1-New York Rollercoaster. At least you'll have some
views to show for it. Don't let those altitudes fool you,
these are steep and sudden. Making good mileage has
more to do with being in good shape than it does with
ease of travel.
2-Water. Trail Angels will do what they can. There's
still some pretty significant gaps where water is not
easy to come by.
3-Shelter Spacing. The longest distance between
shelters on the entire AT is in NY. South of Bear Mt the
spacing is such that you have to choose between a really
short day or a really long one. If I had it to do over, I'd
camp out more.
4-Grocery Distance. You're not just on the edge of
town, you're as far from the center of town as you can get.
By AT standards, these towns are huge and would take
forever to get in and out of. More often than not when
the guide book says groceries, it means convenience stores.
5-Lodging Prices. World capital of everything. Supply
and demand. Do the math.