Cost & Time of Hiking the AT
What would be the cost and time required to hike the AT?
$3000 and 6 months?
I am budgeting $6000.00 and 6 months for my thru hike.
Blackheart
The time and budget greatly depends on your hiking style. Are you a slow or fast hiker?, how many days in trail towns are you planning?, are you doing mail drops or re-supplying along the way?
That being said, most thru hikers will complete the trail between 4-6 months and spend anywhere from $2000-$6000. The average being about 5 months and $3500 allowing for a few zeros in town, gear repair, and hotel stays.p
One variable to a hikes cost is your ability to cross a paved road (Or gravel) without words like "Fried Chicken or Pizza or Burger" entering your head. You may wake up in the morning fully intending to bypass that town and your will power will be strong until the moment your foot touches asphalt. This phenomenon alone has cost many a hike upwards of $2 additional per mile, because gateway foods like "Fried Chicken" lead to having a single beer which leads to 12 beers and a hotel room stay.
Does that make fried chicken a gateway drug?Originally Posted by Rasty
Biggie
Old Eagle.. 3,000 dollars for a six month hike? you kidding me? double this to $6,000 (this is 2013 not 1990) and then see if you can do it for less. Plan on 5,000 minimum. I mean minimum!
Saving at least $6000, but 5.5 months for me. Have to get back to work by 20 (=/-) Aug 2016 to start work again.
Old Hiker
AT Hike 2012 - 497 Miles of 2184
AT Thru Hiker - 29 FEB - 03 OCT 2016 2189.1 miles
Just because my teeth are showing, does NOT mean I'm smiling.
Hányszor lennél inkább máshol?
As I get older I find myself spending less money on fun and more money on privacy and comfort. So while fried chicken and beer rate pretty high on my list, I'm more able to ignore that (especially if it's more than a few tenths off the trail), but once I get to town I want a private motel room and a nice dinner out rather than a hostel bunk and a cheap AYCE Chinese buffet.
It's about $1000 per month. I did it quite comfortably in 3.5 months for $3500 The trail can certainly be hiked for $3000, but it would probably cost more than that for a six month hike. A faster hike is usually a cheaper hike.
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
For me $1,000 a month is a good starting point. This is a trip of a life time there is a lot to think about and I sure don't wan't lack of cash to be something I have to worry about. You can do it for $500 a month, but that only gives you $16 a day. Can you eat, replace any gear, do loundry, or get anything extra with $16 a day besides I think you will miss out on some of the fun things about the AT. For me it just make sence to take more then I'll need and enjoy myself.
If it do'nt eat you or kill you it makes you stronger
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton
$5,000 and 4-6 months, last year on my thru i Budgeted $7,000 and spent $5,700, and i only took 6 zero's basically the only time i went to town is when i needed food and a cheap hostel when one was available, but it all depends on how much time you spend in towns on comfort items trust me hardly any body can pass a hotel or hostel with out staying the night and eating at a good restuarant, the biggest chunk of money is spent on gear, I spent roughly around $2,000 on gear last year, and on my 2006 thru i only spent $4,000 that's gear and everything, I would at least budget $5,000 and go from their.
I have a Question for you do you have all of your gear if so then the only thing you need to worry about is replacement gear on the trail. But i would still budget $5,000.
Do these numbers include transportation to/from the trailheads?
I tend to think not, but just want clarity.
Of course, another category of expense to consider is the potential cost of a divorce, for married but solo hikers!
da fungo.. these costs are almost certainly not including travel to and from the trail heads. Would your wife really divorce you because you went hiking for six months?
DavidNHI'm not married, but my ex would have divorced me if she didn't kill me for bringing up the idea.My girlfriend, who is a much nicer person, would have a tough time with my being gone that long.
I have $6000 saved already for next spring, and I truthfully have about 99% of my gear ready and good to go. If I *had* to go tomorrow, I could do it. But between now and next March, I'll probably drop $545 on a new WM sleeping bag and a couple hundred more on a few other odds and ends (silk liner, a new lightweight watch, a few more pairs of my favorite Merino wool socks to keep in reserve), but basically I'm set. I'm guessing that the money will be spent quicker right at the beginning if the weather is bad and I need to wait out any late winter storms, but once I get past the Smokies, the hike will be cheaper until I get to New England. Transport to the trail ain't gonna be much. I'm about five hours away from Amicalola, and my dad lives in N. Georgia, so getting to there won't be much of an expense at all. Getting back from Maine, however, will cost some $$$.
Also, since this is a once-in-a-lifetime event, I plan on having a little extra in the hiking fund, just so that I'm not missing out on stuff. I also plan on taking a side trip into NYC and eating pizza at the original Grimaldi's under the Brooklyn Bridge while I'm in the neighborhood, and would like to spend a couple of days in Boston after I'm done. But while actually hiking, I'm planning on about $2.50 per mile. I don't mind sharing cheap motel rooms and staying in hostels, and I really *do* like to tent as often as possible. I've been reading some TJs where folks are spending every other night in a motel and shuttling back and forth to the trail all through GA/NC, but that gets expensive and it's not for me. But being cold, wet, muddy, and stinky for too long will certainly tractor-beam my ass into town just like everyone else...
Double Wide is now BLUEBERRY
Northbound (2nd Attempt) March 2017
I'm budgeting $6,000 for the trail (that will include travel expenses, but exclude initial gear purchases). I don't really drink at all (except for the occasional cocktail at nice restaurants, which I don't plan on running into on the trail) or smoke, so I don't really have to worry about those things burning through my money. Probably also won't stay in many hotels, especially if a hostel is available.
I always liked to get a motel room in town and have dinner in a nice restaurant while the younger crowd were eating AYCE Chinese and packing 10 into a motel room. Of course they spent more money on beer than I did
Restaurants and single rooms add up.
"Chainsaw" GA-ME 2011
I thrued in 2011. It took me 5 mos and 5 days--20 of which were zeros in motels. During this time I put $6000 on my charge card. Food was a major expense.
This is precisely what gets a lot of people. What are you going to do when you walk out of the woods and see the road...just as you arrive a car stops and offers you a ride even though you weren't planning on going into town (this happens often at trailheads)...or maybe there are two or three other hikers you've been hiking with or near for the past few days and they are all going into town...or maybe you've been traveling with a group of hikers for several weeks or months? You will adopt the habits of all of those in your group. In fact, when you are in a group, every time you cross a road at least one member of the group will want to go to town, and when group decisions are made you can bet nobody is going to pass up pizza and beer and a hot shower and clean sheets. Its not so much how much you spend, but how much your friends are spending, because your habits will match theirs if you are typical of most people.
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