New to forum but came here seeking advice and pointers. I'm planning a trip to hump the NC/Tennessee portion of the AT and from what I've read it's about 88 miles which I feel is doable inside of a week. Myself and the guy I'm planning the trip with are both military and have done our share of humping a load over long distances. I'm wondering if any of you here have done this portion of the AT and if there were any pointers I could get, what time of year (we're thinking fall), gear, start points/end points ect.

The plan is to have the girls and kids basically drop us off at one end and pick us up on the other, they'll be sightseeing and what not while we are hiking for the week and they kind of follow the trail.

Any advice/pointers would be great! Thanks and I look forward to hearing from the seasoned backpacking experts as well as contributing what I can to the forum.

Thanks!

The Smokies are about 72 miles (Fontana Dam to Davenport Gap); I think you might be talking about starting at Davenport Gap and going north from there? From Davenport Gap I think there's about 150 miles of NC/TN border walking, to U.S. 19E (Elk Park, Roan Mtn).

I've only through there once, and don't recommend the time of year I hiked it. Lots of start/end points since you have transportation (are you asking for recommendations as to a 'best' subset?), but first --- it's not clear to me just where you're thinking about hiking, so some clarity there might help.

My main suggestion, however, is that you post this question in an appropriate sub-forum on http://www.whiteblaze.net, where there's a whole lot more collected knowledge and focus on the AT and details of the sort that you want.