I week section hike up north which state: CT, NJ, NY, Mass...

[Gambit McCrae]

I will have a Saturday to Saturday time frame to hike this fall. I do have the goal and am actively hiking the entire trail in sections. I would like to use this 7 day period, with the Friday and following Sunday as travel days by plane to complete a state. I have done Maryland, and can drive to any location south of MD. So these are the 4 states I have in mind, if you have a great idea that doesn’t involve completing a state but a awesome 70-90 miles section up north by all means suggest it but I have been thinking of the 4 following:
Connecticut - 51.6 miles
New jersey – 72.2
New York – 88.4
Massachusetts - 90.2
Now since it is a vacation I don’t want to be busting out 17-20 miles a day, I would say 12-15 mile days would be a comfortable pace for me. That puts me at about 84 miles which makes new York mathematically the best choice BUT if a lot of people say “ Massachusetts over New York any day” then I would definitely go for mass. Just voice your favorite state out of the four

[Slo-go'en]

With only a week to play with, the main problem your going to have is getting to and from the trail. There are several points which you can get to by public transportation, but their spread out a bit more then 7 days apart. You'll spend a lot of money getting to and from these areas to hike pretty mundane trail. There really aren't any awesome sections in your list. I'd put these states off until you can spend more time doing them as a bigger chunk to make it more cost efficient.

Easy access points are Delaware River Gap [mile 1290] (bus from NYC or maybe Philly), Appalachian trail RR station [mile 1444.5](train from NYC on weekends) Lee, Ma [mile 1549] (bus to Boston) and Williamstown, MA [mile 1590] (bus to Boston).

Of the above choices, I would go from the Appalachian RR station (you'll have to check if the train stops on Fridays) to Lee, MA, that's just over 100 miles, but their pretty easy miles. The last leg of NY is a pleasant walk in the woods, CT is for the most part just a PITA with the best part the CT/MA line. Getting off at Lee lets you cover the best part of MA too.

[Gambit McCrae]

wow 116 view and 2 votes...lol

[rafe]

wow 116 view and 2 votes...lol

Well, maybe nobody wants to say that it's all about the same... None of these states is particularly awesome or particularly awful. In terms of difficulty or challenge, all about the same.

NJ has some beautiful views along the Kitatinny ridge, occasional views toward the Delaware River valley. Some facilities at DWG, Culver Gap, Vernon.

NY has Greenwood Lake, Harriman and Fahnestock State Parks, Bear Mountain, Bear Mountain Bridge. Facilities (limited) at Unionville. You can order pizza from RPH shelter... that's a bit unique.

CT has... nice walks along the Hoosatonic. Facilities at Kent, Cornwall Bridge, Falls Village, Salisbury.

MA has... Race Mtn, Greylock, mostly easy walking. Facilities at Great Barrington, Dalton, North Adams.

CT-MA line has Sages Ravine, a nice place to linger on a hot summer day.

DWG, Bear Mtn. Bridge, Great Barrington, North Adams are good (convenient) places to start or end a section.

[Starchild]

Think of it long term, yes you want to finish a state, but what about next time, state lines don't always agree with how the trail hikes, but I do see a exception here...

If you are set on finishing a state I'd go for CT, with extensions into NY and MA, this way you also bring down the miles for NY and MA so next year you can complete them assuming you have the same amount of time off to devote to trail travel. (Also the Sages Ravien section of CT/MA is fantastic.)

In that I would look at a attempt Rt 22 (AT Metro North Station) to Great Barrington MA (Rt 7 or Rt 23) or further, driving down the miles in MA, which would set you up very nicely for completing MA into VT next time (many people do the MA section of the AT hiking 4 miles to the MA/VT boarder then retuning those 4 - even if they plan to do VT another time and repeat those 4 again to get out of the woods, Best to push through to Bennington VT if you are doing MA instead and not repeat the 4 miles 2x

[Alligator]

If you are planning on completing the trail in sections, pick up where you left off north of MD. The more you pick and choose based on favorability, the less inclined you are going to be to finish what may be unfavorable.

Given your current location, picking discontinuous sections will introduce gaps that may not line up with vacation times. Short gaps are expensive to fill, you end up having to shuttle around if you have extra vacation time beyond the hike time of the gap. The shuttling costs $ and unnecessary travel time. Injury, illness, and other unexpected events can also introduce changes in your segment planning, so even if you leave a suitable gap for a later hike, you run the risk of an unexpected event changing the desired gap length. If you pick up where you left off, an unexpected trail departure can be more easily accomodated.

[illabelle]

Gambit,
We're doing Massachusetts in the fall (did half of Vermont last fall). Some of those more northern states are not recommended for spring hiking because of the mud, so MA would be my choice. The others on your list can be done anytime.
I agree with comments above about how state lines don't necessarily line up with convenient places to access the trail. Our VT trip ended in North Adams, Mass. Our Massachusetts trip will pick up in North Adams and finish near Great Barrington. We'll complete MA when we do CT.
By the way, if you decide to do MA, I will pass on contact for the guy who shuttled us in VT and will shuttle us for MA. Let me know if you need this info.

[burger]

I voted for New Jersey because it's fairly easy but has some really nice views plus a few unique features (the secret shelter--is that still there?, the long boardwalk, High Point). CT and NY aren't bad either, though both have a lot more climbing. I would skip MA--aside from a couple of mountains right at the southern end and Greylock, it's pretty dull.