Starting where you are, it’s true that there are plenty of easy access points to civilization, and there are no major mountain ranges. But it’s not easy hiking. If you can’t climb the equivalent of, say, 50 flights of stairs in a day, you might run into some real issues on the trail. There are areas you’ll be at least 10 miles away from a road or a source of food, and you’ll need to be able to travel that far with what you can carry. And that may happen in extreme heat or thunderstorms.
You may think that time is not a factor, but it turns out it is. You will be carrying a limited amount of food and water, and there is often some pressure to find the next source when you run out. Just like driving a car is real easy–until you run out of gas or get a flat tire.
It’s not necessarily cheap hiking the AT. Sure, it can be done cheaply, but you don’t see too many people out there without some access to funds. You wear out shoes, need to buy food, lodging in town is needed sometimes and not always cheap in your area. A common rule of thumb for funding is that a hike costs in the range of one to two dollars per mile, after the initial cost of gear.
If you can get out to Harriman State Park sometime, give the AT a try and you’ll see what it’s like. I’d recommend something like that before committing to three months. You might not even like it. It’s not for everyone.
I’ve met overweight hikers on the AT and they’ve won my respect. I wish you the very best luck. But for what it’s worth, not one of them was having a very good hike–it was a major struggle. And as said above, virtually all have gained back the weight. So my conclusion is that the AT is a bad place to loose weight.
Sorry for the damper, but I tend to be pragmatic. Your goals definitely reflect the reason many hikers are out there. Welcome to the Trail!
Garlic
