Planning on hiking the appalachian trail this spring.

[masshole]

Mind giving a breakdown of what you are blowin 3 grand on? I know it's easy to spend that kind of money on the trail; hostels, hotels, restaurants, beer, gadgets, etc...; but I hardly think it's required.

Ya need food, and there is some gear you will have to replace, like shoes. Other than that, where are you spending money?

where am I spending the money? well you answered that. have you thru hiked the AT? look I know theres some well disciplined people that hav done for less,me ,I spent much more than that but that's me. don't tell me that 3grand is an irrational amount of money to hike for 6 mo. unless yr comfortable with yogi"n yr way up the trail.

 

[Zeke42]

where am I spending the money? well you answered that. have you thru hiked the AT? look I know theres some well disciplined people that hav done for less,me ,I spent much more than that but that's me. don't tell me that 3grand is an irrational amount of money to hike for 6 mo. unless yr comfortable with yogi"n yr way up the trail.

I'm not saying it's an irrational amount to hike with, I am saying that it's way high for a minimum. If you don't stay in hostels/hotels, don't eat in restaurants, don't drink, and are smart about food, it can be done for half that easily, without yogi or trail boxes.

Ramen, Knorr packets, tuna, peanutbutter, oatmeal, snickers bars, tortilla shells... You can eat for ~$5 a day and still make calorie goals. Pick up your shoes from a discount store, and I've seen it budgeted for half that, and I know it can be done for less.

Not everyone hikes the trail for the town experience.

 

[dharma bum]

When it comes down to food, remember that the average person is burning 5-6,000 calories a day (or more). You can't eat Raman every meal. Like I was saying earlier in the thread, it's a good tip to try and make your food have 100 calories per 1 oz of food.

 

[Zeke42]

You can use Ramen as a base for a meal, add to that some tuna, chicken, salmon, etc, some olive oil or butter. I've even seen peanutbutter mixed into Ramen.

As well, I didn't say Ramen for every meal, that is what the peanutbutter and tortillas (lunch), oatmeal (breakfast), Snickers (snacks), Knorr sides (in place of Ramen as a dinner base) are for.

The idea was that it can be done on far less than the commonly cited figures of $4,000 + to do a hike. Most of those figures plan on hostels/hotels, restaurants, beer, and other luxuries, as well as sometimes covering "lost wages", which few on this board would (I suspect) be concerned with.

Also, most recommendations I encounter, and what I shoot for, Is more like 125 or more average calories per ounce. Seems slight, but when burning 4500 plus calories a day...