"Where in the Blue Blazes?"

Today brings a couple news items about trails connecting with the AT, i.e., blue blaze trails.

First is an article on the MaineToday.com website of the Portland Press Herald and the Maine Sunday Telegram by Deirdre Fleming. It's an interview-ish announcement of a presentation by International Appalachian Trail founder Dick Anderson (Tuesday, 23 January at Portland Trails' annual meeting). In case you haven't heard, the IAT stretches way beyond Point Gaspe. "Anderson envisions the potential of a path that one day would pick up the trail beyond the Atlantic Ocean, north of Iceland, in Denmark and winding through sections of the same mountain range all the way to west Africa." Only a matter of time until someone hops into a sea kayak to paddle across the north Atlantic in order to be the first one to complete this portion of the trail.

Next, the Akron (OH) Beacon Journal has an article by staff writer Bob Downing about hiking options in and around Damascus, Virginia. That trail town is such a target for thru-hikers that they may not pay attention to all the rest of the hiking in the area. Downing's article outlines some of the loop hikes one could take in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, "one of the best hiking and backpacking areas in the East."

And then there's the (Lewiston, ME) Sun Journal article by staff writer Terry Karkos, datelined Bethel, and titled "On the trail of a trail." It describes a hike by some folks scouting out the best path for a trial extension. "Late last year, the Androscoggin River beside Route 2 was crossed by the longest recreational/snowmobile bridge in Maine, suddenly making it possible to create a trail connecting Bethel Village to Newry, Sunday River Ski Resort, the Appalachian Trail, and a nearly-complete 42-mile Grafton Loop backpacking trail in the rugged Mahoosuc mountain range. Bethel Area Trails [the group making the hike reported in the article] is a Mahoosuc Land Trust committee that formed in 2004 to expand the pathway system in the Bethel area." So I reckon one could blue blaze from the AT to all those places. Or the other way 'round.