Hi All,
I just joined this forum. I tried searching for answers to my questions, but I ended up consuming to much time trying to find the answers to my questions. So, I'm just going to post my questions. First, I live in Colorado and not new to 20 mile per day hikes (but I try to stick to a 15 mile per day limit) and 4000 feet elevations gains. But I don't have any delusions that my Colorado experiences would make me an AT hiking expert. I grew up in Pennsylvania so I'm very familiar with the Appalachian terrain. Myself, wife and 19 year old son are planning on flying in 'somewhere' on a weekend and take the 5 weekdays to travel in one direction then fly out. Timing is late May early June this year. I'll worry about transportation once I pick a section to hike, hence my first question:
1) What sections should we consider for our first hike? Preferences: 5 days, 50 to 75 or so miles, one direction. Due to wife requirements;-), we would like to have a town near the midpoint so we can spend one night - half way - in a hotel to shower and eat a proper dinner. The last preference is remote as possible; we want to avoid civilization as much a possible. Difficulty is not a concern, however, I would think that for our first AT hike we would want to avoid the extremes. Given all that, I would like to hear from the experts about possible section options (multiple) we can consider?
2) I noted there are quite a few AT advice books. I have 2 questions on this subject: What books (let's say 2 or 3) are must read advice books to read BEFORE the trip in preparation? If any, what advice/reference book is a must carry to have on the trail? (I don't mind carrying one book.)
3) I'm a map guy. I like maps. What is the best map source to get? I was thinking the Nat Geo maps. Nat Geo is the de facto standard for hiking in the Rocky Mountains. Nat Geo also sell the entire set of AT maps at about $150. I was thinking about getting the set because I like maps;-) And having the full set allows me to brows through various sections in the entire trail for consideration. But, if there is a better source, I'd like to know. Thoughts?
That's it for now. Thanks in advance for your time to response. I'm excited! Can't wait till our trip!
Barnyard