Road-walking - Aug 29

The deciduous tree leaves are aging. The fresh green of early summer is gone. I've seen scattered red maple leaves, but not many. But neither are they still fresh green. I saw my first completely red leaved tree perhaps ten days ago, but that was a dying tree so is not an accurate indicator. Still, I can feel summer coming to a close. 

The IAT has left the woods. Road-walking has begun and will continue into Canada, which after these three days is now just a few miles away.

It feels good to be going to the border. The PCT and CDT both extend from border to border, so somehow the AT seems incomplete. Tomorrow morning, some 3250 miles from Key West, I'll rectify that shortcoming.

Start of IAT - Aug 26

A new beginning, a new trail. 

The IAT (International Appalachian Trail) begins outside of Baxter State Park, leaving an odd 12 mile gap between it and the AT terminus atop Mt Katadhin. Connecting them inside the Park is a combination of trails and road walk, ending with a somewhat faded trail at the east edge of Baxter State Park. 

My first twenty mile stretch of IAT is mostly old abandoned woods roads, and some trail with a couple of stream crossings. The trail portion is occasionally challenging to follow due to disuse, which is quite different from highly eroded, overused AT. I am likely to see few if any other hikers.