Cost to do the AT

[riverkeeper]

How much does it typically cost to do the trail these days assuming moderate outlays for hotel accomodations, eating out etc?

An acquaintance said her hike in 95 cost about 3,500 including a short stay in a hospital and motel time for Lyme's Disease. She said the average guess then was about $1 per mile or $2200 but it could be done cheaper and had been done with much more.

When Uncle Earl ( earlshaffer.com ) hiked again in 98 he got thru the Smokies on about $36 ... he and his situation was unusual .... people tripping over themselves to offer him food n stuff. Doubt if he spent more than $400. Earl lived far from the mainstream and off the grid.

This is no reflection on Cannibal or anyone else ... everyone hikes their own hike and that's the way it is and should be. Cannibal, I scanned your journal and given some of the problems, you done real good. Best to you.

[cavscout]

This article over on whiteblaze is from 2003

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?p=22959#post22959

But I read in another article the average might be about $5,000 once all is said and done.

[Ramblinrev]

I've heard $1/mile is frugal at best. But not being a long distance hiker I am only repeating what I've heard others say.

[Coffee]

It is hard to say. I didn't live it up a lot in town. I stayed in more than I should have. I also went south, so a lot of time I was going in alone or with only 1 or 2 other people. That ment spliting things wasn't an option. Way cheaper resupplies on food where you can split things up. I ended up leaving a lot of stuff in hiker boxes or throwing it away since the smalled one was way bigger than what I wanted to carry. I also swapped out a lot of gear.

I never figured mine up exactly. Actually I don't want to know the exact answer. Here is my best guess.

Resupply/Food in town/hotel or hostel nights - $4000+
Gear replacement $1000 ish
Bills while I was gone $3000 ish

Next time not including any bills I have while I am gone I want to have $8000-10000 saved up. Yes it is a lot. But it takes out the stress of worrying about your cash flow. It does wear on you. Sometimes you need to take a day off. It saved my hike a couple times.

Another thing to consider is the hunger. The hunger is like nothing I ever had. I even played football in highschool and rowed through college. It was way worse than any I had through that. That was the cause for a lot of my town expenses. There is no way to carry enough food. Regardless of all the tricks you hear there just isn't. If there was no one would loose weight. When people say they can ask them if they lost weight.

Town stops are the biggest money sucking thing out there. If you do an in and out, just resupply and meal, it only costs the price of resupply plus one meal. Say $10-15 dollars. If you stay you have the hotel or hostel, say $30-50 depending, beer, dinner, 2nd dinner, snacks, breakfest, plus any random thing other people want to do. So instead of spending $10 extra you spend $110 extra over resupply. You need days off the trail, but keeping them down helps.

My 2 zero's in the woods were by far the most restful days I had on the trail. No where to go or to walk to. I plan on packing out extra food and doing more of them next time. I took a zero on a 4 day hike in the smokies last month at a shelter. It was raining hard enough I didn't want to hike in it. Very restful, having great company helped.

There is a ton of this talk on whiteblaze if you can sort through the garbage to get to it.

[Coffee]

This article over on whiteblaze is from 2003

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?p=22959#post22959

But I read in another article the average might be about $5,000 once all is said and done.


I've heard $1/mile is frugal at best. But not being a long distance hiker I am only repeating what I've heard others say.

Don't take it this the wrong way because I am not intending it to be against you guys or negative. But this is one of those things where you don't want to take second hand advice. I read all that stuff to before I hiked. A lot of it was what people recited that never hiked that was wrong. Not their fault, but it can hurt someone in the end.

[riverkeeper]

I've heard $1/mile is frugal at best. But not being a long distance hiker I am only repeating what I've heard others say.

The buck a mile number was from 1995 and a guesstimate for a fairly frugal hike THEN. 18 yrs later I'd suspect a guesstimate for a similar hike would be in the $5000 range @ about 2 bucks a mile .... But I don't know and that's why I ask.

I'll check the whiteblaze site -- thanks

Edit -- checke, good info. In 98 prior to hiking with Earl in Georgia and Maine I looked thru Wingfoot's guide.

