In 22 days I hiked 316.6 miles (14 mi/day) on the Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain, GA to Sam’s Gap, TN, flew 4,340 air miles—SEA to ATL and TRI to SEA, hitchhiked 4 times to and from gaps and towns, and 4 took shuttles to and from airports and trailheads. My total cost was $957. My average daily cost was $46.
Lodging costs
My 10 nights of lodging costs were $385 for an average of $39 per night. I stayed in private or hotel rooms 6 nights and dorm rooms 3 nights and the remaining 12 nights were “free” at AT shelters or campsites.
Food
My food costs were $409 for an average of $19 per day. By comparison, my SE Asia trip averaged $25, my South American trip averaged $23 per day, the Philippines trip $42 per day, my 2014 Trans-Siberian-Asia trip was $28, and my 2012 Brazil trip was $38 per day.
Huddle House, Erwin, TN.-- eggs, hash browns, biscuits, gravy, toast, and toast---342 miles.
Travel
My total Travel costs were $163 along with using 50,000 Delta frequent flyer miles for the flights to and from Seattle. If I would have paid for these same flights, they would have cost me $509. The shuttle rides cost $142 and the remaining costs were for airport fees, and light rail fares.
Costs Before Trip
For greater comfort, I bought a Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 tent for $262 and a Neo-Air Regular air mattress for $150 from Moosejaw.com, and a pair of Salomon, X Ultra Prime Trail shoes for $49 at REI with the 20% discount.
I bought the three AT guidebooks on Amazon for $29--you really only need to buy the AT Guide Northbound by "AWOL"--$15--since the information it contains includes the information in the other two books. I put the other two guides in the first hiker box I came to which further lightened my load.
Backpack and Wearables
When I started at Springer Mountain, GA, My total pack weighed 28 lbs rather than the 22 lbs I reported in my planning post—http://rtjhunt.blogspot.mx/2016/05/planning-for-my-Appalachian-trail-hike.html. I had added three pocketbooks and more junk food. I realized that I should have just packed 3 days' worth of food instead of 5 to 6 days of food so the pack would have been about 22 lbs which is much more comfortable.
My rain jacket was useful for the occasional heavy rains, however, I lost it along with my prescription glasses on the 2nd day out. Fortunately, when we got to Neels Gap, the outfitter, Mountain Crossing, had a lightweight North Face jacket which I bought.
My Soloman trail runners worked well in that they were comfortable and I did not get any blisters and they dried out quickly after the rains or walking through the dewy grasses found on the “Balds”. Unfortunately, I super-extended my left sole when stepping in a tree root hole so much that it is still sore a month later. That would not have happened if I were wearing stiffer hiking boots---the ever-present weight vs safety issue when lightweight hiking.
Travel Insurance
Rather than buying individual trip insurance, I buy annual trip insurance from Travelguard for $267 per year. It covers you for trips further than 100 miles from home and for trips from home up to 90 days at a time. This provides for emergency medical evacuation and care, loss of baggage, theft, trip cancellations, etc.
Unless you have the original receipts for your travel things, they will not accept your claim. They also do not reimburse for lost cash. As a part of the filing process, you have to submit your homeowner's insurance declaration sheet that shows what your deductible is. Mine is $250 deductible per loss. They have a $50 deductible on claims and limit electronics claims to $500.
For this trip, I filed a claim totaling $266.24 for lost prescription glasses, OR rain jacket, and a $20 stop check payment for the blank check I had in my glasses case. This claim is still pending.
I used my SteriPen Freedom along with a wide mouth half-liter plastic bottle and a second-liter plastic bottle as my water supply. Collecting the water from the slow running or dripping seeps was the biggest challenge. The purification process was quick—-about 1 1/2 minutes of Ultra Violet light and no chemicals. I had no intestinal problems during the trip. Most other hikers used the Sawyer filter system. I thought that most of the places I got water from looked like it would have been safe to drink without treatment, but I did not want to take a chance.
