Hiked with a hiker who had hiked that trail in its entirety in 1 year (not taking a massive break).
He said it’s fairly standard backpacking though in the east one has to navigate around Baltimore and the D.C. areas, then WVa, Ohio, etc.. go through “natural” areas. Having been in southern Indiana I know they have national forests around there (south of Indianapolis, Bloomington, and such).
Getting into “farm” country especially Kansas, he started to call the upcoming sheriff telling what he looked like and what he was doing. If not getting hotel rooms, he said cemeteries were pretty quiet camps (guessing bivy style?). Kansas in mid-summer he said was stupefyingly hot .. over 100°F walking next to dry fields (other hikers track the I-70 interstate .. where he said they likely hitch). Colorado and Utah are outdoor states, but Nevada also requires getting off the path to search for water.
Anyways what I remember from the conversations fwiw.
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