A long-distance hiker writing on The Trek has just wrapped up the Canadian leg of the Eastern Continental Trail route, walking into the US through a quiet border crossing in northern Maine — and the week offers a brutally honest look at what thru-hiking the International Appalachian Trail (IAT) actually involves.
The stretch from New Brunswick was mostly hardtop. The hiker ground out 37-mile days along Routes 180 and 385 in the rain, passing the turnoff for Mount Carleton Provincial Park (New Brunswick's highest mountain) without time to detour. A planned stop in Plaster Rock fell flat: the only hotel was booked out, most eateries were shut, and the town's claim to fame — the world's largest fiddlehead — turned out to be a wooden sculpture. A cheesesteak poutine was the consolation prize.
Back on the NB Trail along the Tobique River, a broken bivy zipper and a mosquito invasion cost a night's sleep (roughly 90 minutes), foreshadowing several miserable evenings. The hiker passed through Perth-Andover, spent the last of their Canadian cash on burgers, then detoured 12 miles through Amish country — horse-drawn carriages included — before reaching the border at sunset. Crossing on foot was refreshingly simple: one agent had served on the International Appalachian Trail Association's board, and the guards handed over two sodas.
The Maine miles brought their own quirks. Ten miles of the "slash" — an overgrown, muddy strip running along the US-Canada border — required a check-in call to border patrol beforehand, and agents still rolled by on an ATV to verify the hiker's description. The route then passed wind turbines, Big Rock Mountain ski area near Mars Hill (which claims first sunlight in the US for part of the year, trading the honour with Cadillac Mountain in Acadia), and long ATV-trail and paved sections into Houlton. Resupply there was oversized and heavy — one 1.5-litre water bottle replacing two 1-litres, plus a litre of ginger ale — before a well-earned night at the Brookside Hotel, where an all-you-can-eat fish and chips special ($17, four pieces) redeemed several rough days.
Ahead lies about 135 miles in Maine to Katahdin, plus a side quest: finishing the New England 4,000-footers list. The tally stands at 4 of 5 in Vermont and 27 of 48 in New Hampshire, with Maine's 14 still untouched — North Brother in Baxter State Park the trickiest logistically.
Why care? For anyone eyeing the IAT as an alternative to the Appalachian Trail, this account is a useful reality check: expect far more road and ATV-track walking than forest path, thin town services in rural New Brunswick, serious bug pressure in summer, and friendly, low-key border logistics if you call ahead. The rewards are quieter trail, beaver sightings, and small-town hospitality — plus poutine when you need it most.
