Hello all, I realize this is a rather "newb" thing to do but I wanted to introduce myself and get some advice on my plans for hiking part of the AT this summer.
Background on us:
We're all twenty years old and are in good physical condition, but are by no means experienced hikers. Two of us go to Eckerd College and the other goes to Boston College.
Travel:
Two of us come from Nashville, Tennessee and one hails from Cocoa Beach, Florida. The two from Tennessee are not sure how we're getting to the trail. We have a car just not sure where or if we can leave it where ever we start from.
Our Plan:
Originally I had thought we should start at the southern end of the Shenandoah National Park and hike north with no real final destination in mind. Recently I've been rethinking that plan because I've heard that Shenandoah isn't very friendly for hikers. We still want to hike in June and July. So, any advice on where we should hike?
Equipment Wise:
I personally only have boots, a pack, and rain jacket and pants(though the more i think about weight the more i like the poncho idea). The Kid from BC has a pocket rocket stove and I was planning on getting the same so we can share fuel and having similar gear just seems smart.
Money:
I have about 2400 saved up so I feel comfortable with that. Travel from Nashville is the only real unknown money wise since we don't know about the car. The other Nashville kid has about 600 to spend after gear and travel which should be fine unless some pricey piece of equipment fails. Lastly the Cocoa Beach kid has about 1700 total for gear, travel, and consumables so I believe he'll be reading up on dirt bagging a lot.
Trail Names: I'm thinking Frisbee Dog for myself since I am an avid Ultimate player, though having one given to me would be nice. The kid from BC has no idea. The kid from Cocoa I wanna call "Brydon" but I don't think he likes that enough haha.
The idea of this post is more of an introduction than anything else. Any advice or comments welcome
THANKS