Hello Whiteblazers! I wonder if I could get some advice. I am all over the place trying to decide when to start next spring on my thru. It would be no big deal as I have no job to get back to but I do have two other issues that gum up the works. The first is my daughters high school graduation in N. Virginia in mid June, and second is getting her to college in mid August, which would entail driving her to Florida most likely. I want to do both of these things as I only have two kids and I don't want to miss any milestones but it does make logistics more complicated. I am not a big fan of crowds, so starting, lets say March 20th at Springer may put me with a gazillion other NOBOers. But it would get me in the vicinity of N. VA in time for graduation, then off again somewhere in New England to get her to college. Then back to finish up at Katahdin. On the other hand doing a flip might work better. I was thinking of leaving Damascus March 14 and get off in DWG to attend graduation, then onward to Big K before she needs to get to college, then get myself back to Damascus and hike south to Springer. This scenario puts me in front of the bubble at least for a while and hopefully gives me enough time to summit K before I get off for a bit, but I may have to rush to do so. Not sure. I even thought of hiking the southern 1/2 before mid June, then get back on at K in late August and hike south. So, whadya think? Thanks!!