Well, my thru hike attempt failed and so I now join the section hiker family. Some thoughts on my 200 miles on the trail. The approach trail was torture, so why did I hike that? Hawk Mountain tent site was awesome. Tenting at the cheese factory was also great. The worst tent site by far was Muskrat shelter. Good was Georgia > no rain. Bad was North Carolina > all rain. Bad was Neel Gap > many hikers caught a virus. Good was NOC > shower, food, and laundry. Good was Ron Haven in both Hiawassee and Franklin > free pick up and cheap rooms. Bad was packing a useless piece of shi* poncho. Unexpected feeling of "that wasn't bad at all" > Blood Mountain. Unexpected shock of "this hills a bitc*" > Albert Mountain. Enjoyed Fontana dam and didn't enjoy first half of the Smokies. Good was sharing the trail with some wonderful hikers and the bad was not taking care of myself and forced to exit thru hike dream. The best part of hiking the Appalachian Trail is that even at days end and you retire your boots for the evening the bad or tough moments were still great and worth it.