I am only 17 and will be thru hiking the AT after I graduate in late May. This means starting college in the spring rather than the fall. This took some convincing my parents of but they are allowing me to go, BUT my friend I will be hiking with is having more trouble than me convincing his parents to let him go the whole way. His parents are Asian and his mom is more or less dead set on him starting college in the fall and would prefere that he not hike the trail at all. But his dad is a marathon runner and understands why he wants/needs to do hike the AT, and has given him the OK to hike the AT for the summer and hasn't decided to let him go the whole way.
This puts me in a situation of having to hike the other half of the trail by myself, (which my mom said if I decide to do she will stop sending supplies but will probably keep going anyway), or stoping and becoming a section hiker of which I or my friend have no intention of doing.
Please give all suggestions to help convence his parents to let him go the whole way.