The last of the Appalachian Trail through hikers are finishing their journey this month, climbing Mount Katahdin and then leaving, usually heading south.
They could also continue north, or start from a more northerly route, to trek thousands of miles of the International Appalachian Trail through the rest of the greater Appalachian mountains in northern Maine, New Brunswick, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador — and even on to the sister mountains, the Caledonians, in northern and western Europe, Scandinavia and northern Africa.
Running 138 miles from Baxter State Park to Fort Fairfield, the International Appalachian Trail, or IAT, was created by volunteers 20 years ago, to connect hikers from the shared lands and cultures of Maine, New Brunswick and Quebec. The IAT is drawing people interested in walking through Penobscot and Aroostook counties north into Atlantic Canada and beyond and broadening public perception of the Appalachians’ geology.
“Katahdin is really an arbitrary designation as the end of the AT,” said John “Sycamore” Hildenbrand, a hiker from Michigan who walked the AT and another of 712 miles of the IAT this past summer, to Cap Gaspé, Quebec. While Katahdin is the official northern end of the trail, Hildenbrand said he thinks that the rest of the IAT remains “really undiscovered” and may draw more people interested in long-distance hiking.
Maine, the Maritimes and the northern Appalachians
The IAT begins at the southwestern edge of Baxter State Park, through land owned by Burt’s Bees co-founder Roxanne Quimby. Then to Houlton, the IAT tracks old logging roads and major roadways, including several miles along Routes 11 and 2. After passing through southern Aroostook mostly along Route 1, the trail comes to the base of Mars Hill Mountain, one of the most interesting hikes in the whole Appalachian range, blending nature and industry in a three mile ridge-top walk.
Laid out in 1995 by Boy Scout Troop 173, the IAT section of Mars Hill ascends the south peak from the west to an Adirondack shelter behind the 27th turbine in the 28 turbine wind farm.
The trail then follows the ridge of Mars Hill north, along with an access road shared by ATV riders, maintenance workers and others, past the Big Rock ski slopes. Hildenbrand arrived in Mars Hill late in the day and hiked up the ski slope, but couldn’t find the shelter and instead pitched a tent on the access road. (Others hikers and ATVers camp there regularly; black bears were found rummaging around the trash can can this summer, as a sign warns.)
From Mars Hill the IAT runs along the forested U.S.-Canadian border, marked by old stone pillars. This section required some navigation around bogs and beaver dams mid-summer, Hildenbrand said.
“You’re not meant to cross over to one side, but to get around a beaver dams you kind of have to,” added Julie King, a Vermont resident who in 2013, with Ed Talone, completed a 2,580 mile five-month trip from northern Maine through New Brunswick, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Before crossing the border, though, Maine section of the IAT presents another cross-cultural experience and a chance to to meet fellow non-motorized travelers — the Amish.
In Fort Fairfield, King and Talone met Noah and Lovina Yoder and their 11 children, one of several Amish farming families who’ve migrated to Aroostook County, and ended up sending them postcards during the rest of their journey. “They were fascinated with hikers going through,” King recalled. “They took us into our house and got a globe and showed their kids where we were going.”
In New Brunswick, the IAT runs for more than 290 miles, starting in Perth-Andover and following the eastern bend of the Aroostook River to its confluence with the Saint John. Hikers can camp informally for free in the village park downtown, Hildenbrand was told when he met the mayor, Terry Ritchie. (Local officials confirmed this is neither officially permitted or prohibited.)
The trail then crosses the Saint John and follows another tributary, the Tobique River, upstream, passing through Tobique First Nation lands and small river villages throughout the watershed’s highlands.
Further north in New Brunswick, the trail ascends the 2,690-foot Mount Carleton, the province’s tallest mountain. Winding west and then north, the trail passes Saint-Quentin, the “maple syrup capital of Atlantic Canada,” small towns such as Kedgwick, and the Upsalquitch River, a salmon fishery.
The IAT enters Quebec in Matapédia, at the southern tip of the Gaspé peninsula. In Quebec, the IAT is the the 400-plus mile SIA, the Sentiers International des Appalaches, and becomes almost “all wilderness,” Hildenbrand said.
Locally, the IAT in Aroostook County offers a mix of flat road-shoulder walking, a scenic and vigorous hike atop Mars Hill, and a forested path that dodges beaver dams along the Canadian border.
Although the Delorme Atlas & Gazetteer does not show the trail, it does show the locations of shelters for overnight trips (in Monticello, Mars Hill and Fort Fairfield). And the trailheads can be seen from Route 1 and other Routes. A map online can be found for free at InternationalATMaine.org.
