Lets be honest...

[Toli]

Lets be honest people, how much did you really spend to hike the AT??? Not ghetto a$$ live outta hiker boxes, stiff "Donations accepted" hostels, "trail magic" was the only way you ate, hitch hiking to the trail from Cali... Would love to know what the likes of Oz Jacko and ChinMusic spent recently to complete the trail... On my first of 3 "Dog-Thrus" in '05, I spent $11k... On my 3rd, thanks to friends I gained from the trail, I spent $5200... Granted that included my hound "SideKick" but I pretty much kept to myself, and did not hit a lot of towns, and had some friends along the way, prolly more like my hound did :D... I know HikerBoy is going next year, and wise as he is, knows it won't be "I am going to hike the AT with a $1000" lol...

[hikerboy57]

i am going to hike the at with 2 rolls of quarters.

oz, army ant and invisible man each spent close to $14k on their hikes this year.
im planning on roughly $5k, with another $5k to cover expenses at home.during the 6 weeks i spent on the trail in the spring, i spent app $1800. $300 of which was for a sleeping bag.
i am not expecting to spend as much time in towns this time.

[garlic08]

I spent $3500 in 2008 on a 3.5-month hike. I've heard it around here that a good average is $1000/month, and that a faster hike is a cheaper hike. My experience bears this out exactly. A few years earlier, my wife spent $6000 on a six-month hike. Last year I took a 1.5 month bicycle tour, traveling in thru-hiker style, and spent $1500.

I don't mind sharing this, but what other people spend is their own business. I know plenty spend in excess of $10K to hike the AT, and that's fine. They're helping fuel the US economy, and I am not.

[maptester]

My son completed his flip-flop this year(Springer to Harpers Ferry, then Katahdin to Bennington, VT in 2013; Harpers Ferry to Bennington 2013). My wife and I supported him on his hike, and I kept fairly good records of what was spent, including gear replacement (not the original purchase), airfare, train-fare, etc. Since he used his debit card for almost all expenses, it was fairly easy to track expenses.

Total charges: $9,305.80
Cost per mile: $4.37
Experience of hiking the AT at twenty years old: priceless

I like to think of his hike as a walkabout. :-) He has inspired me to do a section hike next month (You can't tell I'm a proud Dad).

[Alligator]

This is in SF. The question is, how much did you spend on the thruhike. Note it is not how much you are going to spend.

[RED-DOG]

In 2012 I spent $5700, and I had a nice comfortable hike, It all depends on how much you can afford to spend, Like HikerBoy said you need to be able to live after the trail, some people can spend alot more than others.

[ChinMusic]

Would love to know what the likes of Oz Jacko and ChinMusic spent recently to complete the trail...

I really didn't plan on keeping track but it seems like the data might not be that hard to figure out once I reconcile everything on Quicken. I'll come up with a number that will be close in coming days. I will say that I was not on a budget and did pretty much anything I wanted.

[Dogwood]

I spent $3500 in 2008 on a 3.5-month hike. I've heard it around here that a good average is $1000/month, and that a faster hike is a cheaper hike. My experience bears this out exactly. A few years earlier, my wife spent $6000 on a six-month hike. Last year I took a 1.5 month bicycle tour, traveling in thru-hiker style, and spent $1500.

I don't mind sharing this, but what other people spend is their own business. I know plenty spend in excess of $10K to hike the AT, and that's fine. They're helping fuel the US economy, and I am not.

This describes my finances for my for AT hike and about what I regularly spend too. But, I also tend money to travel off trail to interesting things(museums, overlooks, caves, botanical gardens, historical sites, music venues, etc, I like doing the long hitches most avoid on thru-hikes), so I include these expenses on my thrus. But, I also tend to regularly mail myself resupply boxes so in town food expenses are much lower along the way. I also RARELY pay retail to stay in a hotel/motel by myself. I can usually do long hikes without staying in a hotel or limiting those stays. Pinhoti Trail/BMT(400 miles) - not one hotel, BMT/AT Loop(500 miles, rained ALOT too!) - one night in a hotel, CT(580 miles(did some additional miles) - no hotels, two hostel stays, JMT(3X, 290-300 miles each time) - never a hotel stay, stayed at VVR 3 times though(free for JMTers!), PCT(2700 miles) - two hotel nights, several hostel/trail angel stays, CDT(3500 miles, did some additional miles - four nights in a hotel, etc. You get the picture. I don't spend big money on alcohol or "other stuff" either. A big part of spending is reduced FOR ME once on trail because a good portion of my trail food, fuel, shoes, batteries, toiletries(hygiene) etc has already been accounted for in my resupply boxes. I've gotten much better at spending less money when staying on trail though.

