[at-l] Cost of a thru-hike?

[greyowl at rcn.com (greyowl@xxxxxxx)]

But as previously mentioned there are a few hidden costs.  
The biggie is medical costs.  If you have medical insurance 
you may lose it or pay the whole amount.  I would highley 
recommend that no one tries a thru hike without insurance.  
Each persons cost will vary according to their needs.  
Realistically one should not try to figure out there costs 
based on miles, but on days.  I based my calculations on 
spending every tenth day off the trail, but some one else may 
decide that that is too long a stay between towns and opts 
for every fifth or sixth day which would add another $1800 to 
your costs.

Kelly, you are lucky because you have a couple of years to 
plan your hike.  This is the oportunity to figure out your 
costs and to start to collect gear.

Grey Owl

>     So my
>     total comes to $5000 (give or take a few
>     dollars). 
>
>   So, if I owe $13g and change, and I'm paying $525 a
>   month on the principal, I'll probably have it paid
>   off in two years.  Then, It'll take me nine months
>   to save for a hike, so that's a total of 2 years,
>   nine months.  So, that means I will be able to start
>   a thru-hike in what? 2006?!?!? 
>
>   Oh well, better than my original estimate of 2032..
>
>   Govols