adp,
If you feel comfortable enough with us to share, where are you located? You mentioned a local leg of the AT. While that could be anywhere up/down the East Coast, if you are near me, I would be interested in partnering sometime. I'm not a beginner, but I'm certainly no expert. I still make a lot of mistakes and am figuring out a lot of stuff. (Thanks CamperMom.)

You can send me a PM if you like.