[Mags]

I wrote this up recently.

I did the AT 15 yrs ago and, IIRC, it was about $750/month. Updated below for more modern times. :)


Cost of a Thru-Hike
As mentioned, an average thru-hike costs about $1000 a month once on the trail. If you take a longer hike, you will need more food, probably incur more town costs and may need to replace more gear.
A good, rough equation for overall expenses is this idea:
COST OF GEAR TO START + TRANSPORTATION TO TRAIL + (MONTHS ON TRAIL * 1000) + TRANSPORTATION FROM TRAIL. = ROUGH COST ESTIMATE

The cost of your initial gear and transportation to and from trail will differ from hiker to hiker. Do you already have the gear? Or is this your first long hike and buying all new lightweight gear? Do you live in Boston with (relatively) easy and cheap transport up and down from either termini or are you coming from Seattle and need to get some expensive flights to and from each terminus (or a long ass bus ride!)
I feel pretty comfortable on the $1000/mo figure once on the trail. This figure includes food, town stops, and some typical gear replacements (shoes and socks come immediately to mind).
These figures are for a middle of the road hike. People who want more luxurious accommodations vs hostels, take side trips with car rentals (Hey! Let’s check out some Civil War sites for a few days), expensive restaurant meals vs a burger and beer, etc. will spend more.

More thrifty hikers, esp those with experience and know the AT well, might be able to go more frugal at ~$800/mo. (And, as always, I am sure there are exceptions. http://www.pmags.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif )

[Different Socks]

When I did the trail in 1992, I spent about $800--$900 on good equip, Limmer boots at $200, bus to trail about $75, food drops--$300, town stays(bed/liquor/food/restaurants/extras/equip repair/showers/campsites/laundry/fun/fuel) about $1000.
Getting home cost wasn't necessary b/c I lived in Maine. No costs for hiker shuttles unlike today's trail and some towns I barely spent any money b/c I worked for my stay/food.
So total 1992 thru hike cost: approx $2500 and I even had some left over!!

Even though when I do the trail again in 2 years I know the costs will be more compared to a 1992 hike, I still can't believe that people say they are spending a minimum of $5000 to do it. I mean, $100 or more at each town stop!? What are they spending it all on?

[Different Socks]

When I did the trail in 1992, I spent about $800--$900 on good equip, Limmer boots at $200, bus to trail about $75, food drops--$300, town stays(bed/liquor/food/restaurants/extras/equip repair/showers/campsites/laundry/fun/fuel) about $1000.
Getting home cost wasn't necessary b/c I lived in Maine. No costs for hiker shuttles unlike today's trail and some towns I barely spent any money b/c I worked for my stay/food.
So total 1992 thru hike cost: approx $2500 and I even had some left over!!

Even though when I do the trail again in 2 years I know the costs will be more compared to a 1992 hike, I still can't believe that people say they are spending a minimum of $5000 to do it. I mean, $100 or more at each town stop!? What are they spending it all on?

Okay I forgot the cost for food--$1000, so a total of $3500 for 5 months of hiking.

[Mags]

Okay I forgot the cost for food--$1000, so a total of $3500 for 5 months of hiking.

As an fyi, using the inflation calculator, this is what came up in 2012 dollars:

What cost $3500 in 1992 would cost $5641.79 in 2012.Also, if you were to buy exactly the same products in 2012 and 1992,
they would cost you $3500 and $2152.33 respectively.

Your hike, if anything, was slightly more expensive than today's average (factoring in inflation). :) OTOH, the $1000/mo seems to be a pretty good baseline overall.

[Haiku]

I spent $4000 in 2004 on a 5-month hike. That included buying all my food as I went, and purchasing a new pack and hammock, and a few new pairs of shoes.

[Different Socks]

As an fyi, using the inflation calculator, this is what came up in 2012 dollars:

What cost $3500 in 1992 would cost $5641.79 in 2012.Also, if you were to buy exactly the same products in 2012 and 1992,
they would cost you $3500 and $2152.33 respectively.

Your hike, if anything, was slightly more expensive than today's average (factoring in inflation). :) OTOH, the $1000/mo seems to be a pretty good baseline overall.



