[at-l] thru-hike budget

[rrubin@atconf.org (Robert Rubin)]

Here's another approach. It worked for me. I had two different pots of
money--pre-hike expenses and hike expenses. Pre-hike expenses included
gear, which I assembled over about a year prior to the hike, and staple
foods--pasta, bouillon, canned chicken and tuna, vitamins, candy
bars--which I bought in bulk at a discount warehouse the month before the
hike, then packed in maildrop packages. I tried to get just some basics,
figuring I would fill it out with supplies purchased on the hike. I think I
sent about 15 maildrops in all, and they served as a core around which I
would resupply as needed. Then, for the hike itself, I budgeted $400 per
month for additional supplies, gear replacement, camping and hostel fees,
and restaurant food. It worked out okay. The only time I was really on thin
ice was near the end of the hike, at which time I finally had to pull out
the credit card during a stretch in NH/Maine where I was loading up on
restaurant food because I'd been losing too much weight. I didn't stay at
any huts in the Whites. I had to borrow $6 from a fellow hiker to pay the
fee to camp in Baxter.

Robert

 At 8:51 PM -0500 11/27/01, saunterer@jimbullard.org wrote:
>I can't find my copy of Rollie Musser's book right now but if my memory
>serves me $1/mile was a very tight budget.  A more reasonable estimate was
>$1.75-$2/mile for a thru.  His book (and the surveys he based it on) were a
>few years ago so the figures are likely even higher by now.  And yes, I
>believe he said it was more expensive on the New England end.