What costs so much

[Andrewsobo]

I'm planning an August 1st southbound, so a lot of these considerations about hiking with a group, etc., aren't as much of an issue.

There is pretty much no way I'd ever drop $80 for a motel room by myself. It's just completely out of the question, I'd quit the trail before doing something like that. I'm going to hike, not spend 8 days worth of trail food for a couple hours in a bed and a shower. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing to do or judging others, but I'm a 24 year old on a limited budget and luxuries like that are not the point of me doing this.

I'm not saying I'm some sort of ascetic who can live off rice and raisins the whole trip, and I will definitely give in to the occasional beer and pizza, but overall I can't imagine spending much time or money in towns, partially due to the fact that as a late starting southbounder, there won't be anything to do or anyone to hang out with.

I stated it in my OP but I'll post it again, I plan on bringing $4,000 and I'd like to only use $2000 of it.

Also, I've been a bike commuter for the past 6 years, so I'm pretty used to eating a large amount of calories in order to have the energy to get to and from work/school/wherever, and I still only spend about $300 a month eating out a few times a week.

The next question I have is the cost of mail drops vs buying crap at supermarkets. I have a great local supermarket here with many bulk items that I can buy in hiker quantities, bag up, and ship to post offices along the trail. At this point though, I'm planning only maybe 4 mail drops at certain points and resupplying along the trail the rest of the time. This seems to be a cheaper route, as doing 25 mail drops x $10 shipping (guess) = $250 in just shipping charges. Am I really going to save $250+ by not buying the same food at local mountain grocery stores and crap? It's hard to imagine the prices being that much more expensive to make the mail drops worth it.

If this gives any sort of a perspective on my mindset and preparations for the trail, I've been living off of $600 a month and saving $1000+ (over 60% of my income) since I started planning for the trip. I come from a less than rich background and I basically already live like a thru-hiker (once a week shower, etc.) so maybe some people just have a bigger lifestyle adjustment. I've been working kind of random jobs and living in random places for a while, including travel around the country as a bike rickshaw (bike taxi, pedicab, whatever you want to call it) pilot, sleeping in a tent and working days pulling fat rednecks up hills at NASCAR events and crap. I don't think the trail will be easy, but I can't see me needing to eat more than I did doing 60 miles of biking a day with 500 pounds of fat redneck dragging me down.

[bigcranky]

Shipping gets expensive and eats up (sorry) any savings on the food itself. Sending four or five seems reasonable, but for most resupply you can get to a decent grocery store from the trail. Lots of development in the small towns even in the South in the last ten years = more choices for groceries, restaurants, etc.

Have a great hike.

[4shot]

I stated it in my OP but I'll post it again, I plan on bringing $4,000 and I'd like to only use $2000 of it.

The next question I have is the cost of mail drops vs buying crap at supermarkets. I have a great local supermarket here with many bulk items that I can buy in hiker quantities, bag up, and ship to post offices along the trail. At this point though, I'm planning only maybe 4 mail drops at certain points and resupplying along the trail the rest of the time. This seems to be a cheaper route, as doing 25 mail drops x $10 shipping (guess) = $250 in just shipping charges. Am I really going to save $250+ by not buying the same food at local mountain grocery stores and crap? It's hard to imagine the prices being that much more expensive to make the mail drops worth it.

I've been working kind of random jobs and living in random places for a while, including travel around the country as a bike rickshaw (bike taxi, pedicab, whatever you want to call it) pilot, sleeping in a tent and working days pulling fat rednecks up hills at NASCAR events and crap. I don't think the trail will be easy, but I can't see me needing to eat more than I did doing 60 miles of biking a day with 500 pounds of fat redneck dragging me down.

I was against maildrops when I started because I didn't want to hike to any schedule (i.e. get to town A by Saturday at noon so I could beat the post office). Alot of guys spent time doing this and bouncin stuff, etc. Not my cup of tea and I doubt it's much of a cost savings. However, towards the middle I started requesting some from home because of the lack of variety in the dollar generals and convenience stores (most non-hikers do not believe you can buy a week's worth of groceries at a gas station).

BTW, if you are working at Talladega or Bristol before your start date, if Uncle Earl and Aunt Darlene (they have matching tie-dyed Little E t-shirts fyi) ask for a bike ride, you'd best tell them you are off duty. If you try to tote those two up a hill on a bicycle, you won't be thruhiking this year. But you'll get to see the effects of a thru-hikers diet on two people who don't get any exercise.

[leaftye]

Food will cost more.

1. You'll be eating much more than you do at home. For some people it may be 2-4 times as much. You're exercising all day, not just a couple hours while bike commuting.
2. Food in small towns costs more than in big cities.
3. You'll often be forced to buy more expensive small packages than cost effective bulk package like you could at home.
4. You won't have the great options or knowledge to choose the cheapest place to shop.
5. You'll want to eat at restaurants while in town to save hassle and time, plus it tastes awfully good.

