AT $

“how much did it cost you to hike the 2160 miles?”

“1981 $1,200 bucks and I had a blast and a full time party.”

“its 2175 miles now

at a dollar per mile, thats an extra 15. good luck

you might be able to do it on about 2000 dollars, but youd have to be a super penny-pincher, and never get to do the good stuff like staying at the hostels, getting a good restaurant meal. youll be eating ALOT of ramen and bland rice.

i would guess the typical thru-hiker spends around 4 or 5 thousand. think about how much you would spend on food for that much time, then add maybe a hundred a month for anything else that might come up (gear that needs replaced, fuel, laundry, an occasional hostel stay to get a shower, etc)

keep in mind these are guesstimated figures and every person is going to spend differently

short answer, try to hit the trail with 5k at your disposal”

“any economics majors wanna convert 1981 $1200?

1200 would not be a full-time party these days”

““any economics majors wanna convert 1981 $1200?

1200 would not be a full-time party these days”
crash bang
2:57:54 PM
1/02/07

$2685.10 in 2005 dollars.
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi”

“Three years ago I heard $3,000 a person from a couple who just had finished. But they admitted the splurged in places.”

“2685 is reasonable. cant splurge a whole lot, tho”

“15 more miles! AWESOME!!

much obliged to you guys, thats what i needed to know.

happy hiking this year
last edited: 1/02/07 2:30:58 PM”

“Whoa....wait one G--DDa__ned minute...what the heck are you guys doing (heck me for that matter) helping someone on this site? GOOD LORD we are getting weak. (LOL)”

“Geez XL, you little cuss-monkey!!”

“GOOODDDD I love it when you talk that way....”

“My ears are blisterin' after all that XL-cussin'!!”

“you can go cheaper if you have a partner.”

“Crasher bang back in those days it didn't take much to have a party.”

“its always a cheap party when someone else brings the smokey treats, eh, fridge?

xl, we're only helpin cuz we're a bunch of liberal commies”

“it was everywhere.”

“"xl, we're only helpin cuz we're a bunch of liberal commies"

Gotta keep the nanny state alive. lol”

“im betting there are more hostels, motels, and more services in general than in 1981. not only has the cost of inflation risen, the level of temptation has gone up, too. theres actually a hostel in the 100 mile wilderness now, in addition to the 3 in monson they had at one point

anybody know the hostel sitch in monson, now, especially shaws? i heard they were trying to sell the business after the old mans death, but havent heard much. i guess i should hang out on whiteblaze more”

“On whiteblaze.net there is a good article on hiking cheaply, from someone who has hiked the trail several times with a very tight budget. Weathercarrot has a lot of good ideas.

It will be a different hike if you have a better money cushion. It is nice to not be constantly worrying about what you can afford.”

“OMG, old man Shaw kik't the bucket??? And there's now 3 hostels in Monson, and another in the hunnert mile wilderness!!??? WTF? I spent about 1500 before the trip in preperations (but I needed some gear, and spent on a lite Minolta camera body and 2 lenses). Then on the trip itself in '92 (with dearest Ginny) I spent ruffly 2500 I reckon. I knew a guy that finished that year by the name of Monk who was planning on spending only 800 bux, but he couldn't do jack you-know-whut! No hostels, no splurgin' whatsoever. I'd say that's no way to go, you'll wanna stay in a cheap motel or numerous famous hostels along the way for sure, on occasion.

5 grand (by '92 standards) is a major splurge. You won't need near that much IMHO. Fo sho, bring a 1-man tent, that will enable lots of opportunity for shaving off the bux when you want to. And keep in mind, when you don't wanna shuck the bux for lodging in trailtowns, nothin' beats a graveyard! My first night in Monson (I pulled in kinda late, and didn't wanna pay for that night) was a great, quite night in the cemetary, ain't no lie.

Currahee, don't know if the AT stats have changed in the last 10 yrs, but as of '92 95% of all partners (buds, bf/gf, man/wife, ect.) split before the end of the hike. Don't count on splittin' costs! My partner ended his hike at Rat Branch in TN, exactly 4 weeks into "our" thru-hike.

When you shootin' for beardo?”

“I'm saving up for '08 or '09. I'm budgeting 5k for the trip and 15k to pay bills back home.
It's something I've been wanting to do most of my life. If ever there was something worth splurging on...”

“Have you guys read "Walking on the Happy Side of Misery" by Model T. I just finished it. Good read. It's about his thru in 1990.”

“Hope to meet you at SoRuck! I wanted to stay for your presentation on Sunday, but I will have to head home before you guys get started.”

“happy side of misery was defineitely a more authentic account of the AT than a walk in the woods, even tho not nearly as polished and in need of a good proof-reader”

“The figures I'm used to using has come to me clearer. I spent $1500 before, and $2000 during the trip. I think if you're already geared up, $3k would be plenty. My hike took 5 months and a week. More $$ would mean more time(good) an more luxury stayovers(gooder). Pre-trip money went for a Camp Trails Omega backpack, an MSR Whisperlite stove, lite Minolta camera body and 2 lite lenses, lots of film (both slide film and regular, I switched back and forth the whole way from the 2 types of film), uhhh lots of dehydrated food and Sams Club foodstuffs (oatmeal, drinkmixes, snackystuffs for gorp, beef jerky packs) for 13 boxes for family to ship thru the summer, uhh, some other odds and ins I think.

I bought in bulk a huge allotment of assorted meals from Backcountry Pantry and their neat BakeLite breadbaker thingy. I knew a family member of one of the 2 gals that started the company, plus they were quite new then, so I got a ton of meals, basically all that I would carry for the summer, for a bulk price of $600.

Incredible all that still resides neatly in my head.”