[pct-l] RE: isn't hiking free?!?

[aandg at telusplanet.net (Alistair & Gail Des Moulins)]

Ken

$2600 for a thru hike is not far from what it cost us in 2003.

Here are the numbers for our expenses to the nearest dollar:

$2241 Groceries and fuel (virtually all bought from stores along the route)
$607   Restaurant meals and in town food.
$159   Hotel, hostel and campsite fees (South Lake Tahoe, Ashland and Seiad
Valley)
$602   Bus transportation from home to trail and from trail to home and
Stehekin bus.
$70     Mailing costs

$3679 is the total for 2 people. So about $1840 each which is about $10 each
per day for our 6 month journey.

I'm not including equipment as most of it we already had and still use. The
only items we each specifically bought for the trip were Marmot Helium
sleeping bags, lightweight ice axes and 2 pairs of boots. These items cost
us about $660 each. The sleeping bags and ice axes have been used quite a
bit since the trip so the cost of them cannot be counted completely as PCT
cost

To the $1840 I would add about $650 in equipment costs for the trip -
footwear, socks, part costs of sleeping bag and ice axe and pack as the main
items.
So the total is just under the $2600 figure.

Obviously if you choose to stay in hotels in towns then your costs will be
quite a bit higher.

We certainly took some food from hiker boxes along the way and that saved us
some money.
We did not travel light (20 & 25 pound base weights) so were slower. We
certainly had more clothing so that we did not have to rush to the nearest
hotel to escape the rain or snow. So maybe there is a relationship between
trail costs and base weight of pack.

Alistair

----- Original Message ----- >
> Message: 27
> Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 14:03:48 -0800
> From: "Ken Powers" <kdpo@gottawalk.com>
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] RE: isn't hiking free?!?
> To: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
> Message-ID: <000401c4df04$206b9080$6501a8c0@pacbell.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> A couple of observations from our experiences:
> A heavier pack would keep you our of town more because you would be
slower.
> Eventually you would hit those towns though. I definitely feel lighter
> translates into faster. On our day hikes we carry almost nothing and can
> average over 3.5 mph. On our thrus we average about 2.5 mph. You just have
> to find the point at which you will start sacrificing comfort to go
faster.
> Oh, it doesn't always have to be faster either - try longer days. I can't
> tell you how many hikers of the AT thought we were fast even though they
> passed us on the trail day after day. When they stopped late in the
> afternoons we kept getting our miles until dark.
>
> Does speed come with a cost. Probably, but there are ways to outfit
yourself
> cheaply if you want. We have found that food can be bought cheaply in
> groceries or expensively as backpacking food from outfitter types. Make
some
> of your equipment. Shop thrift stores and garage sales. Be creative.
>
> We feel that the $2600 figure is way out dated. The thru hikers we met
> hiking for $1 per mile were hitting hiker boxes hard, begging food from
> other hikers, etc. Not our way of  provisioning. Eric is right that you
can
> save money while on the trail, but for some the mortgage payments,
> insurance, ... just keep on coming in every month.
>
> Ken
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Eric Lee (GAMES)" <elee@microsoft.com>
> To: "Bluce Ree" <bluceree_superstar@yahoo.com>;
> <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
> Sent: Friday, December 10, 2004 12:53 PM
> Subject: [pct-l] RE: isn't hiking free?!?
>
>
> Bluce wrote:
> >
> With this in mind, is ultra-light hiking perhaps more
> costly? Would a heavier pack offer more luxury thus
> keep you away from hotels and diners? Does speed come
> at a cost?
> >
>
> That might be true, but I think it's more the goal and mindset of the
> hiker than the particular style of hiking that determines overall cost.
> When your goal is to thru-hike, you do everything necessary to
> accomplish that goal.  Using ultralight gear usually helps.  Freely
> spending money in certain appropriate ways also helps.  For some people,
> long-distance hiking might be about zero-cash-flow living but that's not
> what it's about for me (though I do appreciate the simpler living of a
> long hike).
>
> Anyway, I suppose it's a matter of perspective.  I go through a shocking
> amount of money each year to support myself, my wife, and my four kids
> in our standard American middle-class lifestyle.  When people talk about
> spending a dollar a mile for a thru-hike ($2600 over ~5 months, a pretty
> realistic figure for most people), heck, that sounds pretty darn close
> to free to me!
>
> Eric
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