International Appalachian Trail Newfoundland and Labrador

From June 21-23, Parks Canada, IATNL, and Ocean Quest Adventures will be presenting the second annual Art & Adventure Festival in Gros Morne National Park. The 3-day event will include fine art exhibits and workshops at the park's Discovery Center in Woody Point, zodiac adventures on Trout River Pond, and guided hikes of nearby Overfalls Trail.

On the evening of May 15, 2013, IAT Chairperson Paul Wylezol and IATNL executive member Delano Pittman set off in an open boat across chilly and windswept Parsons Pond on their way to Western Brook Gulch to continue work on the Devil's Bite Trail. Rising early the next day, they hiked a round trip of 13 kms (8 miles) to reach the worksite at the inside valley, where the trail climbs a scree field to the only exit out of the gulch.

The second installment of the IAT Natural Heritage series is from Beyond Ktaadn's Eastern Alpine Guide, compiled and written by Mike Jones (IAT North America Alpine Ecologist), Liz Willey, and Marilyn Anions.  The Guide can be purchased in Corner Brook at Island Treasures, or on Amazon.com.

In April 2013, Britain's first National Trail - the Pennine Way - joined the IAT. The 268-mile (429-km) path follows the top of the Pennine Mountains along the rugged backbone of north-central England, from the Peak District National Park through the Yorkshire Dales and over Hadrian's Wall to the Cheviots Hills on the border with Scotland. It is amongst the finest upland walking in England.

On March 2 - 3, the IAT North America Council gathered in Moncton, New Brunswick to discuss issues of common interest, report chapter progress, and relax with friends over good food and drink! Topics for discussion included IAT maps and trail markers, websites and social media, corporate sponsors and long-distance hikers, and IAT Europe and the 2013 AGM.

January 2013 marks the introduction of two new website series on the Natural and Cultural Heritage found along the International Appalachian Trail, from eastern North America to Western Europe. This first piece on Natural Heritage by Beyond Ktaadn was excerpted and adapted from their new Eastern Alpine Guide, and is titled: Common Alpine Plant Species along the IAT in North America.

From August 22-23, Long Range Adventurer Lew Coty made a circumtrek of Gros Morne National Park's Trout River Pond, beginning at the trailhead to Trout River Pond Trail. The two day trek brought him across the top of the Tablelands, down around the back end of the pond near Overfalls Trail, and up and across the south side hills, with a final descent down the head of the Elephant.

On the beautiful autumn day of October 30, IAT Chairperson Paul Wylezol, IATNL Vice Chair Arne Helgeland, and Signage Director Delano Pittman entered Serpentine Valley to continue work on the Lewis Hills Trail, the final stage of the new IATNL UltramaTrex.  This one-week trek provides access to all four of the West Coast's ophiolites, characterized by the rust-colored ultramafic, peridotite.

In July 2012, Appalachian Trail thru-hiker Paul Gagnon and his partner Laura White made a 4-day/4-night trek of the Lewis Hills and Blow-Me-Down Mountains.  With the exception of their start at Fox Island River south of Cache Valley, their south to north trek followed the IATNL route, most of it across alpine barrens above 2,000 ft (600 m) elevation.