First Backpacking Through Hike, Any Tips?

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Any common mistakes first timers make that I should avoid?

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packing too much unnecessary shite

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I'm bringing plenty of water, and plan on refilling at the creeks

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We haven't had much rain. How sure are you that all your water stops have flowing water right now?

for the Azalea, it crosses roads many times, I would suggest placing a few 1 gal jugs of water for emergency reserves at a few of those crossings, just in case

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I'm also planning on around 5K calories per day with an additional 2.5k if anything goes wrong.

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again, I'd suggest stashing these reserves along the road crossing

this is what makes Azalea a good starter hike, you don't have to carry all your reserve things

I think the longest segment of the Azalea is what? 7 miles?

I've ran the entire thing before, either completely or by segments

which way are you hiking?

From Lake Valentine to Woodworth.

So basically just fill some gallon jugs and drop them off along some of the different segments just in-case?

That's a good idea, should I camouflage them so people won't mess with them, or is it something that people don't mess with.

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Any common mistakes first timers make that I should avoid?

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you'll pack way more stuff than you'll need.

I wouldn't worry with a caloric target for each day. I mean, let's be honest, you'd survive if you didn't eat for 3 days anyways, so just pack something light you'd like to eat and don't worry about the calories. Hell, I'd take the opportunity to kick start dropping a couple lbs, myself

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but after humping my gear all day

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you're doing it wrong

What is your shelter arrangement?

Don't bring the footprint. I have one for my tent as well but it's just more weight honestly.

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footprint

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nix this

don't need it for this area, its not rocky and you should be able to find some soft pine straw areas pretty easily

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I won't need a sleeping bag, and I can just pack a liner and wrap my tent up in a fleece blanket sleeping on a self inflating pad.

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how heavy is your sleeping bag? fleece blanket seems like it would be heavier and take up more space, no?

It's not really heavy, plus I have a nice bag to compact it as much as possible. I meant one of those thin fleece cheap throws from Walmart.