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Ok some questions :

What did you eat most of the time? Did you make fires most nights?

What do you do in the rain? Did you bring a tarp? I'm assuming your tent wasn't waterproof and you probably didn't have a dry-sack ?

Are hiking boots really advised? I've done a lot of hiking in boots and out (but never anything crazy long) and I never got used to boots and prefer just wearing some kind of trail-runner type of shoe. (actually I'm drooling over "ascent shoes" these days which are like climbing/hiking/running hybrids).

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I carried a stove for the first 200 miles, but I got tired of it. I hated cleaning the pot and futzing with the stove. I said to hell with it and went with cold food the rest of the trip. Granola, gorp, cereal, peanut butter, tuna fish, jerky, cheese, crackers, doughnuts. I tried to carry around tradable stuff (Nutter Butters were good for this) that I could trade for some hot noodles every once in a while.

Most people carried stoves and made noodle dishes.

I never made fires.

If it rained and it was warm I just kept hiking. Anything I wanted to keep dry in my pack, I used trash compactor plastic bags--really tough and resistant to holes. If it was pouring rain, I would try to wait it out before I set my tent up. Most tents are good at keeping you dry; putting one up while it's raining can be a little tricky though.

Yeah, I think a nice trail runner hybrid thingie, which has ankle support but will also dry out quickly, would be a good way to go.