I have a window next year to take a real breather for my mental health and take a break from burnout while I figure out what I want the next chapter of my life to look like. When this window opened up, my first thought was to do a thru hike. I've always loved hiking and I cut my teeth on some AT hikes a number of years ago. So a chance to do a thru sounded to good to be true.

Well, this may be sacrilege to the thru hiking community, but now that I've had a couple of months to start planning this thing, especially in the greater context of me doing this for my physical and mental health I'm starting to wonder if I really need to do the whole thing. I'm wondering if I really need to be on the trail for 6 months or if three would be enough. So I'm contemplating starting a "flip flop" from Harper's Ferry in April. Say I hike to Katahdin, and when I get there, I ask myself "okay, do I need to hike the rest of this thing?"

Obviously, this is a question that only I can answer for myself, and obviously there are alot of personal pros and cons that I won't bore you guys with. But I'd be curious to hear from anybody who only did half of the trail (whether intentionally or unintentionally). Was it enough for you? Do you find yourself wondering "what if"? I would love to hear some thoughts/experiences.

My dad hikes the AT about 2 times a year and has been for almost 20 years. He has packing down to a science, but his birthday is coming up and I want to get him something really neat that you’d never think of. Anyone recommendations?

I’m planning a 3-4 day hike this month along the AT through the Great Smoky National Park. I was originally planning on parking at the Clingmans Dome lot and doing Kuwohi to Lake Fontana Dam.

However, I have a couple questions:

1. is this parking lot safe in regards to break ins? I will have some car camping stuff in my car. None of it is expensive (mattress + extra chips kinda stuff) but a broken window would be annoying to deal with.
2. any good shuttle services in the area?
3. or any alternative secure parking spots?

*title is supposed to say 3-4 days. I’m flexible with timeline if someone has some other amazing section suggestion through the park.

What’s a decent budget to hit by March 1st for the trail? I’m going for a thru hike northbound