I am an African American planning to thru-hike the AT in 2013,after I retire from Active Duty. I need information from former thru-hikers so I can plan my hike and have a memorable experience on the trail as all thru-hikers have from the journalsI have read. Do I need to plan any different from a regular thru-hiker, is hitch hiking an option, are there towns,hostels or other places I a better off avoiding? etc.