It's great to try to figure out how to save money, but you should still have the money available so you're not stressing about having enough money to finish your hike.

[Mountain Mike]

Bulk buying will save money if it allows you to get out of town without spending a night. A bounce box works well too from larger towns to smaller ones. Mailing helps budgeting knowing food is mostly bought beforehand (consider cost of mailing ).

[rickb]

For all the talk about hiking your own hike, most hike like those around them. For every Tipi Walter, there are 1000 sheeple.

You will do fine.

FWIW I may have been the last to start southbound my year, so when I dare suggest that you mmdon't pqay too much attention to the nobos coming the other way, it is coming from that perspective. After Monson a smart Sobo knows more than most of the pack hikers coming north.

If you are strong, resupply when you want to. Cut the excess weight like a maniac, but if you want to carry extra food to stay on the trail and into the flow you are establishing that's OK.

No need to stay in motels -- that was somethind that never even dawned on me -- but do keep in mind that your body is a machine which does need to be maintianed pyhsically and psychologically. Time to get off that dollar menu crap now!

Have a great hike.

[stranger]

Alcohol, restaurant meals and motels are very big expenses for many hikers.

Sure...you can avoid the party scene, but it's harder to get away from those amazing restaurant meals. Motels for me are not optional, I have been doing this for far too long to ever sleep in a hostel again...and you may think you are going to cross the road and camp in the pouring rain, but most hikers will hitch into town 'just this one time' and there goes the neighborhood money wise, cause thar happens quite a few times.

Bring money and spend it, don't compromise...have fun and no regrets!

[peakbagger]

Even at some hostels there is the "upsell" where the actual cost for the hostel is quite reasonable but if you are in the mood to spend money, the owner will accompany you. An incredible luxury for some is a slackpack where the hostel owner drops you off with a daypack and you hike a section of trailwithout a backpack. If you are in trailshape and not injured, you can do a whole lot of miles without a full pack on. Some places offer a double or triple slack pack where you do a couple of days worth. The service is sometimes free but normally there is a price (even if its listed as a "donation" to get around insurance and permitting). Another uplanned for expense is takeout food delivered to a road crossing. Very hard to pass up a pizza at Partnership shelter (or several other locations along the trail).

If you want to go "low" cost thats your decision, but please dont do it on the backs of AT service providers along the trail. If you stay at a facility there are costs to run it and as far as I know there are no facilities along the trail with an endowment fund to pay for low budget hikers who dont need to pay. If you stay at a hostel, plan to pay the fee, negotiate a work for stay in advance or leave the recomended donation. If want to rationalize that leaving without paying is anything other than "mooching" feel free but realize that you arent fooling anyone and you may be partially responsible for another trail service going away.

[RED-DOG]

I am doing this from a labtop a trailangel is leting me use while sitting on the side of the road someplace in New Jersey, eating one of their delicious apples and decided to come on here right now i spent roughly 6000 dollars and thats gear and every thing i will probably spend around 8000 this year. This is the most costly year i have ever seen on the AT on my Flip-Flop in 96 i spent 2600 and in 2006 i spent 4500. and the price is only going to rise by. What you spend most of your money on is food and lodging north of Harpers Ferry eveything basically doubles. so whatever you are budgetting on your thru-hike next year or whenever you better double it or your funds want make it. I got to go i have used to much of these nice folks time. RED-DOG ( Flip-Flop 96 GA-ME 06 and again in a very costly 2012 ) Good luck to you all and save that money.

[turtle fast]

Food and lodging are the big costs, apart from your gear which can easily be over a $1000. The AT hiker adage a dollar a mile is dead, its more like $2 dollars a mile now.

[weary]

With diligent searches for coupons and sales, I suspect mail drops still offer both savings and a better diet. More important than direct savings, however, mail drops keep one out of towns. I was surprised to discover how many little towns had post offices, near the trail, but no nearby stores. I saved miles and many hours of hitching by relying on the post office. Nor were post office hours usually a problem. I paced my walk to match the hours PO were open. The trail is not a race. I enjoyed opportunities to slow down, to take side trails or just relaxing to check out the plants, flowers, and wildlife.

[leaftye]

With diligent searches for coupons and sales, I suspect mail drops still offer both savings and a better diet. More important than direct savings, however, mail drops keep one out of towns. I was surprised to discover how many little towns had post offices, near the trail, but no nearby stores. I saved miles and many hours of hitching by relying on the post office. Nor were post office hours usually a problem. I paced my walk to match the hours PO were open. The trail is not a race. I enjoyed opportunities to slow down, to take side trails or just relaxing to check out the plants, flowers, and wildlife.

Mail drops can be great, but it's a difficult method to optimize. For one, it just about necessitates having a cell phone to call for a mail drop unless having packages forwarded or returned is acceptable.

