One Big section Hump.... North or South

[Grunt]

Maybe this belongs in this forum better?

This October will find me in Front Royal, VA... it has taken 10 years of sectioning northbound from Springer. I'm contemplating starting there in late April and hiking the rest of the way to Katahdin. If I'm going to finish I realistically need to do this, truly don't have another 10 years on this aging body; plus the commuting distance; expense, logistics are getting ridiculous..........SO.... an April start is cool because it will probably put me with many northbound Flip-floppers starting in HF 2017... that might be a plus ..........

BUT, really my Big Question is this:


If you had the luxury of choosing ANY start date (from Front Royal or Katahdin) and choose whichever direction.... if you could "cherry pick" your times.... would you chose to go North or South and what would be the optimal dates..... right, now I don't want any bugs, mud, heat or snow; just enough rain to keep me hydrated .... I want a yellow-brick road and throw in Dorothy... just kidding, I'm well acquainted with what can happen on the Trail... but if I could minimize these concerns by choosing the best possible start days... I'd have to listen to experience.... thanks, grunt

[Patrickjd9]

I suspect I will end up doing something like this (Pennsylvania or New Jersey to Maine) in 3-4 years, though I will probably have done Vermont already. Reason is about the same.

Northbound in April seems pretty good to me, though I understand you will hit black flies in New England. An early July start in Maine would probably also work well, giving you maximum daylight in New England.