I thought I'd post an answer to a question that is frequently asked here on the forums, namely what does it cost to complete a thruhike?

A bit of background information: I started the trail with my Katahdin summit on July 2nd and finished on Springer Mountain on Nov 27th for a total of 149 days. I took 12 zeros making it 137 days of hiking. I started the trail with the intention of having no schedule to keep or budget to stay within. It would take me as long as it needed to and I would spend as much as I needed to. I don't drink alcohol or smoke. I don't like walking in the rain and avoided long stretches of bad weather or really cold nights by staying in town. When in town or at a hostel I got a private room whenever it was available (which was most of the time). Having been backpacking for years I already had the gear I needed and didn't buy anything special for the hike. The only gear I had to replace while on trail was my trekking poles (broken), poop trowel (lost), and shoes of course (new pair every 500 miles). That all said, the total cost (minus getting to Baxter and getting home from GA) came to roughly $8,300. The only time I balked at paying for something was for a shuttle from Uncle Johnny's into Erwin (I rode a bike instead!).

My hike would probably be described as luxury level. I never split costs with anyone to save money and to be truthful, usually never looked at the total bill anywhere before paying. As I said before, I was going to pay whatever it cost to complete my hike while being comfortable and enjoying myself. The end result was I never had a bad day on trail. There were hard days but I never felt like I didn't want to or couldn't continue my hike. Not having a schedule or budget removed two of the biggest concerns I might have had and I could simply enjoy myself every day.