I haven't checked if mail drops are cheaper, simply because I don't have a choice with my chosen trail diet. Most of my diet isn't obtainable in trail towns. That said, trail mix is a lot less expensive from Costco and at least one bulk mail order website. Those savings partly or wholly make up for the shipping costs. I always recommend priority mail because those packages can be forwarded or returned at no additional cost...at least flat rate packages can be forwarded, I'm not sure about regional rate priority packages.

[stranger]

In every discussion about the cost of thru-hiking, I see numbers thrown out around $3,000 to $7,000 as the amount required to thru hike. I just don't understand where all that money goes, is that counting the gear purchases beforehand or something?

Currently I live on about $250-300 a month in food, and I eat out pretty regularly. The only other expense I have is rent and utilities. So not paying those on the trail, I don't see how I won't actually spend less money than I usually do. Five months of hiking x 300 = $1500, and thats more than I spend most months on food currently. I'm intending to start with $4,000, but I'd like to try to do the trail on under $2,000 if possible, not counting to and from the trail or any major gear replacements I have to do.

What's the cheapest anyone has done the trail, adjusted for inflation.

I can see how (if you haven't hiked long-distances before) it can be hard to understand where the money goes, probably the biggest difference is that you are hiking, not at home. Your monthly figure is irrelevant because in your daily life you aren't sleeping in damp sleeping bags, patching dirty blisters, or dealing with shin splints.

Throw in a some tendonitis, a few snow storms, some gear replacement and a few unexpected motel stops and your $2000 figure is blown by Harpers Ferry, if not Waynesboro. I've seen young, inexperienced hikers drop $800 by the time they reach Neels Gap, sometimes more. One hiker I know put $1200 on his card at Mountain Crossings.

For a fit, experienced, and efficient hiker...a thru-hike of $2500-3000 is quite achievable I would imagine (I've never thru-hiked) but based on my hikes, $3/mile is the way to go.

[Pony]

After Monson a smart Sobo knows more than most of the pack hikers coming north.

I'm not saying you're entirely wrong here, but I got pretty irritated with a lot of SOBO's I met in Vermont and New Hampshire. A lot of them seemed to be pretty full of themselves because they made it through Maine and New Hampshire. I would have loved to talked to them in SW Virginia after they had been on the trail for 4-5 months.

[Mountain Mike]

I went with the $1 a mile & it worked out great. Mountain House for most meals. But that was in 88! After the AT & PCT I have learned to eat cheap on the trail & I kinda avoid towns. I lean torwards Tipi more than ultralights. 7-10 betwen resupply. Towns EAT up money if you let them. Cook yourself in town. You can make a whole bunch of cheeseburgers for that $9 restaraunt one.

Food and lodging are the big costs, apart from your gear which can easily be over a $1000. The AT hiker adage a dollar a mile is dead, its more like $2 dollars a mile now.

[Bucho]

Currently I live on about $250-300 a month in food, and I eat out pretty regularly.

Keep in mind that the quantity of food you eat and the quantity of food a thru hiker eats should be very different and freeze dried food is not on the cheap side. From there the big things people do to rack up the cost of their trips are stay in town, eat in town and drink in town.

[ATSeamstress]

I would argue (just for the sake of argument) that not everyone who hikes the AT is trying to get away from society. For many, it's more like an athletic endeavor and camping is more like a necessary evil. Some enjoy being tourists, seeing the towns and meeting local people. There's nothing wrong with that. They support the local economy, too.

I couldn't have said it better.

[rocketsocks]

I couldn't have said it better.

Not going to get somwhere
not going to get away
not a calling that's been calling me
or a roll I had to play
It's just a trail that's deep in the woods
and happend to be on my way
I'll dream of you each night my love
in the shelter where I lay.

These are some words I wrote down last year as part of a song a work in progress if you will,I to feel many hike not to get away,but because it's.... just there.

[ATSeamstress]

Andrew, you have the mindset to live well beneath your means, and that's half the battle. Having saved twice your intended budget is great, and the responsible thing to do. (If every hiker did this we wouldn't be hearing so much about the moochers and freeloaders.)

My only advice, and it probably goes without saying, is be sure to have a current AT Guide or Companion. I use both maildrops and real grocery stores (but for different reasons, I don't like to hitch, so whichever is closer). Lots of non-PO places hold maildrops and sometimes those places are right by the trail. Inexpensive (and a few free) showers can be found. If the weather is holding out, maybe a shower is all you need. AYCE places are great for the hiker appetite. With a current guide, you can find all these places. Plus, hostels vary greatly in price and services (add-ons) offered. Knowing your options in advance can help you stay on budget.

[ATSeamstress]

Not going to get somwhere
not going to get away
not a calling that's been calling me
or a roll I had to play
It's just a trail that's deep in the woods
and happend to be on my way
I'll dream of you each night my love
in the shelter where I lay.

These are some words I wrote down last year as part of a song a work in progress if you will,I to feel many hike not to get away,but because it's.... just there.

Thanks for sharing that!