Lets be honest people, how much did you really spend to hike the AT??? Not ghetto a$$ live outta hiker boxes, stiff "Donations accepted" hostels, "trail magic" was the only way you ate, hitch hiking to the trail from Cali... Would love to know what the likes of Oz Jacko and ChinMusic spent recently to complete the trail... On my first of 3 "Dog-Thrus" in '05, I spent $11k... On my 3rd, thanks to friends I gained from the trail, I spent $5200... Granted that included my hound "SideKick" but I pretty much kept to myself, and did not hit a lot of towns, and had some friends along the way, prolly more like my hound did ... I know HikerBoy is going next year, and wise as he is, knows it won't be "I am going to hike the AT with a $1000" lol...