Harrisburg, PA to Georgia...I need some advice/help

[EarthMuffin]

First all I want to say hello to everyone and thanks for being cool.

That said, I live in Harrisburg, PA and plan on doing the AT from the Susquehanna river on south to Georgia and then north to Maine next summer. My question is this what would be approx. the latest I could head out from Harrisburg and make it to Georgia without encountering bad weather (below 30 degrees regularly) or any other problems.

Take into account I am 21, 5'11" 160lbs and will be somewhat in shape. Also I will be traveling with a base weight of ~17lbs and solo.

The reason I would like to know about the latest start date is I can't really start working until school is done (middle of may) and as it stands I'm kind of poor. Fortunetly I don't have to worry about fall classes.

Thanks again ^_^

[Cehoffpauir]

Shoe Leather Express is going from Duncannon/Susquehanna River to Harper's Ferry this May--maybe he could tell you what weather he encounters along that part during that time this year.

For the rest--are you flip-flopping all in one year? If so, this crunches your time a bit. If not, and you're doing half one year and half another year, then you could start the southbound half as late as early August, I might think. That would get you to Springer early November, when regular bad weather might be just starting up.

[EarthMuffin]

Yeah I will be doing harrisburg to maine next summer so I got a wee bit of time.

Maybe some more pointed questions, where can I find the information that will tell me how far it is from Harrisburg to Georgia? How rough is the terrain? I'm still kind of a newbie to the AT so any help is welcome.

[jersey joe]

earthmuffin,
Surely there are hundreds of books and websites you can go to for the information you are looking for. One source of information that I found helpful was ALDHA's online companion. It is free to download in PDF format off their site and gives milage and information about the trail. You can find it here...
http://www.aldha.org/comp_pdf.htm
Hopefully this will be a good starting point for you.
Good Luck!

[jollies]

Feel free to email me if you require any help. I live in York, and I hiked the whole trail just last summer. I also started hiking the day after my graduation from college. South-central PA represent! Haha :clap

[EarthMuffin]

Thanks Jersey Joe, that guide is rather useful

Jollies - I might be sending you an email...currently trying to get my gear together and yeah South-PA represent ^_^