The International Appalachian Trail had it's 25th anniversary!

Maine, New Brunswick, Quebec and even England, are just some of the places the international Appalachian Trail goes through. According to Don Hudson, President of the Maine Chapter of IAT, this all started back in 1993.

"The trail was the idea of Dick Anderson, who is a former commissioner of the department of conservation. Dick had the idea to make a trail from Mount Katahdin to the highest points in both New Brunswick and Quebec. That was the initial idea and he spoke with me about it in October of '93 and Governor Brennan formerly announced it on Earth Day in 1994," Don said.

Hudson adds that they have a meeting four times a year.

"We have a meeting here at Shin Pond and occasionally will have a fall meeting at Mount Katahdin or somewhere else along the international Appalachian trail whether in New Brunswick, Quebec, Newfoundland, PI, Nova Scotia and occasionally, maybe every second year we'll have an international meeting in Europe," Paul Wylezol, Chair of the International Appalachian trail-Newfoundland, said.

Sunny Eberhart is currently hiking the International Appalachian trail. He believes that hiking the trail is a unique experience.

"I'm not trying to trivialize it but it just sharpens the edges of everything that you've ever considered to be wonderful in your life and it blunts the other end of it where you have to deal with the pain along with it and when you stir all that together, that's what gives it the flavor and if you condense that all down, you can take for in my life, 80 years of it, and put it in a nice shiny ball," Sunny said.

Annual maintenance of the trail includes clearing downed trees, and making sure the trail is safe for hikers, whether they're 8 or 80!