“There was me, my pack, and a long straight remnant of a logging road. There was deep silence, without a bird call or a leaf flutter. And honestly, there was a bit of doubt about what I was doing. It was early August, and I had just been dropped off by the Appalachian Trail Lodge shuttle at the beginning of the International Appalachian Trail. This seemed a rather unassuming start to what hopefully will be an international trek reaching from the northeast USA, across the Atlantic, wending through a vast array of ecosystems and a diversity of cultures. I shouldered the pack and set off on the dirt road into Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. Ten paces in a chickadee arrived, and another, and more, and I paused to chat with them, as the gregarious little birds welcomed me into this venture. This was a good start.”