Ed Talone
Dick Anderson, Founder & ME Chapter Treasurer with Ed Talone
This weekend, Dick Anderson, Treasurer of the ME chapter of the SIA-IAT, Geraldine Wolf , and Seth Levy, Secretary of the SIA-IAT, traveled more than 6 hours north to the border of Maine and Canada to join Ed Talone on the last few steps of his 4554-mile hike. Though there is no "traditional" way to hike the length of the east coast, Ed’s journey has been exceptionally unique. Rather than begin at Key West, Ed journeyed nearly 70 miles west of Key West by ship to Dry Tortugas National Park, hiking across the park before taking a boat back to the mainland and continuing his walk north on the Florida Trail. After the Florida Trail, Ed explored the Pinhoti Trail system, and meeting members of the Alabama Hiking Trail Society at Flagg Mountain, the southernmost peak of the Appalachian Mountains in North America. Ed then bore north on the Appalachian Trail until New England, where a close encounter with Hurricane Irene and the closure of the Green Mountain National Forest led him on to a network of rail trails and byways. In Maine, Ed left the AT, walking the portions of the East Coast Greenway, the planned route of the Merrymeeting Trail, the Down East Sunrise Trail, and some segments of the International Appalachian Trail. After a journey that began nearly 8 months before, Ed crossed the US/Canadian border, surrounded by good friends and the memories of a wonderful walk.
After such a journey, most hikers would be content to rest for a while. After an hour or so, Ed and Dick were well into a detailed conversation, planning the next leg of Ed’s journey north through Canada, and perhaps beyond!
Photos and Story by Seth Levy, ME Chapter Secretary
