any $2,000 hikers out there?

[kt_lyn]

okay- i've read every piece of information i can find on who spent how much on the trail and i'm more confused now than ever. i've seen everything from $1-2 per mile and sometimes much more than that. i realize there are a huge number of variables but i was hoping that maybe some people who spent roughly $2,000 (not including gear and transportation) could tell me about how they spent their money. like, did you avoid towns? did you do mail drops and did those count in your $2,000 costs? i'm hoping to make it on roughly $2,000 so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
thank you! thank you! thank you!

[Blue Jay]

Yes, avoid towns. Try to only go into those that have cheap accomodations, even for a mail drop. It is so easy to fall to temptation and stay. You have to do Neros as opposed to Zeros. Make sure you get up early within 5-8 miles of the town. Get in do laundry, eat cheap, pick up mail drop/buy some food and get out. It is unfortunate but you may have to limit your social group. Many, but certainly not all, hikers spend much more than $2000. You have to have the will to hike past them. Also if you can stand it, after you buy something, smile and politely ask grocery stores and restaurants if you can sweep floors or clean up around their dumpsters in order to look inside. Usually they will happily give you leftover food. Many rich hikers look down on this, afraid that it will harm the "reputation" of hikers. My regular stops would tell you otherwise. Rich/drunk irresponsible yuppie hikers are the ones who look down upon/piss off the locals.

[chris]

If you knock out gear and transport costs, I spent about $2500 on the PCT, which is about 500 miles longer than the AT. That would be less than a dollar a mile. If you count in the cost of two flights, two bus rides, four pairs of shoes, and twelve pairs of socks, then the total would $1000 higher.

I lived very well and, when in town, I spent freely. However, I wasn't in town that often and was only out for 3.5 months, rather than the 5 or 6 months that alot of AT hikers are out for. I bought in stores as I went. With one exception, I shared motel rooms with other hikers. I paid for 14 motel rooms total, usually split with one to three others. If you want to keep costs down, either share rooms with lots of hikers (some places do NOT like this), or camp in town (go under a bridge, in a local campground, etc), or try to get into town early, get your stuff done, and get out by sundown. Unless you are really committed, eating out the hiker box won't save you an appreciable amount of money.

[Highlander II]

I spent about $1800 for my thru-hike this year. This included travel to and from the trail (about $400), food and misc. supplies which I boaght along the way, and hotel stays (I think I stayed 8 nights in hotels). Gear cost was about another $1000 and the minimal maildrops I had didn't run more than $100. Like Chris, I was only out for 3 1/4 months so that had some effect on the total cost. The most expensive part of the trip was not working...

In most of the towns I went into N of Waynesboro, I boaght my supplies and then got out of town. I wasn't really trying to avoid towns but was trying to do more miles and staying in town made that difficult. When I was in town I sometimes would buy a hot meal at a restaurant but most often I would just buy dinner at the grocery store -- soda, canned fruit, yogurt, etc (not trail food but also not a $15 meal at a restaurant.) I also seldom shared hotel rooms -- doing this would have saved even more.

[Peaks]

If you want to know how I spent my $2000 along the way:

25% on groceries
24% on meals in towns
17% on lodging
20% on replacement equipment (like boots)
14% on snacks, ice cream, postage, showers, laundry, and other.

The money spent did not include the cost of groceries spend ahead of time for food drops.

Like others have posted, it was my preference not to linger in towns. The only zero's that I took were 2 days to go to Trail Days. But, I did do some neros.

[stickman]

Jeez, I hate to show my ignorance, but what is a "nero?"

[Kerosene]

Nero = Near Zero [day]

[walkerat99]

I did my thru hike in 99 at $2000 for the entire trip which did include maildrops and some zero days. However, it goes back to the words to hike your own hike... it takes planning and a desire to do your own thing and not be peruaded by a groupl to do other wise. Also as it has been said, plan on sharing the cost of a motel if you use one, also stay out of towns as much as possible and when in town don't be persuaded to spend the extra time. It is very expensive to spend a couple of days in town, especially once your hiker appetite gets into full swing. Some folks I saw fell prey to the party group along the way, and once they were into it, it was most every town and party as long as the money lasted and then they had to quit for lack of it.

