Looking for recommendations on 2-3 weeks of hiking in the month of May.

[pizzawizard]

My girlfriend and I are starting to plan a trip for next summer. We are going to have about 3 weeks starting the middle of May 2017. Originally we were thinking the John Muir Trail but after some research we don't think we can handle the snow.

We are trying to think of some ideas. We would be open to one long trip, or even doing multiple smaller trips. We would like to do some hiking in Mountains of some form or another. One idea we have had so far is hiking around North Carolina on the Art Loeb Trail and the Lineville Gorge.

We are having trouble coming up with any other ideas that wouldn't be covered in snow in May. For reference, I have quite a bit of experience doing trips up to a week long in Minnesota on the Superior Hiking Trail and the Boundary Waters. I don't have any climbing experience or experience using an ice axe or anything like that.

[map man]

May is too early to hike any of the high elevation western mountains. I have hiked in the southern Appalachians (all of the AT south of Damascus VA) three out of the last four years in the month of May and have had good luck with the weather -- not too hot, not too cold (it has not gotten down to freezing a single night). Since you posted this in the "Other Trails" forum perhaps you are meaning to stay away from the AT for some reason. Hiking the Benton MacKaye trail, in northern Georgia and western North Carolna, is a good alternative. You will hike up and down lots of mountains.

Here is a link to the official website for the BMT:

http://www.bmta.org/

[pizzawizard]

Thanks I will look into those. The southern half of the AT sounds nice like you said.

We aren't trying to stay away from the AT specifically, just not limiting ourselves to it which is why I posted it here.