The International Appalachian Trial travels through some of the most diverse and superlative worthy terrain in Eastern Canada: seaside cliffs on the Gaspé Peninsula, pastoral river valleys in New Brunswick, boreal forest in Newfoundland. So what’s missing?
For starters, Nova Scotia. That could change this fall when hiking organizers in the province are expected to approve a Cape Breton leg of the IAT, a 2,000 kilometer footpath that follows the Appalachian Mountains from northern Maine to Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula. The proposed Nova Scotia addition would shadow the Trans Canada Trail from the Canso Causeway to the Marine Atlantic ferry terminal in North Sydney. The route could also include a section in the Mabou Highlands.
An IAT extension in Nova Scotia completes the Appalachian puzzle in North America, leaving trail organizers free to chase mere distant relatives of the mountain chain dispersed by continental drift. “We have to finish here before we can tackle opportunities that exist on the other side of the Atlantic,” says IAT founder, Dick Anderson.
That’s down the road. In the meantime, thru-hiker Ellen Wilcox is simply looking forward to a long-distance trek in her home province. In 2002, the resident of Dartmouth, NS, became the first Canadian woman to walk the IAT. “Right now it’s only a possibility,” she says. “But all it’s going to take is one hiker to make it happen.”
Despite some obvious similarities, the IAT is not an official extension of the Appalachian Trail. The venerable Georgia-to-Maine footpath is a long-distance hiking institution roughly 1,200 people attempt the 3,500 kilometre ramble each year. The IAT by comparison, attracts only a handful of thru-hikers annually.
When Newfoundland joined the IAT in 2002, Anderson and his colleagues celebrated by polishing off a bottle of screech. Expect the kitchen party to continue if Nova Scotia makes it official this fall.
-- Ed Winchester, Explore Magazine
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