Thrifty Hiking - Appalachian Trail

imported
#1

Okay, obviously staying out of towns is a key factor in keeping the hiker budget down.

This being stated, what are some good ways to keep a thru-hike cost down?

bearbait

#2

It’s towns where the money is spent. So, to minimize your expenses, minimize the amount of meals you buy, and fix your own meals. Avoid motels and sleep in the woods. Finally, curtail vices like drinking beer.

Peaks

#3

Zero on the Trail. Spend money on good trail food to keep you out on the Trail. Find like minded people to hike with that won’t get suckered into the draw of a bar but to enjoy the beauty of the Trail rather than town. Make your own gear.

Then again, when will you being doing another thru-hike? You may develop the addiction afterwards looking at the LT, PCT, CDT, MST, etc. But if this will be a once in a lifetime goal, go out and enjoy it; stay in motels, drink beer, buy rounds for other hikers, eat sushi, watch movies, hike SLOW! Enjoy it!!! Bills can always be paid later.

Cap’n

#4

Cap’n is right on both accounts.You can do it on a bare minimum amount or set aside some mad money for the towns.Either way you’ll enjoy yourself,living war stories and creating memories.:cheers

Bill Harris

#5

I’d say it is possible to hike the entire AT for less than $100 total. Recently some guy wrote a book (“The Last Real Man Alive” if I remember correctly is the title) and gave some talks about living off the land (catching your food, eating nuts and berries, etc). Back in the pioneer days, single hunters like Daniel Boone traveled hundreds even thousands of miles, there were no stores, and they survived, so it can be done.

What do you really need: Some salt, a little flour, maybe some dried beans and rice, and maybe some cooking oil. Other than that with all your gear (sleeping bag, tent, cooking pot, hiking poles, etc), you should be okay.

Good luck. :cheers

Maintain

#6

Oh, I recently finished my gluttonous long distance hike this year, so I know about the towns. I didn’t finish the entire trail, but I don’t regret the path I took.

Of course, now I have the itch to get back out and do a true thru-hike…and I’d like to do it next year.

Thanks for the suggestions!

bearbait

#7

Cooking when in town was a big money saver for us. Many hostels are incredibly innexpensive (Vernon, Pearisburg, Kincora) and have a stove, refridgerator to use for cooking food purchased in a grocery store. We would make big dagwood style sandwiches, salads, Omlettes, etc, that would 99% of the time taste better than what we would’ve gotten eating out. If you can get other hikers involved you can have a regular feast.

Hitchhike instead of paying for shuttles. vow to make it thru Shenandoah Park and much of New England without entering a store, hotel, or restaurant. It IS possible to get through the White Mts. for free. Don’t slackpack because it often costs money to do it, plus you end up back in town a second night. Dining out is cheapest in the south and in PA and Maine, drinking beer is cheapest in PA.

When you go to one of the big grocery stores with those horrid “member discount cards”, use a “guest card” or borrow a card from someone behind you in line. Usually the customer service counter has guest cards for travelers.

There are lifestyle things too, like renting your house out if you own, subletting or terming your lease if you rent, dropping insurance on your car if you have one (or selling it), not using a cell phone or a paid Internet/email account, storing stuff in a friends basement instead of paying, raising the deductible on your health and/or homeowners insurance, selling your children etc.

I also heard stories of hikers working on farms for a little while to make some money, and to have the experience. You could eat free the whole way on oatmeal in hiker boxes (shudder). Be careful though not to cross over the line between thrifty and a being mooch.

jitterbug

#8

Be careful when buying gear before the trail! Those wonderful camping supply stores are great, but are usually more expensive then buying online from places like campmor. Go to your local outdoor store, check out gear, try it on, talk to the employees, write down what you want and then get out and hit the internet. Check prices and check again. There are always deals somewhere! Read books or talk to other long distance hikers and make sure what you’re planning on buying is really what you need…otherwise you’ll be like half the thru hikers and be buying all new gear at Neals Gap! Research! It’ll save you lots of money in the long run.:cheers

Flowcefus

#9

I met a couple on the AT who planned to live off the land. They dropped off the trail around the Smokies. Turns out there isn’t a lot to eat at 4000-6000’ in April and they were starving! The only green I saw the first couple of weeks were hemlocks and holly leaves.

