I plan on low-budget thru-hiking next year and I was wondering what is cheaper: maildrop food or buy food as you go. Also, any tips on doing it on little money (just over a thousand). I already have all gear.
Curious
Low Budget Thru
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#2
I forgot to mention that I do not own a dehydrator and don’t plan on buying one. I also live near an Amish Grocery store which sells seconds and I recently bought 94 bars (various kinds) for 17 dollars.
Curious
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#3
Curious-
Check out Whiteblaze.net-there is an excellent post/article written by WeatherCarrot about thru-hiking for around a thousand bucks in the information/aritcles section. Also if you do a search over there you should find some lively threads around the topic.
I assume you could save money both ways but personally i think buying along the way is cheaper when you factor that most maildrops cost between 5-15 bucks to send. Also if you’re waiting around in town to pick up your box your most likely gonna need/want to spend money on food and lodging.
A-Train
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#4
The cost to mail also depends on how far away you live from the Trail. And then even if mailing ends up slightly cheaper, running to post offices all the time, or having to stay on a tight schedule can be a pain in the rear.
Another suggestion is Jack Tarlin has written a very good article for WhiteBlaze.net on some of the better places to get maildrops. In a few places the only resupply is short-term and through an outfitters, which are obviously expensive.
$1000 can certainly be done, you’ll just have to eat more Ramen then you’d like and will have to avoid stopping in towns, which is hard to do.
0101
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#6
One way to do this is to earn some funds along the way. In Spring, you can get off the trail and hitch-hike into towns down south,like Roanoke, and easily earn $400-500 in 2 weeks-cutting grass, construction,warehouse etc. It gets harder to find employment further North but not impossible. Stealth camping is easy near many southern towns and you get to meet folks. In fact,the way the hiker community has grown, there may be folks that would hire you to help out some on his or her trip. There’s also the possibility of a charity hike that will cover some expenses. I sectionhiked to Duncannon using PO drops one season on $500.00-it was brutal barely being able to afford a candybar at stores/restaurants along the way. If at all possible, save more to give yourself more options. If this is not possible, hike using a credit card(just pay your min.) If you have a job and bank account and are young,banks love you. CC make big $$ for banks and you help build credit for more future hikes. Get creative,one guy is marketing a piece of equipment and probably has saved about half of what he will need on this year’s hike. Peace, Mike
mike
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#7
to reiterate, but not to dissuade, a grand is for the real tough ones, the buddist types, the ones who really really are completely comfortable with the wilderness as thier home. if you are subject to the carnal sins of loving to drink beer and eat pizza and such, beware. if you really appriciate comfort, and strike up intense cravings and daydreaming sessions when without it, beware.
were it april 7th when you dropped this, i would offer nothing but support, because it can be done and why not try it. and why should i try to put doubt in your mind so close to your departure. but, my friend, it is february and between here and mid april there are two full months for you to bust your ass. work 60 a week, commit yourself entirely to the pursuit of cash, life and liberty will come in spades on the trail. dig in, bro, make that money.
unless you are one of them buddist types.
i think since you have acess to cheap food and live (it seems) on the east coast, maildrops may be a good way to go. because then you have food taken care of and you cant spend cash you dont have on beer and such. so if you stand in kent connecticut and you have spent your last seven dollars on a grilled cheese, you can hike on because there is food waiting for you to maine. all you need is food, right?
but doing 30 maildrops is simply too much, so look at b jacks white blaze article to figure out which towns have large winn dixies and piggly wigglys. the big supermarkets are cheap down south, and any town of considerable size has a dollar store. they rule. concentrate your maildrops on the north both because it is more expensive and you are likely to be running thin on cash by then.
dont let it get you down, go on and rock it.
milo
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#8
send me an email and keep the adress, then when you get to nj/ny, let me know you are comming. i live on the trail in CT and ill buy you breakfast.
milo
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#9
With $1000 for the trail (I assume you have your gear already because it’s EXTREMELY hard to buy gear and do the trail for $1000), you’ll just barely cover food, whether you do mail-drops or eat along the way. You eat A LOT of food. We figured it was about $7 - $8 a day for food (that’s not getting expensive foods either). That’s the usual Snickers, peanuts, oatmeal, bagels, ramen, mac & chez, etc… For around 6 months, that’s around $1000 - $1200. You could probably shave a couple dollars per day bringing it under $1000.
Food rotation is essential on the trail. You’ll get SOOOOOOO sick of a certain food after eating 3000 calories of it every day. Eating ramen all the time is possible, but you’ll probably be forcing it down after a while.
But, my point is, if you want to do ANYTHING else, it’s a REALLY tight budget. It’s possible, but you’ll have to do some MAJOR planning beforehand. I’d recommend, like others have, to save up more (still have a month or two) or work while on the trail. There are lots of opportunities to work for $$$. You will get help along the way, but you have to expect that something will go wrong and you’ll need money to fix it. Don’t want to end the trail because of lack of funds. Not fun.
Good luck with your quest and best wishes!
Dave and Miranda