In late March 2013, IAT Maine board member Thomas Urquhart set off on the South Downs Way to again walk the hills he roamed as a young lad growing up in the south of England.  Join him and his wife and sister as he recounts the sheep and grazing bunnies on Easter Sunday morn.     "Let’s…

During the Scottish winter of 2013, a team of eight Ayr Rotarians constructed a small footbridge across Mill Burn below Dunure Mains on the Ayrshire Coastal Path.   The need became evident when the record wet year of 2012 demonstrated that stepping-stones placed across the stream proved inadequate to deal with major floods. (l-r) Jimmy Begg, Harry…

In March 2013, the Spain chapter of the Sendero Internacional de los Apalaches (International Appalachian Trail) honoured IAT Founder Richard "Dick" Anderson and IAT Spain honorary member Alicia P. Scribner for their roles in establishing the IAT and IAT Spain, respectively.   The presentation of an honourary scroll to Dick was made by Maine Chapter President…

In March 2013, England's Peddars Way & Norfolk Coast Path National Trail joined the IAT as a 150 km (93 mile) path that starts in Suffolk at Knettishall Heath Nature Reserve and follows the route of a Roman road to Holme-next-the-Sea on the north Norfolk coast.  At Holme the Peddars Way meets the Norfolk Coast Path as…

The Maine Chapter of the International Appalachian Trail participated in recent geological meetings in Canada and the United States: the 2013 Annual General Meeting of the Atlantic Geoscience Society in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and the Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Section of the Geological Society of America at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. …

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…

In February 2013, the UK's Offa's Dyke Path National Trail joined the IAT, bringing with it Britain's longest ancient monument while creating a 1,047 mile (1,675 km) IAT Wales loop with the Wales Coast Path. The 177 mile (285 km) long, 1200 year old linear bank and ditch passes through no less than eight…

In January 2013, England's Ridgeway National Trail joined the International Appalachian Trail as "Britain's Oldest Road."     The 87 mile (139km) path crosses ancient landscapes on both sides of the River Thames, following the same route used since prehistoric times by travellers, herdsmen and soldiers. It passes through two distinctive landscapes: the open…