Living off the land is a full time job - it doesn’t leave much time for hiking, even if the season is better and the altitude lower. i.e. acorns have to be boiled several times before eating, otherwise they are poisonous to humans; Cattails are a lot of work to make into flour, and you’ll only find them at lower elevations. Daniel Boone and company could survive on little because they were able to hunt as they went, and they knew how to turn the meat they killed into pemmican – again, a process that leaves litte time for hiking, and will get you arrested if you’re hunting off season.

Ginny

#10

That figure of 100 dollars to do the whole trail seems impossible low.I Think even in Dan boone times if he were to walk from Georgia to maine he would spend more than a hundred dollars.Even if you were to hunt you have to buy bullets and licenses!The basic formula for food is 1 pound per day and I doubt you could hike the AT in 100 days,and most healthy food is more than a dollar a pound.Figure 1 dollar per mile on the low end of costs.Cheap food could cause you health problems and mental fatigue making your trip longer,costing you more in the long run.I would suggest either working an extra job,saving for another season or selling everything you own besides your hiking gear and working hard in winter to keep hiking forever.Remember in anything you get what you pay for,cheap isnt always good.

100 dollars!?!

#11

Could it be done on $100? Sure.
Would you break the law by shooting animals out of season? Yes.
Would you be comfortable? Nope.

Living off the land isn’t about going from point a to b. It’s about surviving. Once you got GOOD at surviving, something that most of us are NOT good at, you could travel, albeit very slowly.

The skills that the Daniel Boones of the world had are, for the most part, not practiced any longer because they’re not required. They’re also not passed along to children. How many people know how to smoke meat? Dehyrate veggies? (and no, I’m not talking about putting it into the the dehydrator try and plugging it into the outlet…)

Given an AVERAGE population of 100 persons, how many would be able to build a successful snare trap? Load a flinklock rifle? Hell, for that matter, cleanly field dress an animal?

Dog Tag

#12

I tried “the finger through one sheet of toilet paper” but it just wasn’t worth it! :lol

There’s always edibles in hiker boxes along the way…not always sure what’s in those baggies but it looks like it can be eaten. Also saw some expensive stuff like tuna packets, peanut butter, Liptons etc. You hit on it first…stay out of towns and there’s not places to spend it.

Boots & shoes are expensive try “store specials” out before you leave Springer.

Skeemer

#13

If living off the land is a full time job in itself, how did old Daniel Boone ever get from place to place?

I have eaten rabbits, ducks, squirrels, possums, racoons, deer, and a variety of other animals including some that were road kill (but it was fresh road kill). What about crayfish and lizards (salamanders) and fish.

Hunting licenses are required for some game, but not all. I don’t know of a single state that requires hunting licenses for mice, rats, snakes, ground squirrels, many types of birds, etc etc. And it is not illegal to kill and eat these critters. A gravel shooter or slingshot as some call it, and you could if you are a good shot keep yourself well supplied with meat. Also think about all the apples in the fall, the many types of berries in the summer, the various types of edible roots, yogi bear, the hiker boxes, etc. There is a lot of food to be had out there, you just have to know how to get it, catch it, or find it.

So I say to all you nay sayers, that it could be done. And I could do it and have money left over out of that $100 at the end of the trip. Now if you want to make it worth my while, say AT Survival with a million bucks at the end if I make it, then I’ll gladly do it providing all is certified, verified, etc. etc. Otherwise, I’m a fairly busy fellow and don’t have the time for it.