[Youngblood]

My thru hike is dated, 2000, but the problem with putting a price tag on a thru hike is that it isn't a fixed price to begin with, or during, or at the end. There are a lot more variables than most folks can imagine unless they have done it. I use to estimate something like $100 dollars for the first town day (includes resupply) and $50 for the second (I sometimes stayed more than one day). But even that isn't fixed because things can be more expensive in some areas.

Then there are gear purchases (shoes, replacements, etc), shuttle cost, whether you want to hit the bars or local attractions. What I noticed was that folks that had to worry about whether they had enough money to finish usually didn't and had to leave the trail or work mom and dad or grandad and grandma as necessary. Low budgets generally meant few, if any town stays, but a lot of the fun stuff was in the towns... the next town stay was often the motivation to keep going. Clean sheets, clean clothes, showers, cheese burgers, going to see a neat new movie, watching a NBA playoff game at a tavern, etc, you don't know how good those things are until you are stuck in all day rains and stink to high heaven. But they cost a little money.

[Dutch]

I thru'd in 2003. I never really added up the costs but I think it was about $5000 or $6000. I certainly could have done it cheaper and I could have done it more lavishly. Coffee has the right idea with having extra money. I saw a lot of hikers that were running out of money in PA. I had the luxury of having a spouse that took care of the bills at home (highly recommended). Plan extra because things are going to come up like sickness, injury, gear needs, and ice cream. Having gear that you are confident will help a lot. I saw too many hikers regearing themselves at Neel's Gap.

[Cannibal]

I would say $5000 at a minimum and that would be a pretty bare bones hike.

I lived it up a lot. That was always part of the plan, I wanted to see all the neat historical stuff along the Trail and enjoy some of the really neat towns. I did tours in DC and NYC and had a blast. I spent over $10K, but some of that was because Genuine Draft stayed out longer than I had anticipated; still proud of her for that one. My gear held up very well so I didn't have to spend a lot on replacement, BUT I did buy cool toys like the MSR Hyperflow filter (which I like mucho much) and outfit Genuine Draft.

What really kills are the bills at home...they just don't stop, dammit! Next time around I'll be as debt free as is possible for those of us here in the US of A.

Got to have money for the unexpected, like doctor visits, but otherwise I'm sure it can be done for $5K.

[mixinmaster]

I've seen this discussed lots, and lots...... I guess the range is great, depending on a ton of variables, but none as much as how much time you spend in town and what you eat in town and on the trail....... I spent $750 last spring from GA-VA, some 480 miles and 37 days out....... I stayed in some hostels, ate a little in town, etc... I didn't splurge by any means, but didn't bare bones it either........ However, some of my savings had to be that I no longer drink or smoke, so no party or recovering from party holding me up........

[Lost]

Coffee's estimate seems to be pretty close to where Nest is running. Like Cannibal, he has doon a lot of "vacationing" on his vacation! Seen lots of sites, checked ot lots of hostiles - and don't forget they bought rafts, coolers, etc. for their aqua-blaze.:) Nest has some photos of Cannibal on his TJ site from the aqua blaze.

He's already talking about hiking again next year, and just hiking. Did the site seeing this year. We'll see. Some places are just too good to pass up!

[Nest]

Yeah $5-6k. Prices are really going up this year, and shuttles cost a lot now with gas prices. So it will only get more expensive over the years.

[neo]

i have section hike from springer in ga.to pinkham notch in nh.aint no way i could count how much money i spent.did that from 2001 to 2006.i hope to hit the trail next year.
last year i had just got custody of my 2 sons.this year my oldest son went to summer school.i know one thing for sure if i thru hike when i retire i dont want to see how cheaply it can be done,i just want to enjoy the trail.:cool:neo

[Coffee]

Yeah $5-6k. Prices are really going up this year, and shuttles cost a lot now with gas prices. So it will only get more expensive over the years.

Yeah I great way to save money is not to slackpack. That means you have the cost of the shuttle twice (once to drop off to hike back and a second to get back to hike on), plus an extra night in town with all the food and entertainment that go along with it. A good $100 swing sometimes. Kincora is an exception. For 3 people with a shuttle for a slack and 2 nights it was only $20 a person.