I have heard almost nothing on whiteblaze or anywhere else about the IAT. Any reason it has such a low profile? Has anyone here hiked a portion (or all!) of it?
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I have heard almost nothing on whiteblaze or anywhere else about the IAT. Any reason it has such a low profile? Has anyone here hiked a portion (or all!) of it?
The guy you want to talk to is Joe Normann, aka Cotton Joe. He's on Facebook.
Follow Gator Miller on YouTube for some insight.
It seems appealing I done ways but here in Maine it sticks to roads mostly. Otherwise I would be all over it.
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Virtually everyone is deeply entrenched in the perception, and further promote the perception, the AT explicitly ends at Springer Mt and Mt Katahdin.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marcovee
I'm on the IAT Maine Chapter Board and suggest you check out the international website and/or the individual chapter links from that website: http://www.iat-sia.org/index.php. Although the AT definitely officially ends at Mt. Katahdin, the IAT extends north from there and, although there is some road walking in Maine, most of it is not. Also, the ATC has no problem with the IAT continuing from Katahdin (and in fact is supportive of the IAT), since it does not claim to be the "AT" but a separate trail, no different (except much longer) than the other trails off of the AT. Interestingly, there have been several women to hike parts of it this year, see the Maine Chapter site for a story about two Quebec college girls who hiked Maine and Newfoundland. There is also a woman who has been hiking south from Newfoundland and "gubbool" who has posted on this forum has been following and mapping her route.
Part of the problem for me with the IAT is the need for permits when hiking in the Canadian parks. It is fairly expensive, compared to camping in the US, and the need for campsite reservations can be difficult when doing a long hike. We did it for the GDT, but that was a bit simpler because we had fewer entities to deal with. A few years ago, we spent some time in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and there is a lot of gorgeous country that the IAT passes through.
Bearbell is on the IAT sobo, passed through Baxter SP recently. She spoke very highly of the trail, and of Gubool also.
The mentioned SOBO hiker, Diane King, recently completed her thru of the IAT and is continuing south to at least CT. She never purposely avoided any trails; however, like most, hates roadwalks. South bounding let her substitute in a 60-mile kayak trip above the Quebec - New Brunswick border. There she found a $100 bicycle and peddled the route to Maine. While there was a bit of language issue in Quebec everyone in Canada was helpful and extremely friendly.
Upon completion we discussed how a good part of a long distance hike is about the people you meet and that such trips are, while not impossible without help, are such good experiences because of the people.
From that discussion:
After 65 days and 1,100 miles thru NL, QU, and NB, Diane is looking forward to crossing the border. Her experiences on this trip really brings home what every long-distance hiker knows - adventures like this are not possible without the help of so many.
The people involved in establishing and maintaining footpaths, of course - but there were many ordinary Canadians that came to her rescue along the way (many not knowing about the IAT). I don't have the names of the folks, but she does, so she'll have to do the proper thank you's.
However there was a guy at the start of the trip in NL that solved her transplantation problems that arose when her hiking poles (tent poles) and sleeping bag did not get off of the plane on which she arrived. There was the guy with a boat that ferried her across bay at Norris Point - she arrived one week before the seasonal water taxi service began leaving her looking at either the very expensive commercial service or a 50-mile detour.
There was the outfitter that solved the problem with mailing fuel and batteries for her gps. Another outfitter that took care of ALL of the details for her float down river Matapedia. There was the nice old man that, though seemingly didn't have a clue about attaching a basket to her bicycle, spent a half day working the problem; and a kid that solved the problem of the non-fitting saddle bags.
There were many, many others - the couple that re-staged her bicycle in Mt Carleton Park so she could take a day and hike the eight mile loop over the mountain; the couple she met on the NBT that put her up in a camper (a future Trail Angel).
The couple in Quebec that happened to be at a wilderness trailhead when food was short and shuttled her 20 miles for resupply.
And I should add that there are many more; just too many to list here/now.
The more I ponder - the more that comes to mind, including an occasion in Quebec where a French-speaking woman helped her update her GPS using a French speaking(?) computer.
Other notes/links can be found at my page: lifeat2mph.com
WOW, so nice to know some backpackers have realized and deeply appreciate that LD hiking is NOT just about hiking. Thank you Mrs Diane King and Gubbool. :sun
That's why potentially logistically SOBOing from the northern terminus in Canada might be preferential.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spirit Walker