THE FRENCH CONNECTION

BOUNDARY POND, NH -- Not far from this remote finger lake-like pond high in the remote Boundary Mountains of New Hampshire, a Lac Megantic, Quebec-based group called the Sentiers frontaliers has completed a new foot trail. It approaches within several miles of this lonesome spot.
The new trail is part of a system that begins at the big gleaming white astronomical observatory on the summit of Mont Megantic at Notre-Dame-des-Bois, Quebec, and runs down to and along the border and then out to Woburn, Quebec and the fine summit of Mont Gosford, north of the northwestern Maine border.
The Cohos Trail and the Canadian trail both reach the border. Although they touch the international boundary nearly 10 mountainous miles from one another, the U.S.-Canadian border is actually a long 40 to 60-foot wide clearing in the forests (although it has grown up quite a bit since it was first cleared) that runs mile after mile. At the center of the clearing are small round bronze markers and an occasional boundary monument marking the precise border between the two nations. If permission can be obtained from both countries, the two trail systems could be linked via portions of this cleared track to form an international trail system.
Should the two trail systems link together, the Cohos Trail, via the Sentiers frontaliers route, would extend an additional 50+ miles, creating a system 210 to 220 miles in length. The Canadians have already built tent platforms at two separate sites north of the border to facilitate the three-day march between the border and Mont Megantic.
A link would create some interesting hiking along the border. Immediately after leaving the U.S. Customs Station a route could slip over low Lignes Mt. (Lines Mt.) to a ledge and cliff overlooking Third Connecticut Lake. Beyond, the big peak which dominates the skyline several miles from the U.S. Customs Station is Mt. Salmon, at 3,364 feet. It is four feet taller than Pittsburg's famous massif, Mt. Magalloway. Mt. Salmon's summit is about 3.5 miles east of the Customs facility. Another few miles further, the mountains give way to tranquil Boundary Pond, with its osprey and beaver clan. Above Boundary Pond stands Mt. D'Urban, poking up just barely to 3,000 feet before falling away toward tiny Rhubarb Pond, tucked up tight into no-man's-land between the borders of New Hampshire, Maine and Quebec.
Most of the way from the saddle where the Customs Station rests to where the new trail reaches down to the border, the trail underfoot is high elevation ridge. It is possible to view remote terrain that is virtually unknown to most people in the East.
To learn more about the Sentier frontaliers, log on to www.sentiersfrontaliers.qc.ca or Canada Trails . Or contact the Sentiers frontaliers Inc., Club de Randonnee, C.P. 23, Lac Megantic, QC G6B 2S5 or call them at 819-583-5515 or 819-583-5496.

Submitted by Kim Robert Nilsen

The Cohos Trail Association