NOBO Thru-hiker starting date

[Gramps]

Just a random question to those of you who have either thru-hiked (attempted or successful) or are planning to: Did you chose a specific date to begin and why did you chose that date? I hope to make an attempt in a few years and tentatively targeted somewhere between March 1- April 15. My train of thought is making it flexible so as to avoid as much winter weather as possible. If it appears winter is leaving early, so would I. Just some thoughts please.

[moldy]

If you can do it, it is way smarter to base your start day on the 15 day weather forecast. For a new thru hiker a good start is very important. I read so many failed stories on trail journals.com from people who give up in the first 2 weeks. When you read the journal you frequently read about bad weather hiking. Another smart thing to have a successful thru hike is to avoid starting early. People who start in Jan and Feb rarely make it to Maine. The closer to 1 April for starting the trail the better the odds of finishing. Prolonged periods of bad weather will wear you out and wear out your finances.

[Gramps]

Thanks, Moldy, that's exactly my way of thinking. I do realize that unless you wait to start well into the spring, you can always face some winter-like weather, especially when you get to the Smokies. But what I want to do is avoid a lot of cold and snow if possible. My goal, if a thru-hike is successful, is to reach Katahdin on Sept. 24, my birthday. And I also will have the luxury of being retired, so a tight timeframe due to work will not be an issue. Just looking for some input.