my 2012 thru hike

[Libertyguy]

I am going to have about 2000 bucks to hike the AT after my Gear. 2 questions really.

I live in Georgia, How the heck am I supposed to get back from maine? I can't find any train stations, bus stations, or any of that kind of information anywhere or where I will need to hike back too. I can't ride by airplane, I just dont do flying well.

also a silly little question, How many liters should I be bringing to hold my water?

[Lone Wolf]

I am going to have about 2000 bucks to hike the AT after my Gear. 2 questions really.

I live in Georgia, How the heck am I supposed to get back from maine? I can't find any train stations, bus stations, or any of that kind of information anywhere or where I will need to hike back too. I can't ride by airplane, I just dont do flying well.

also a silly little question, How many liters should I be bringing to hold my water?

there is a bus station in Bangor, Maine.
i always carry a quart nalgene and a small gatorade bottle. but not always full

[Slo-go'en]

I hate to say this, but with only 2 grand to spend, your probably not going to make it to Maine. You need to hold back at least $100 to get home, 200 would be better. That leaves you with only 1800 to spend. Can it be done - maybe if your really, really frugal. But don't let that discourage you, just go as far as you can with the funds you got.

You should have some way to lug about a gallon of water, that's what about 4 liters? But that's only to get it from a water source back up to camp. Sometimes you have to go a long way down hill to find water and you only want to do that trip once.

How much you need to carry during the day will vary. Sometimes not much, sometimes a lot. For sections where water is pleantiful, I carry no more then 40 oz in two soda bottles. In sections where water is harder to get along the way, I bump that up to two quarts.

[Mike2012]

Once you get to Bangor you can bus down to Portland and hook up with Amtrak there.

[max patch]

I live in GA; caught a ride to Boston and then Amtrak to Atlanta. Didn't give the logistics a thot until I finished.

I carry 2 qts of water. IF its summer, and IF there are drought conditions, then I'll carry an additional empty Gatoraid bottle. Its rare that I have water in it.

[Datto]

I used a 96oz Nalgene Canteen on my AT thru-hike. Worked great for me. Singe, another thru-hiker I'd met along the Trail, had one that I'd noticed in the Smokies so I got one for myself to haul water up from springs. The springs were usually located way down a hillside from the shelter and having the Nalgene Canteen was great to haul up water for dinner and using the leftover water for loading up my water bottles the next morning.

Datto

[Libertyguy]

I hate to say this, but with only 2 grand to spend, your probably not going to make it to Maine. You need to hold back at least $100 to get home, 200 would be better. That leaves you with only 1800 to spend. Can it be done - maybe if your really, really frugal. But don't let that discourage you, just go as far as you can with the funds you got.

You should have some way to lug about a gallon of water, that's what about 4 liters? But that's only to get it from a water source back up to camp. Sometimes you have to go a long way down hill to find water and you only want to do that trip once.

How much you need to carry during the day will vary. Sometimes not much, sometimes a lot. For sections where water is pleantiful, I carry no more then 40 oz in two soda bottles. In sections where water is harder to get along the way, I bump that up to two quarts.

your opinion on money... My plan is pretty much to live off of loaf bread, PBJ, ramen, oatmeal, stuffing, snickers, gorp, etc...
I live a very frugal lifestyle already, do you still think 2k would be adequate? How much would you say? My goal would be 2000 spending after gear and transportation. I have read where people say they have done it on $1000, and that the people who spend more are the people more prone to get hotel rooms and eat out a lot. I hope to visit a few bars along the way and hang out in town some, but I do not plan on spending much at all when I'm there. I also plan on stopping at 3 spots along the trail as I have friends in 3 states who are going to pick me up to hang out for a few days. one in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Maryland.

[TOMP]

I see alot of posts saying they will try to hike on 1k or 2k. I think there is nothing wrong with that, budget 2k but make sure you have more funds if you need them. It seems like some people save 2k and that is all the money in the world that they have. Then they spend it on this and I cant imagine what they do after the trail, mouch off relatives im sure. Budget 2k have more ready just in case.

[RWheeler]

your opinion on money... My plan is pretty much to live off of loaf bread, PBJ, ramen, oatmeal, stuffing, snickers, gorp, etc...
I live a very frugal lifestyle already, do you still think 2k would be adequate? How much would you say? My goal would be 2000 spending after gear and transportation. I have read where people say they have done it on $1000, and that the people who spend more are the people more prone to get hotel rooms and eat out a lot. I hope to visit a few bars along the way and hang out in town some, but I do not plan on spending much at all when I'm there. I also plan on stopping at 3 spots along the trail as I have friends in 3 states who are going to pick me up to hang out for a few days. one in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Maryland.

Plenty of people also plan to hike the entire trail. Not everyone ends up accomplishing that.

As others have said, you should have more money than that, in case you run over budget.

[Slo-go'en]

There are a couple of active "how much will it cost" threads going on right now. You should read them. 4K is probably about the lowest you want to go and ensure you can complete the trail with out running out of money.

[Libertyguy]

ok well after reading through a lot of stuff here I've decided I'm shooting for 3k at the least in spending money, I should have another 1000 for backup if I need it, but thats going to be cutting into my savings. I'm still going to try and be extremely frugal, I just want to have a good time and see the appalachia and make really cool friends. I want to make it the whole way so bad. thanks guys for the advice!

[Rayo]

ok well after reading through a lot of stuff here I've decided I'm shooting for 3k at the least in spending money, I should have another 1000 for backup if I need it, but thats going to be cutting into my savings. I'm still going to try and be extremely frugal, I just want to have a good time and see the appalachia and make really cool friends. I want to make it the whole way so bad. thanks guys for the advice!

I'm on the same boat, Liberty. See you on the trail

[Hannie]

Im counting on 2000-2500 to get me through. I am poor as it is. I dont need luxury items. There is no question that 2500 will be more than enough.