My plan for next year was to go to school winter quarter, then skip spring and summer quarters to do the PCT and be back in time for fall quarter. That would have given me five months to complete the trail, which is about average. The year after that, go spring to early fall for the CDT, and then the year after that late spring through summer for the AT. Triple Crown in three years.
Unfortunately, it looks like three of the classes I need to complete my degree are only offered spring/summer. If I stuck with my plan, I wouldn't get my degree for four more years, and I would probably be pretty rusty on the subject matter by the time those classes came back around. If, instead, I take those classes this spring, I will be able to graduate at the end of that quarter and be done.
So, I'm pushing back the PCT til 2017. I had considered doing the AT next year instead, but 2100 miles starting in June might be pushing it a little to finish before winter in the north. If it was after having done the other two trails, I would be more enthusiastic about my ability to haul it a little and still complete. Also, with "A Walk in the Woods" out this fall, there are probably going to be a ton of people trying to do the AT next year. (Haven't seen the movie, yet, but I've heard good things and my girlfriend says the book is hilarious.)
As it stands, I'm considering trying to do the Pacific Northwest Trail. 1200 miles from the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park to the Washington coast on the Olympic Peninsula near Cape Alava. It looks to be a good mini version of the PCT. There's high desert in Eastern Washington, which will be good training for the Mojave section of the PCT. It also runs through the Olympic National Rainforest, so (especially if we're heading east to west and so ending in early fall) a good chance to try out our rain gear and preparation. It also starts about where the CDT ends and crosses the PCT, so it will connect the two together. Might have to connect the CDT to the AT after doing those, too.
Check it out: http://www.pnt.org/
