For anyone who has hiked the AT, what is your favorite section?
Lots and lots of great recommendations on equipment,places to go and how to get into hiking/camping/exploring, have been listed. If you are new to hiking/camping/exploring, GET A GOOD QUALITY GPS, learn to use it and then use it.
100 yards off a well beaten, well marked trail and you might as well be a hundred miles from nowhere. (and moss doesn't always grow in the north side of trees).
PA sucks!! Lots of sharp rocks and poor trail markers.
The presidential range is fantastic if you don't mind the elevation and cold weather in the summer, I have run a few ultras in that area, and is always a favorite. Very well marked, and the shelters are nice. Busy on the weekends in the summer.
Best section ever is the 100 mile wilderness, no roads, all the way to Katadhin!
I still have all the maps if you want to review over a beverage sometime.
Have you hiked any sections in Tennessee or the Highlands?
Hiked just South of Death Valley. A lot...
Read up and practice your skills if you are going to attempt a Desert hike.