Oh hiking is something I've been doing since I was a young girl. I grew up in the Cascade Mountian's of Washington State, and I highly recommend you try sometime. Maybe not something as big as the AT, start small like hiking out to a local waterfall, it will give you a form of serenity you can't get anywhere else! Fresh air, the calm of the woods, the gimps of wild animals, the smells ...its good for the soul.