Boston Globe: movement afoot to extend the AT

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griffin

griffin

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(well, Alex Beam's column in the Globe - not likely to succeed but possibly funny to contemplate)

Happy Friday!


http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/art...the_appalachian_trail_all_the_way_to_morocco/

Across the great divides
A movement is afoot to extend the Appalachian Trail all the way to Morocco

By Alex Beam, Globe Columnist | July 23, 2010

Not so long ago, South Carolina’s “love guv’’ Mark Sanford extended the Appalachian Trail when he claimed to be hiking the famous Maine-to-Georgia path, while in fact he was dallying with his mistress in Argentina. Catcalls and guffawing ensued.

Now there is talk of pushing the AT beyond its northward endpoint, Maine’s Mount Katahdin, through the geological continuation of the Appalachian range, which rises in Labrador, Greenland, Iceland, Scotland, Ireland, Portugal, and Morocco. And yes, a bit of tittering has been heard.
 
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The first time I was on Kahtadin, someone pointed to a man and said, 'he started in the Florida Keys, and is proceeding all the way to Canada'. Can this really be done on trails, or does it require road walking?
 
Tom Rankin said:
The first time I was on Kahtadin, someone pointed to a man and said, 'he started in the Florida Keys, and is proceeding all the way to Canada'. Can this really be done on trails, or does it require road walking?
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The "normal" AT requires a lot of road walking too, although less than it used to.
 
Interesting mix, governor and AT extention

Will "I am hiking the AT" become code words for "I am having an affair with a hottie in Argentina?":cool:
 
Blue said:
Will "I am hiking the AT" become code words for "I am having an affair with a hottie in Argentina?":cool:
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I raised this concnern with my wife...does "I am hiking all weekend" mean I am having an affair. She said I could have my fantasie if I wanted but whenI return and I am dirty and smelly she knows where I have been.
 
Tom Rankin said:
The first time I was on Kahtadin, someone pointed to a man and said, 'he started in the Florida Keys, and is proceeding all the way to Canada'. Can this really be done on trails, or does it require road walking?
Click to expand...

The AT itself was created in its present state by an act of Congress and would require another act of congress to significantly change. But yes, you can technically hike on various trails all the way from the Keys to Canada (the international AT), although there is supposed to be a lot of road walking, particularly in the south. I believe Nimblewald Nomad (sp?) wrote a book about it.
 
The IAT has already been extended and has been on the books for several years. The notion that it could extend "officially" to Scotland and maybe Morocco is based upon the geologic history of the mountains.

It already extends through New Brunswick, the Gaspee Peninsula and Newfoundland. It once extended to Belle Isle located in the Straight of the same name north of Newfoundland but that was dropped because of the difficulty in accessing that 12 mile segment ... the Straights of Belle Isle can rival some of the worse seas in the world ... expecting that spider solo will paddle it one of these days!

Here is a link to the website: http://www.internationalat.org/Pages/index

The MATC has an annual winter social in Freeport where, among the presentations, there is usually a good update on the IAT along with a video presentation. There is a collection of maps and references, much free, available, too.
 
GBKDalton said:
But yes, you can technically hike on various trails all the way from the Keys to Canada (the international AT), although there is supposed to be a lot of road walking, particularly in the south. I believe Nimblewald Nomad (sp?) wrote a book about it.
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That's right - although it's "Nimblewill" Nomad - He spent time near Nimblewill Creek, Ga near Springer Mountain. My partner and I hiked/hosteled with him a bit on the AT in 2000 when he was doing this hike and we were thruhiking. He's close to completing all 11 National Scenic Trails at this point. I think he has 8 done, maybe 9.
 
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I looked at the 4000 footers in Gaspe last year, but info was thin. Not much easy to find info (eg, maos, books,...). Couldn't even find an official list of peaks! I think that one 4000 ftr was 'off-limits' due to a caraboo herd. BSP on steroids??
 
rup said:
I think that one 4000 ftr was 'off-limits' due to a caraboo herd. BSP on steroids??
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About 10 years ago or so, part of the Chik Chok Range in this area was off-limits during an annual migration of one of the caribou herds. May still be...
 
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