[What advice do y'all have for where to start on May 17th?] If you want to hike with the main pack, visit www.trailjournals.com and check out where other hikers were on May 17th in previous years. Looks like Big Bear's a good bet. Molasses (By the way, the kick off's just a couple weeks away, and I am BIG TIME jazzed! I love the feeling you get when you go to the border and look north...)