ROADS NOT TAKEN

Hiking trails, as the name suggests, should meander through the woods or cross mountaintops, not parallel paved roads. The International Appalachian Trail, which stretches 1,300 miles from the end of the Appalachian Trail atop Mount Katahdin to Cap Gaspe, Quebec, and then jumps across the water to Newfoundland and Labrador, is slowly living up to its name.

Recently, trail officials announced that 10 miles of the hiking path in Maine may be rerouted to the woods east of Baxter State Park. Currently, those who hike the trail are directed to head back south after climbing Mount Katahdin and to walk along a road to Millinocket and along state roads to Patten. Alternatively, IAT trekkers can hike through the northern part of Baxter State Park, although reservations are required.

Under a proposed agreement with Roxanne Quimby, the founder of Burt’s Bees cosmetics, 10 miles of the trail would be located on her land in T5 R8 and T3 R7 along the eastern border of Baxter State Park. This will make for much more scenic hiking and should encourage other landowners to consider allowing the trail, which is now traversed by a dozen hearty souls a year, to cross their land. The trail can’t be re-routed until the landowners between the Quimby parcels also allow access.

Much of the land in the area is in flux with Ms. Quimby possibly swapping land with another owner in the area. The state, Trust for Public Land and Baxter State Park are also involved in the deal that aims to add acreage around Katahdin Lake to the park.

While this is being sorted out, the IAT is growing elsewhere. At a ceremony nearly six years ago when the northern terminus of the trail was officially dedicated, IAT founder Dick Anderson stood on the cliffs overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Eons ago, he said, this tip of Quebec was connected to Newfoundland. Maybe, he said, the trail could bridge that gap again.

Three years later, a group of hikers in Newfoundland and Labrador, the easternmost Canadian province, decided to create a trail leg, which they estimate will stretch for 600 miles along cobble beaches and through bogs. A few intrepid hikers already have forged their own trails to make the journey.

Now, Mr. Anderson is encouraging the continuation of the trail in Scotland, which was once connected to eastern Canada.

While this remains a distant dream, a real trail exists in New Brunswick and Quebec and one is emerging in Newfoundland and Labrador. Maine is the missing link.