very long. You can avoid a lot of sit down resturant meals by eating out of grocery store deli departments when available, but if you want a shower, you'll have to swing for a motel room or stay at a hostel.
Yep, 5 grand. Ask anyone who's actually thrued recently.
Yea you can to it a little cheaper but it sucks when all your new found hiking buddies are in town stuffing pizza and downing beers and your in your tent a mile outside of town, probably on a cold raining night, all by yourself. How long you gonna do that before you quit?
A thru hike is for most a once in a lifetime adventure, take advantage of the fun stuff (which always cost money).
Have fun and good luck!
Bro I thru-hiked three times in 96 i did a flip-flop and i spent roughly 2600$ and in 06 i did a GA-ME and spent 5000$ and this year ( 2012 ) i did another GA-ME and spent 6500$ i know that sounds like alot but it really isn't once you figure in Gear cost, Transportation To and from the trail, Food and, Gear replacement, and when you say you will not stay in a motel, i BET you will and every time you hit a town you going to burn those Resturants up, when i do another Thru-Hike either next year or 2014 i will have atleast 5-7ooo$ dollars saved for the trip. But bro its your hike and your decision but my advise to you is don't attempt unless you have atleast 4-5000$ saved. RED-DOG
SOBO_Pace
12-27-2012, 18:14
Just finished my sobo. 5k is a good number to shoot for. My buddy who started with me started with me took 2000 and ran out in NY. RED-DOG is right on. My next thru I'm going to take at least 6-7000.
Hosaphone
12-27-2012, 19:15
Yea you can to it a little cheaper but it sucks when all your new found hiking buddies are in town stuffing pizza and downing beers and your in your tent a mile outside of town, probably on a cold raining night, all by yourself. How long you gonna do that before you quit?
A thru hike is for most a once in a lifetime adventure, take advantage of the fun stuff (which always cost money).
Have fun and good luck!
I haven't thru'd, but it seems to me it depends a lot on what kind of experience you want:
If you hike slow, hang with the pack and party in towns a lot, of course you're going to spend tons of money.
If you go fast and hike a more solitary hike, you could potentially save lots of money. More miles means you can go further between resupplies and avoid towns. You likely won't have as much of a social experience, but with the thousands of people who hike the trail I would think you should be able to find similar budget-minded people to hike with if you want. It may be very difficult to abandon your friends and push on by yourself.
Again I have not thru'd the AT, but it seems to me that it in theory it should be possible to hike very cheaply. However, it all comes down to your mindset, what your goals for the hike are, and how much discipline you have. If you want to do a "social" hike, it's probably going to be exceptionally difficult to hike cheaply. If you hike mostly by yourself or with a group of other budget-conscious people, it may be easier. Putting in big miles and not getting too attached to people will probably help.
If you don't have much long distance hiking experience you probably won't know what your needs/wants are until you get out there, so try to be conservative with your budget and listen to these people who have been there and done it.
Agreed, being out there for MONTHS is a long journey, want to suffer, go crawl around in a desert for a while...........the AT has food, hotels, etc, etc.
I have not one thread about complete suffering money-wise on this amazing trail...........the people, the towns, the food, whatever you are into, yes ..... maybe bars, is a part of the experience. At different levels.
That costs money..............I would not want to come into towns tired, hungry & thirsty with no money or credit cards.
Pizza and beers come at a cost.
Slo-go'en
12-27-2012, 22:30
Again I have not thru'd the AT, but it seems to me that it in theory it should be possible to hike very cheaply.
Maybe in theory, but in practice trail towns have a way of sucking money out of your pocket at a frightfully fast rate...
