Samuel

Folks on this forum have been hard on this sort of thing for a variety of good reasons; lori just very neatly summarized those reasons for you, and you should think very hard about what she's saying. I've found here to be very wise.

That said, the Lewis and Clark trail (google it) covers a good part of the country. And I recently saw something about an E-W trail under construction from New York's Finger Lakes area to North Dakota. Sections of it intrigued me for my own (much more limited) desires. I doubt I'll ever get the time to be a thru hiker.

Obviously, a lot more research and PLANNING lay ahead of you if you want to pursue this successfully. I have absolutely no idea what the land use provisions are for either of these trails, nor what access to water or towns for food looks like.

If I had known what I know now, I would have much more seriously considered thru hiking when I was just out of college. Now that I am married, have a career, house, and children this sort of thing is much less possible for the next 20-30 years.

Steadman