I'm a high school girl and I've been planning to thru-hike in 2006, just after graduating, for years now. It's a huge dream of mine and my parents are starting to realize that I'm seriously going to do it and are a bit concerned, especially my dad. I've given up any hope of hiking solo and still having my college tuition paid for but my dad is even skeptical of me hiking with someone else. I've tried the whole "only seven people have been murdered in the last thirty years and i'm probably at more risk here" bit but I think he's still very hesitant to let his baby girl go. Are there any young women (or anyone really) who've thru-hiked and can give me advice?
-Foodfighter
"To live for some future goal is shallow. It is the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top." - Robert Pirsig