A Walk in the Woods
For me, the AT was truly a walk in the woods—-or more accurately a walk in a long green tunnel—-on a frequent up and down trail strewn with roots and rocks. The views were few and when there were views I would see more rounded hills covered with trees or small towns far below in the valleys. I do not think that I will return to hike any other portions of the AT. The PCT is my trail of choice.
A bit of the long "Green Tunnel"--Rhodie hedges.
My Pacific Crest Trail experience was so much better and different with constantly changing views of deserts, steep rocky mountains, rivers, lakes, snowfields, and waterfalls where the trail traveled through many different plant zones that made each day different and exciting. Also, the tread was quite a bit easier to travel on because it was designed to accommodate horses as well as hikers. The only part of the AT that had a similar tread to the PCT was in the Great Smoky National Park where horses were allowed.
For anyone thinking about hiking long-distance trails, I would strongly recommend starting with the Pacific Crest Trail. For me, the most scenic portions would be the Yosemite area in CA, the Timberline area in OR, and the Goat Rocks in WA. I think the Continental Divide Trail would be next with its broad vistas—on top of the world. A shorter but spectacular hike would be a 7 to 12 day— 92-mile hike around Mt. Rainier called the Wonderland Trail.
Goat Rocks, WA with Mt. Rainier in the background.
For hikes in other parts of the world, I would recommend the Circuit “W” in Patagonia, Chile—75 miles—4-5 days, the Annapurna Circuit—200km—3 weeks, the Journey to Lingshed in the Ladakh Region of India—100km—3 weeks, Choquequirao trek in Peru—75km—5 days, Leaping Tiger Gorge, China—40km—3 days, and Ciudad Perdida trek in Colombia—70km—5 days.
I will be using this blog to describe some of my travels that started before my first blog entry of Brazil in 2012 which will include describing some of these hikes in other parts of the world.
My 10 nights of lodging costs were $385 for an average of $39 per night. I stayed in private or hotel rooms 6 nights and dorm rooms 3 nights and the remaining 12 nights were “free” at AT shelters or campsites.
Hiker Hostel dorm room with linen for $20 including a FULL breakfast.---0 miles
Uncle Johnny's Nolichucky Hostel, Erwin, TN private room $50----342 miles.
Mollies Ridge Shelter, TN---177.3 miles.
Cold Springs Shelter, NC--144 miles.
Creekside Paradise on the AT B & B room with FULL breakfast ---158.4 miles
My food costs were $409 for an average of $19 per day. By comparison, my SE Asia trip averaged $25, my South American trip averaged $23 per day, the Philippines trip $42 per day, my 2014 Trans-Siberian-Asia trip was $28, and my 2012 Brazil trip was $38 per day.
Huddle House, Erwin, TN.-- eggs, hash browns, biscuits, gravy, toast, and toast---342 miles.
Gatlinburg, TN BBQ joint dinner of beef brisket--very tough, hush puppies, Coleslaw, potato salad, fried green tomatoes, and sweet tea---207 miles.
Nantahala Outdoor Center, River's End Restaurant, NC, Chicken Sherpa Rice lunch---137 miles.
My total Travel costs were $163 along with using 50,000 Delta frequent flyer miles for the flights to and from Seattle. If I would have paid for these same flights, they would have cost me $509. The shuttle rides cost $142 and the remaining costs were for airport fees, and light rail fares.
Atlanta airport.
Hitched in Red Van to Franklin, NC--110 miles.
Hitched with beekeepers Lloyd and Maria dropped me off at Newfound Gap, NC--207 miles.
Hiker Hostel shuttle vans took us from Atlanta airport to hostel and from hostel to Springer Mountain---0 miles.
For greater comfort, I bought a Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 tent for $262 and a Neo-Air Regular air mattress for $150 from Moosejaw.com, and a pair of Salomon, X Ultra Prime Trail shoes for $49 at REI with the 20% discount.
Backpack and Wearables
When I started at Springer Mountain, GA, My total pack weighed 28 lbs rather than the 22 lbs I reported in my planning post—http://rtjhunt.blogspot.mx/2016/05/planning-for-my-Appalachian-trail-hike.html. I had added three pocketbooks and more junk food. I realized that I should have just packed 3 days' worth of food instead of 5 to 6 days of food so the pack would have been about 22 lbs which is much more comfortable.
