I live in northern Virginia outside DC, where is a good place to train for the AT on the AT on weekends and small section hikes? My acceptable range would be southern Virginia up to the first 30ish miles of PA. In that space where are some good weekend hikes to get in shape for the AT? I hear MD is easy and I have hiked 30/40 miles in MD and I will say I do need to train because the two Miles up weaverton cliffs I had to
Take about 15 minutes of breaks and from what I read strong hikers don't need to stop after two miles of mid to low grade up hill. My level ground pace without poles and 35+ pounds of gear(and some extra alcohol weight for the weekend ) is a solid 3mph but my uphill downhill paces need work. What I'm asking I guess is where in the range mentioned above are weekend hikes that will kick my butt?