To do anything, you must first know in your mind that you can do it. And I know that I can. I was borned and raised in these mountains and know what I can and cannot do. Any takers? :cheers

Maintain

#14

Anyone read Carl Hiassen’s books about the Governor who went back to the wild and lived off road kill? How about the recipe for “Millers and Onions” in the O’Brian novels about the Sea?

Millers and Onions were rats sauteed with onions. They called it that because it sounded a little more palatable.

Anyone else have a favorite recipe?

Skylander

#15

I love these post cause it sometimes makes me laugh. It is very possible to live off the land. I hiked the Ozark Highlands trail with nothing but a knife and a can for cooking. I made my own fires and found food along the way. It was very easy to walk and gather along teh way. Come to a creek I could find crayfish very easy. Snake crossing the trail, hit him on the head and fix em for dinner. But I will agrre on one point and that it will slow you down. But hey, enjoy your self. If you want a good idea, go to www.teachingdrum.org There you will learn everything.

spacewalker

#16

I guess it’s theoretically possible to hike the whole trail on $100, but why in the world would you want to? If you’re really interested in living off the land and pretending to be Daniel Boone, there are much wilder places to do it than a corridor touching virtually all the major population centers of the east.

The early trappers, hunters and mountain men got place-to-place by visiting frontier homesteads, trading with the natives, leading pack horses with hundreds of pounds of supplies, and/or stopping at hunting camps to spend days getting ready for the next leg of the trip.

Can you imagine eating all ramps and branch lettuce in the spring, all berries in the summer and all apples in the fall? Thow in some squirrel and shelter mouse, the oh-so-nutritous salamander, and the effect on the digestive system would be something to see.

Nothing wrong with hitting the hiker boxes, but working extra hard and saving up some cash now will seem like a good idea compared to the oatmeal and gorp diet that a freeloading hike will allow.

Joel

Joel

#17

Maintain you need to read some books on Dan boones time.First off he traveled by horse most of the time,like when he went down to Texas.Also the 1850s wernt ancient times,there were trade routes,stores and outpost more widespread than they are in some areas today.Ever been to montana?There were lots more towns out west 150 years ago than there are now.Secondary most people heading out to the wilds saved up a “grubstake” usually about 200 dollars worth of flour,oil,coffee and whiskey to supplement there hunting.While i dont have a million dollars I will wager 2000 dollars right here,right now that you will not compleat the AT trail with just 100 dollars and what you start out carrying.And I’m assuming this will be like the old days so you wont have to buy your licenses,BUT you cannot depend on Yogi methods for food and shelter(because you are in the wilderness, right).How much do you figure on spending on amunition?How many calories can you gather from the woods in one day and how many miles can you cover while spending HOURS everyday on surviving.I dont care if you start with a Hundred pound pack just full of protein powder,you will not finnish the trail!Wilderness survival is just that,Surviving.If you have water and some shelter you can survive over a week with no food IF you conserve you resources.I ounce went a 3 day survival camp and lost 10 pounds while eating berries all day(and not doing much else)So go for Danny Boone ,I loook forward to your attempt and we will find someone to monitor our wager.

Maintains wager

#18

I’ll throw in $1,000 if he does it…and that’s not even a bet:tongue

Skeemer

#19

You don’t have to live off the land. There are dumpsters stuffed with food in almost every town in America. Go to a fast food place at around one PM. Ask to clean around the dumpster. They will give you more food than you can eat, they have to throw it out anyway. Do the same thing at supermarkets. Locals think we are rich yuppies (or Orppies, old retired proffesionals) who can afford to take 6 month vacations (many of us are). When they find out we are just like them living hand to mouth they go out of their way to help. Don’t look for handouts, do some work. With creativity you can hike VERY cheap.

Blue Jay

#20

Oh, you should be careful about that bet. I hiked for around 700 miles in ‘98’ with a guy who spent no money at all. This is a VERY rich country. We throw out more than most countries consume.

Blue Jay