But Mags, possibly some or many of these hikers don't really know how to food shop. For my next long hike in 2 years, I will require a minimum of 500 dinners which will have veggies/meats/drinks/spices/etc. I already have all 500+ bagged and ready to go(everything dehydrated). The approx cost of 500 dinners? Only about $750 for everything from chili/pasta, to marinara sauce/pasta, to soups/stews to ramen, instant potatoes, and several different kinds of Knorr/Lipton dinners and much more. The cans of chili I got for 75 cents, the noodle dinners on sale for 50 cents(bought like 75 or more), ramen at only 15 cents, all cans of meat for less than a buck, veggies of peppers/carrots/onions/peas/corn/shrooms--all on sale then dried before they go bad.
So not spending alot of money on food is possible.

[Stink Bug]

I thru hiked this year (4/7 - 9/6) and my hike cost a little over $11K for a 5 month trek. That cost included transportation, for my girlfriend and I (train tickets) to Springer and the cost of a rental car to get home from Bangor, ME.

It also included the following gear swaps / replacements:

Trail runners: 6 pairs total
2 new backpacks.
1 new pair of trekking poles (the outfitter in Daleville, VA broke my GG LT4 attempting to replace the tips)
Wilderness Logics Hammocks (Snipe, 45* UQ, bugnet and tarp) x2. Bought these in Damascus @ Trail Days and used until Kent, CT

We took 17 zeroes, including 4 days in NYC visiting with friends.

According to my credit card statement, I spent a little over $175 on mail drops (sending winter/summer gear home and 4 food drops / bounce boxes). Other than the food drops we bought all our food along the way, along with fuel canisters and Aquamira.

[ChinMusic]

Would love to know what the likes of Oz Jacko and ChinMusic spent recently to complete the trail..

OK, just did the entries. As best I can tell the total is $12,300

Now that includes the cost of my wife being with me for several weeks, but that was a part of my thru. As you can tell, I did not go wanting.........

[stranger]

I spent about $2.50/mile in 2008, about $2/mile in 2001 and about $1.50/mile in 1995

Those hikes were 611, 501 and 540 miles long

These days I would spend less as cigarettes and alcohol are out of the picture, but I would make no effort to do so, money is one of the few things you CAN control on the trail...I would recommend bringing as much as possible. I would strongly recommend putting the hike off a year before going out there with $2500 UNLESS you have done it before.

[Astro]

This is very interesting and valuable information. And I look forward to hearing more from others.
I really enjoyed following the hikes of Oz, IM, Army Ant, and CM, and would love to do that style of hike. But reality is if I do a Thru in 2015 it is going to be more along the lines of HB, Garlic, and Mags (and consistent with my 4 week AT hike this summer). So planning on spending a lot of time in my tent in the woods, and working to get in better shape to increase mpd, and therefore decrease $pm (and maybe even $pd). I love steak, showers, hostels, and hotels, but it will probably be a lot more of enjoying nature on the AT for me.
As HB says, "its all good"! :)

[Monkeywrench]

I spent about $10k on my '09 thru. I preferred motel rooms over hostels and a steak and a martini over the Chinese buffet.

[aficion]

My longer sections have averaged $5.00 a day for food. On average, I made 22 miles per day, so cost per mile comes in at 22.72727272727272727... cents per mile. Driving to and from the trail head costs a little less per mile in my current vehicle. Since I already own the gear, most of it for years, the other expenses that would be incurred include shoe and battery replacement. So at the other extreme of the cost spectrum from the unlimited budget bunch, my expectation, based on my experience, and preference for staying in the woods for any zeroes and neros, is to do a through, in a year or two, for far less than you might think possible. <$1000.00

[Starchild]

I don't know as my expenses were not separated out of trail and house, but it was higher then the $2/mi estimate, I figure perhaps twice that. As I traveled north my expenses went down as I understood more how the thru hike works and what is available for us. My large expense on the trail was my diet and my diet plan.

My food bill was much higher then any other hiker, usually 2x theirs if not more, and I usually took shorter resupplies as well (so more food bills). My plan was to eat protein and fat on the trail, so mostly meats with some cheese, very little carbs. This was to give my body what it needed to repair itself. Calories were from the trail towns, as much as I wanted and whatever I wanted. My body can store calories, but not so good at storing repair material.

My diet plan did work great as I maintained my weight throughout my thru and gained muscle, lost some fat. I didn't experience the wasting that I saw other hikers go through. It was a expensive luxury, but I also ate like a king, actually I ate better then King :)