On March 2 - 3, the IAT North America Council gathered in Moncton, New Brunswick to discuss issues of common interest, report chapter progress, and relax with friends over good food and drink! Topics for discussion included IAT maps and trail markers, websites and social media, corporate sponsors and long-distance hikers, and IAT Europe and…

At the 2012 IAT Annual General Meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, the Iceland Touring Association's Kjalvegur hinn forni (Old Kjalvegur hiking trail) became an official part of the International Appalachian Trail. The former horse track extends approximately 40 kms (26 miles) through a highland dessert valley between Langjökull and Hofsjökull glaciers. Like Sprengisandur…

January 2013 marks the introduction of two new website series on the Natural and Cultural Heritage found along the International Appalachian Trail, from eastern North America to Western Europe. The IAT Natural Heritage series will showcase concise illustrated stories on both nature and geology, while the IAT Cultural Heritage series will include stories on e.g.…

In December 2012, the new Wales Coast Path joined the International Appalachian Trail as a 870 mile (1,400 km) trek around the entire coast of Wales, from Chester in the north to Chepstow in the south.   The path was developed by the Welsh Government in partnership with the Countryside Council for Wales, sixteen local authorities and two National…

In November 2012, Beyond Ktaadn (www.beyondktaadn.org), a collaborative research and outreach organization focused on alpine landscapes in eastern North America, published an Eastern Alpine Guide including IAT mountains in Maine, Quebec, and Newfoundland. The project is coordinated and edited by Beyond Ktaadn President Mike Jones and Research Director/Treasurer Lizabeth Willey, with contributions from academics and experts in the U.S. and Canada, as well as…

In summer 2012, IAT partner Blue Ice Explorer in South Greenland designated a new International Appalachian Trail route across the legendary Norse Erik The Red Land of the Eastern Settlement, from Qassiarsuk (Brattahlid) to Narsaq, then on to Igaliku (Garðar) and Illerfissalik (Burfjeld) mountain.  It is the IAT's first re-emergence across the Atlantic Ocean, after departing…