[Sca-cooks] OT- long distance hiking trails

[Ysabeau]

Okay, I know this is way off topic, but I am hoping someone out there
might know of something that fits this category.

The background is that a friend of mine and I are seriously
considering/planning walking the pilgrimage to Santiago to get a
compostella. If you don't know, there is a pilgrimage route Spain that
has been used for almost 1000 years. You can walk the same (within
reason) trail and get the same compostella that they used in the
middle ages (except now I think it is photocopied instead of hand
drawn because they have over 20k people doing it every year). The full
trail takes about 6 weeks at a steady pace. You have to walk a minimum
of the last 100k to get the compostella which would take about a week.
I could go on and on about the history of the pilgrimage but for most
of you it wouldn't be new news.

Now, my friend and I are not serious walkers or hikers. We want to do
it for curiosity and for the history of it. We are thinking that
before we embark on this pilgrimage on the other side of the world
that we should try something a little shorter and closer to home.

I've done a few searches on google and only came up with a small
section of the Appalachian trail (in Kentucky or West Virginia (?))
that would work. I'm hoping that with the wide variety of knowledge,
experiences, and resources out there that someone else might have some
ideas. I've found several in Europe but we are hoping to find
something closer. What we want is some place in the US/Canada area
where we can hike/walk a trail that isn't primarily along a highway
with hostels/motels/b&bs within a reasonable day's walk.

Any help would be appreciated!
Ysabeau