I may live out west right now, but when I was growing up, the only big hiking trail I knew was the Appalachian Trail. Yet I moved out west before I started seriously hiking, and in all the times I've been back to visit family, I hadn't set foot on the AT. So with Ken, my intrepid hiking and adventure partner in tow, we hiked an 8.5-ish mile section of the AT from near Hagerstown, MD (at the I-70/US-40 crossing)/near the Pine Knob shelter, northbound to the Wolfsville Road parking area. Other than the nasty rocky section about 6.5 miles in that lasted for a mile, the hike was really easy and gorgeous. Fairly busy until we passed Annapolis Rocks, then it petered out after Black Rock cliffs and we only saw one other person. A gorgeous day, if a bit too warm and humid for my dry desert tastes.