I started on April 1st this past year and had to get off north of Damascus. I've also hiked the Shenendoahs....both hikes with a hammock. Cannibal and Dos pretty much covered it and I agree with everything they said. I used an UQ (no pad) so I never stayed in a shelter. I did stay near them about half the time because there is always water nearby and sometimes I wanted company.
I can only recall a couple of times that I would have considered sleeping in a shelter, during a couple of heavy downpours and a snowstorm in the Smokies. I am returning to where I left off in May and am considering switching of to a NeoAir Xlite just to open up the ground option. You also don't have to worry about it getting wet unlike your down products.
I also used a Dream Hammocks Dangerbird which has a built in weathershield. That was probably the best gear choice I made as the weathershield proved to be priceless. What started as an unusually warm hike turned into a nightmare in the Smokies. It rained, sleeted, snowed and hailed. Many nights were in the twenties and a few hikers had to be rescued when it went down to zero one night. The weathershield increases the temp inside your hammock quite a bit but more importantly it blocks the wind which you will encounter plenty.
I see you are in a Warbonett Blackbird. If you do nothing else, buy yourself a sock. When it warms up you can send it home. Odds are great that with your March start you will encounter some wicked bad weather. Be prepared for it. BTW...my weathershield allowed me to get away with carrying a 30 degree sleeping bag although I must admit it was a Western Mountaineering and the night it dropped to zero I was safely tucked away in a hotel in Gatlinburg.
Have a great hike....with your start date I may actually see you on the trail. My trail name is Cat in the Hat but here I'm....
Miguel
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