My rain jacket was useful for the occasional heavy rains, however, I lost it along with my prescription glasses on the 2nd day out. Fortunately, when we got to Neels Gap, the outfitter, Mountain Crossing, had a lightweight North Face jacket which I bought.
My Soloman trail runners worked well in that they were comfortable and I did not get any blisters and they dried out quickly after the rains or walking through the dewy grasses found on the “Balds”. Unfortunately, I super-extended my left sole when stepping in a tree root hole so much that it is still sore a month later. That would not have happened if I were wearing stiffer hiking boots---the ever-present weight vs safety issue when lightweight hiking.
Travel Insurance
Rather than buying individual trip insurance, I buy annual trip insurance from Travelguard for $267 per year. It covers you for trips further than 100 miles from home and for trips from home up to 90 days at a time. This provides for emergency medical evacuation and care, loss of baggage, theft, trip cancellations, etc.
Unless you have the original receipts for your travel things, they will not accept your claim. They also do not reimburse for lost cash. As a part of the filing process, you have to submit your homeowner's insurance declaration sheet that shows what your deductible is. Mine is $250 deductible per loss. They have a $50 deductible on claims and limit electronics claims to $500.
For this trip, I filed a claim totaling $266.24 for lost prescription glasses, OR rain jacket, and a $20 stop check payment for the blank check I had in my glasses case. This claim is still pending.
- UPDATE ON INSURANCE CLAIM: I got $176.26 reimbursed by Travelguard. They disallowed my claim for my prescription glasses and my $20 stop check---this blank check was in my sunglasses case--but reimbursed me the full amount for the Outdoor Research rain jacket without any $50 deduction like last time.
I used my SteriPen Freedom along with a wide mouth half-liter plastic bottle and a second-liter plastic bottle as my water supply. Collecting the water from the slow running or dripping seeps was the biggest challenge. The purification process was quick—-about 1 1/2 minutes of Ultra Violet light and no chemicals. I had no intestinal problems during the trip. Most other hikers used the Sawyer filter system. I thought that most of the places I got water from looked like it would have been safe to drink without treatment, but I did not want to take a chance.
For me, the AT was truly a walk in the woods—-or more accurately a walk in a long green tunnel—-on a frequent up and down trail strewn with roots and rocks. The views were few and when there were views I would see more rounded hills covered with trees or small towns far below in the valleys. I do not think that I will return to hike any other portions of the AT. The PCT is my trail of choice.
A bit of the long "Green Tunnel"--Rhodie hedges.
A brighter "green tunnel".
Bigger rocks and roots on the white-blazed AT.
Rolling tree-covered hills stretching beyond the horizon.
For anyone thinking about hiking long-distance trails, I would strongly recommend starting with the Pacific Crest Trail. For me, the most scenic portions would be the Yosemite area in CA, the Timberline area in OR, and the Goat Rocks in WA. I think the Continental Divide Trail would be next with its broad vistas—on top of the world. A shorter but spectacular hike would be a 7 to 12 day— 92-mile hike around Mt. Rainier called the Wonderland Trail.
Me at the Southern Terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail.
Mojave Desert portion of the PCT
At Forester Pass, elevation 13,153 ft., the highest point of the PCT
At Upper Echo Lake, CA along the PCT near South Lake Tahoe.
Mt. Hood, OR along the PCT. I stayed at the WPA Timberline Lodge.
The northern PCT terminus----2,660 miles completed.
Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier near Indian Bar---90 miles.
Patagonia, Chile
Annapurna Circuit Trek, Nepal
Ladakh Trek to Lingshed, India with our trek guide, Lobsang on one of the 4 mountain passes over 15,000 feet.
Choquequirao Trek in Peru.
Leaping Tiger Gorge trek, China
Ciudad Perdida trek, Colombia
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel
I have recently uploaded all of my travel videos to YouTube now that they allow longer uploads. I have also added other shorter travel videos.
That link is https://www.youtube.com/c/huntforgold
If you do go there, please subscribe to my video channel since it will help me eventually get some income there and help with my future travels.
