I'm planning for retirement followed by section hikes to complete the AT in 2019-20, and was wondering about planning a long section hike from the Hudson River to Manchester Center, VT (just shy of 250 miles) in October 2019. This is my longest remaining section to complete the trail, and I should have finished my remaining miles south of there before then. I have no desire to take on the White Mountains or Maine, where I also have trail to finish, that late in the year. I won't have a long stretch of time available any earlier.
My usual planning distance is 10-13 miles a day, though I might stick to the shorter side of that as dusk starts arriving earlier. The main issue would seem to be needing to make town overnights during the week so as not to compete with leaf peepers for rooms and restaurants.
I'm comfortable enough with cold mornings or light snow, as long as days are reasonably warm. The hike may be mostly solo, with friends joining me for parts of the trip.
Am I missing anything else in terms of weather, crowds, or water supply?