I have a question for anyone who has completed a thru-hike. Even though I've been planning my hike for about a year now, I have yet to decide on a definite start date for my hike. Most of the people I have met that are doing a northbound thru-hike next year plan on starting in March, and several of these are starting in early March. For months, I was settled on starting in mid-April, but am now beginning to second-guess myself. I was able to attend a Q&A session at the Gathering, and several people that finished a northbound hike in 2002 advised me that starting in mid-April is definitely not too late. So, please let me know what your thoughts are. Please provide pros and cons for a mid-March start and a early to mid-April start. If you were at the Q&A session at the Gathering, please feel free to step in on this thread. I'm afraid I can't remember what everyone said during that conversation. Thanks so much for everyone's help!
Alison