International Appalachian Trail - Extending the IAT/SIA to Scotland and Ireland

Extending the IAT/SIA to Scotland and Ireland

International Appalachian Trail/Sentier International des Appalaches(IAT/SIA) COUNCIL MEMBERS TO VISIT SCOTLAND AND IRELAND IN JUNE,2009

We have been asked to send a team of IAT/SIA Council members to Scotland and Ireland to introduce hikers there to the concept of our international trail through the original Appalachian Mountains. We have accepted their invitation and will be sending a delegation of 6-8 IAT/SIA Council representatives to those two countries, for 10 days, in early June. The team will meet with hiking groups and government officials in both countries. In addition, the team may also visit the Isle of Man and the Shetland Islands(both pieces of the original Appalachians). Our visit has generated significant interest and we are really excited about the opportunity to continue to expand on the original principle of the IAT/SIA. Hugh Barron, our key contact is arranging our visit. Hugh has submitted additional comments on our visit which follow this note. His story also contains some pictures of trails and mountains in Scotland and Ireland and web site addresses of some of the leading hiking trail organizations in those countries.

International Appalachian Trail/Sentier International des Appalaches(IAT/SIA) COUNCIL MEMBERS TO VISIT SCOTLAND AND IRELAND IN JUNE,2009

A delegation of six to eight people from the Council of International Appalachian Trails (IAT) will visit Scotland in early June 2009 to promote the extension of the IAT to Scotland. They will sample some of Scotland’s magnificent Long Distance Routes such as the West Highland Way and part of the proposed Scottish Coastal Path which, if completed, will exceed the length of the Appalachian Trial. The visit is particularly appropriate in this ‘Scotland’s Year of Homecoming.’

The visit is being coordinated by Hugh Barron (British Geological Survey, Edinburgh), Keith Hoole (Lochaber Geopark), Fiona Mackenzie (NW Highlands Geopark) and Robina Barton (Shetland Geopark).

The following organisations will be also be involved, The Scottish Parliament, Scottish Natural Heritage, The Mountaineering Council of Scotland, Ramblers Association Scotland, The Royal Scottish Geographical Society and Visit Scotland.

The IAT starts at the end of the long established Appalachian Trail (AT) in Maine then heads across the Canadian border to New Brunswick then on to Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. It connects two countries, five provinces, one state, the English, French and Celtic cultures of North America, and could soon cross the Atlantic Ocean to connect with the Celtic culture of Scotland.

As well as culture, there is an important geological link across the Atlantic – eastern north America, Scotland, Ireland, Norway and Greenland were all once part of the ancient Caledonian – Appalachian mountain belt. This mountain belt formed over 400 million years ago when the ancient continents of Laurentia, Baltica, Avalonia and Gondwana collided to eventually form the supercontinent of Pangea. Over 200 million years ago Pangea began to break up and dispersed into the continents we see today, separated by the newly formed Atlantic Ocean. The opening of the North Atlantic Ocean some 65 million years ago separated north America and Greenland from Europe once again. Each of the newly formed continents carried a piece of the original Caledonian – Appalachian Mountains with it. The long-term goal of the IAT is to locate sections of the IAT in all the countries or regions that were once part of the ancient Caledonian – Appalachian Mountains.

Photos by Hugh Barron