5k is the social have fun number - - I thru hiked in 1985 with just less than 2K - 2K in 1985 = $4100, now +/- (and this included some gear purchases and left over money) - sure, you can stop at every good hostel, eat pizza at every town and party hard and spend whatever you want, but to hike the AT and feed yourself and stay at a hostel when you need a shower and laundry can still be accomplished on a more spartan budget - - especially if you are seeking a more wilderness oriented, backcountry experience and not just doing the town to town shuffle
I occasionally will see people post that they have done a thru hike in recent years for under $2,000. However, I do not recall seeing very many (or any) people really presenting a detailed accounting or "proof" that they did it. i think some people merely have "selective memory" when recounting their costs and they also fail to include everything.
I vaguely recall one person saying they did a thru hike for a pretty low amount--but when pushed for details--you discover that he did not include the significant cost of shipping his mail drops or the VERY significant cost of the food and other things that were in those mail drops because "mom was paying for those things". In my mind--you want to claim that you did a thru hike at a very low cost---you have to include ALL the costs--even if mommy is paying for them. I also remember reading of someone who claimed low costs--but you find out that they pretty much lived out of hiker boxes and depended upon other hikers and people in trail towns to 'help them out" along the way. I don't think that really counts as a true low cost hike either.
The amount that most folks seem to report is in the $4,000 to $6,000 range with some people falling below or above those numbers.
Flachenmann
12-28-2012, 04:02
Would it be reasonable to say that 3000 dollars would be enough to do a SOBO hike? Considering that SOBO is seen as a less social more back country experience it would be cheaper?
Yea right, you have about a one in a million chance sticking to that for very long. You can avoid a lot of sit down resturant meals by eating out of grocery store deli departments when available, but if you want a shower, you'll have to swing for a motel room or stay at a hostel.
I shower on the trail almost everyday I'm out.
ChuckBrown
12-28-2012, 05:08
Mine cost at least 6000, although I did not track all my expenses. As mentioned before it might get old very quick, listening to all your fellow hikers talk about their Funtime in town, while you were in a shelter a few miles away. One thing started to bug me were the hikers that would show up at your motel door" hey man can I take a shower in your room" because they didn't or couldn't get their own room. Kinda like the guys who announce at springer " I'm going stove less for the entire hike" then at night they want to know" could you heat me some water for my tea, please."
I know it's hike your own hike, but be prepared for the consequences of hiking your way.
Yea, you can always mooch off of others and save lots of money. You probably won't make any friends but...
And to further reduce your costs buy all your stuff at REI and return it for a refund when you're done :(
(I'm not saying anyone should do this but I know it happens)
If nothing else, we're all predictable. :)
Use the search feature and you can probably find 50 threads on this exact topic with the same people saying the same thing.
Reading this thread has been like watching a Law & Order rerun on TNT for the 20th time....
p.s. If you search you'll see that I always say "$7,000" because I would want to make SURE I had enough to finish with some left over so I would not come home broke with no money to reboot my life when the hike was over.
I'm not saying that all my friends here are wrong about $5K, $6K etc. but remember that by nature, people that hang out on WB are naysayers - - lots of people here have hiked thru and now hike in much more luxurious and social ways. I do too sometimes and sometimes I'm a naysayer. I've done quite a bit of long-distance backpacking for very little money - - it can be done. You can put together a gear kit that should work fine for between $700-$900 if you work hard at it and you can get by on less $100 per week or less actually living in the woods and only purchasing food and fuel. You can also commit to eating a lot of things like oatmeal, ramen, dehydrated potatoes, and peanut butter. You can tell your stories to weekend day hikers and charm them with your tales and get fed for free (not technically yogiing in my book). You can reward yourself with a hostel bunk only every few weeks. You can take showers at campgrounds and do a good bit of swimming to stay clean. Now, whether you will do this or not is up for debate but I can assure you that $6,000 or $7,000 is not a "must-have" - - especially if you are young, willing to roll with the punches, and be a little uncomfortable and dirty at times, hitch-hike, eat cheap, and use hiker boxes - - - moving fast also helps a lot - - if you can do a thru hike at an 22 mpd average pace plus take only a few neros and 1 zero a month, you can hike the AT in about 4 months - - this would work out like this:
Gear: $700 (e-bay, used, trade, hang out at an outfitter store and chat them up about what is in the store room from last year)
Gear Replacement: $300
Travel: (bus, train,, hitch) $500
Weekly expenses: 16 @ $100 $1600
Misc. Luxuries $200
This puts you at $3,300 - - sure is skinny but I think it can be (and does get done - - it could also be done for less)
10K is right though - - the more money you have, the more is guaranteed - - but just about everything is like that
one last note about "mooching" - - if you just say, "hey dude, I'm hungry, can I have that?" then THAT is mooching. If you repair something for somebody or slack pack them over a mountain or help some kids group set up their camp-out and tell them stories or collect wood and build them a campfire and eat dinner with them then THAT is barter - - a very good thing.
