One is a series of nine hikes along the Appalachian Trail across Maryland. This 8.8 mile moderate hike begins at a small parking lot on I-40 outside of Myersville and heads north to Pogo Campground. Passing Annapolis Rock and Black Rock overlooks, spectacular valley views are seen. Total elevation gain of 1,600′ with the longest climb of 500′ over .9 miles.

DIRECTIONS TO HIKE SITE: Taking I-70 West, past Frederick to Exit 42 – Myersville. Head north on Maryland 17, turning right in town to continue on MD-17. Turn left at the light onto I-40. Continue for 3.4 miles. Parking lot is located on the left at the top of the hill before I-40 crosses over I-70.

HIKE DESCRIPTION: Starting at the parking lot, head down to access the Appalachian Trail. At this point, turn right to head north. Sign indicating Annapolis Rocks. This is an out-and-back hike that offers spectacular views of Greenbriar State Park. Passing Pine Knob shelter (1 mile), Annapolis Rock Overlook (2.2 miles), and Black Rock Overlook, lunch at Pogo Campground before returning. This is a moderate hike that offers one significant slow and steady climb on a partially rocky trail. The remainder is pleasant with one stream crossing close to Pogo Campground.

COMMENTARY: This was picture perfect day for a hike, and many new friends were made. I was excited as this would be the first time I’d hike to the Annapolis Rock Overlook. Offering to be the sweep – which helps the photo taking desire – I was able to skip along and follow the group at my own leisure pace. After hiking the Inca Trail, this seemed like a baby trail. When I had started hiking four years ago, arrival to any hike site over 1,000 feet above sea level, I’d immediately feel the difference. This time, after my 11,000 + feet of elevation experienced for a long period in Peru, the 1,500 feet of elevation was insignificant.

In the first part of the hike, there is a long, slow climb that is rocky. Truly all those hiking days on the Inca Trail had me well prepared for this type of terrain.

We shortly arrived to Annapolis Rock overlook with spectacular views to the western valley. The lake shown is Greenbrier State Park which is a multi-use park with full facilities. I highlight a 13-mile hike from Greenbrier State Park to the Washington Monument on the Appalachian Trail here. So far, Annapolis Rock overlook is my favorite overlook along the Appalachian Trail in Maryland. Following closely second is Weverton Cliffs where I blew out my knee back in January on the first of these series of nine hikes on the Maryland AT. Many campsites are available at Annapolis Rock, along with a fresh water spring.

I’m not sure what created this hole in the pink granite, but I’ve seen these elsewhere and have been told it’s caused by glacier and ice movement.

Back on the AT and heading north, I began to enjoy the natural beauty along the trail.

I’ve been playing more with the settings on my Canon G12 and am now shooting exclusively RAW images. I quickly found out that shooting RAW fills up the memory card, and burns the battery faster. I set the ISO on Auto, but change the shooting setting between Aperture Priority and “P” for those quick shots. When shooting .jpeg files, the Canon G12 offers HDR correction and Color saturation choices. However, once RAW is chosen, these options are not available. Even with RAW, I’ve yet to figure out what to do with a high contrast sky that tends to blow out. I hope some day I figure out how to deal with these difficult skies. Time to pull out the Adobe Photoshop manual to learn masking.

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So back on the trail heading north, we arrived to Black Rock cliff. The sign for the overlook is set high up a tree as if for giants and trail is quite obscure. It was by chance that we had stopped for a moment and realized the turn off was there.

Shortly following Black Rock Cliff one reaches Pogo Campground for a lunch stop. This campsite was named after Walter H. “Pogo” Rheinheimer, a member of the Mountain Club of Maryland who had passed away at young age.

This truly is a pleasant hike and one not to be missed.