I guess the best advice is to hike your own hike and be in control of your finances and time the entire trip and you will be able to do it on $2000 or less... Like everything in life, you have choices and you can choose to spend as much or as little as you want how you want...

By the way, I know some folks that spent probably 100 times that amount and still did not enjoy the trip as much as I did... it all depends on what you want it to be....

Hope this helps...

Ed

[A-Train]

Hey Highlander II,
I met you at Upper Goose Pond the night we had the large group and played music. Congrats on finishing and hiking the Trail your own way.
A-Train 03

[Tabasco]

Please walkerat99, tell me that I mis-read you there. For $ 200,000, you could hire a sherpa to carry you the 2,170 miles.

[gravityman]

The most that I have ever heard reported to spend on a thru was 10,000 by Special Forces (although he refused the trail name, and just wanted to be called John). He bought a new pack at every trail town, I swear. When we met him he was training for the PCT. The 10,000 was spent on a previous hike. What a character!

Gravity Man

[A-Train]

thats a lot of ben n jerrys!

[kt_lyn]

hey everyone,

thank you all for your advice and cost break downs- i agree that it's all about what each person needs and wants their hike to be. i guess i'm just not sure what i'll need or want until i'm actually out there and that's the hardest part of planning. i'd like to think that i could blow off town visits and be very frugal but who knows. so, i guess i'll just prepare as best i can for anything and deal with whatever happens as it happens!

thanks again!
kt_lyn

[walkerat99]

Sorry about the typo, I meant 10 times that amount.... I would venture to say I knew of a couple of people that really did spend over $20,000 or more on the hike. Sorry about that.... my typing is not much better than my spelling..

Happy Trails.....

Ed

[chris]

The best way not to run out of money is to scrimp and save now and get the money locked in. Otherwise, you will have to be careful with towns. Or, maybe go on wellfare for the summer.

[kt_lyn]

well, great! i'm glad to hear that i'm not alone in my challenged wallet status! i just can't wait another year to save but, at the same time, i don't want to sacrifice the experience either. it's tough. Tracey, when are you looking at starting? i'm planning on mid-march. i think i'm also going to post on the page for people seeking partners- just to see if there aren't some more people who want to form a cost conscious crew. i think it could be easier to resist lingering in towns if you don't always have to wander back to the woods all alone.

kt_lyn
(a.k.a. poor gal)

[kt_lyn]

Tracey,

i almost forgot- the quote is from, Oh Baby! The Places You'll Go!

[chris]

Get a second job if need be. Not having to worry or think about money on the trail is a real luxury. One that you don't want to pass up. Alternatively, apply for several credit cards. That will give you some extra money if you need it.

[kt_lyn]

chris-

i agree. it would be ideal to get out there and just go with whatever, whenever i choose. unfortunately, i was late to get motivated to do this (reduces my months to save) and am already working two jobs (student loans are a joy and boston is a ridiculously expensive place to live). i've thought about the credit card thing but, i've gotten stuck wondering how i would budget to pay my monthly payments on those cards while i'm away. i'll figure it out. anyway, thanks for the input!

[Moon Monster]

I spent about a $1.10 per mile ($2370), and I don't feel like I scrimped at all. In fact, until I totalled it up, I thought I must have spent more like $3500. I ate everything I wanted to, I replaced a couple hundred bucks in gear, I stayed in three regular priced motels by myself, I took 14 zeros in trail towns or with friends, I ate four sit down high priced dinners, and I spent a couple hundred bucks on phone cards. What I didn't do was smoke, drink more than a couple beers at a time, figure out in Neels Gap what backpack I wanted, or take back-to-back zeros. I always made it a point to buy whatever I craved to eat and then save on lodging by going to the hostels or back to the trail for sleeping.

If I had insisted on calling home collect or at least sought more payphones that took incoming calls, then I could have done it all for $2,000. But, I knew my mom and family wanted to talk and I didn't mind paying 20¢/min. for it. But I would suggest having your family pay for the phone calls and supplementing them with liberal emailing.