Lone Wolf
12-28-2012, 10:14
Lone Wolf is known here as a "realist" - - there is about a 70% chance that Lone Wolf is right though
more like 90%
Hosaphone
12-28-2012, 13:43
Now, whether you will do this or not is up for debate but I can assure you that $6,000 or $7,000 is not a "must-have" - - especially if you are young, willing to roll with the punches, and be a little uncomfortable and dirty at times, hitch-hike, eat cheap, and use hiker boxes
I'm a very "roll with the punches and be uncomfortable to save $5" kind of guy. I'm the kind of guy who sleeps in his car, or prefers to sleep in a patch of trees or wherever rather than pay for a hotel for 1 night. When on a trip or vacation somewhere, I buy ramen at the grocery store and eat it raw right before going into a restaurant so I can just sip on a soda and not be tempted to order food.
I think the thing to keep in mind is that it's easy to do things like this for a day or a week, and then go back to your normal life. It becomes much more difficult when this IS your normal life.
I'm glad I'm old and have some money. It would sure suck to be 51 years old trying to figure out how to do a thru hike for $2500-$3500....
Must have been all that working instead of chasing my dreams during my accumulation years. :)
By the merry way.....
Wednesday I gave a SOBO trying to get to Indiana a ride to Johnson City. He was headed home... said he had been in Erwin for a few days, was out of food and out of money and was done. He was not happy that he got so close and didn't finish but figured the trail would still be here next year.
His trailname was Rider or Writer or Ryder... hiked from Pawling to Katahdin then flipped and hiked south from Pawling. He seemed to be legit - he was fluent in trail info - but you never know if he was being honest - but he did present himself as a SOBO.
Lone Wolf
12-28-2012, 16:16
By the merry way.....
Wednesday I gave a SOBO trying to get to Indiana a ride to Johnson City. He was headed home... said he had been in Erwin for a few days, was out of food and out of money and was done. He was not happy that he got so close and didn't finish but figured the trail would still be here next year.
His trailname was Rider or Writer or Ryder... hiked from Pawling to Katahdin then flipped and hiked south from Pawling. He seemed to be legit - he was fluent in trail info - but you never know if he was being honest - but he did present himself as a SOBO.
he showed up here yesterday. skipped out on uncle johnnys. owes him money
I'm glad I'm old and have some money. It would sure suck to be 51 years old trying to figure out how to do a thru hike for $2500-$3500....
Must have been all that working instead of chasing my dreams during my accumulation years. :)Amen bro!
My mantra - RYOLS (Regret Your Own Life, Sucker)
MuddyWaters
12-30-2012, 22:49
Question, if I have 10 mail drops on a thru hike, how much money does someone with experience figure they will use along the trail? I wont be staying in any motels and will RARELY ever eat at a retail establishment. I will just be resupplying along the way. I also understand that everyone's eating habits are different and some could go with less. Whats your bare minimum? Thanks
Thats what you might think sitting in your home.
After only 3 or 4 days on the trail Im craving AYCE pizza and ice cream.
And it doesnt have to be good pizza either.
A 30 min hot shower wouldnt be turned down either.
I quickly become tired of hiker type food, and crave real food, high in calories
Besides, I basically consider ice cream to be one of the major food groups anyway.