I'm reading Brian Lewis' Make Your First Thru Hike a Success and he mentions "Chunk Hiking" as another option falling in between Thru Hiking and Section Hiking. Although I really would like to Thru Hike the AT in the next couple years, Chunk Hiking might be the best thing for me. I usually have 6 - 7 weeks between Mid March and early May that I could hike for 6 to 7 weeks straight.
With that being said, my geographical location makes it convenient for my family helping with drop off and pick up if I do something like Damascus/Waynesboro to Harper's Ferry/High Point State Park, which I put at roughly 550/475 miles respectively.
So, here's my questions:
1. Would the terrain between Damascus to Harper's Ferry or Waynesboro to High Point State Park be an OK place to start hiking?
2. What kind of weather will be faced starting in Damascus/Waynesboro in mid March?
3. If the terrain and weather is suitable for my situation, how many miles would one be able to reasonably hike per day on those two hikes?
4. To complete the Damascus - HF chunk in 6 weeks (zero day every week), I calculate 15.3 miles per day the other hike 13.19....doable????
Or start somewhere further North such as near Wytheville (maybe worse weather) to HF for lower Mileage per day?
Waynesboro would be a good location to start too except the farther North I start, the sketchier the weather.
Any ideas for a 6 week hike starting early March and centered around Harper's Ferry?
Thank you