PITTSBURG, N.H. (AP) – Hikers from both sides of the border are working to preserve a trail system that stretches from Crawford Notch to the very tip top of New Hampshire.

Kim Nilsen of Spofford first proposed creating a trail system through Coos County more than 30 years ago.

The result was the Cohos Trail, which covers everything from several 4,000-ft. mountains to the grounds of two grand hotels.

Earlier this year, Nilsen said the trail was in danger of being closed due to a lack of money and volunteers to maintain it. But a surge of support has kept it open, including a fundraising hike that ended last week.

Carey Kish, a writer from Maine, spent two weeks on the trail, raising money for each mile he hiked. At his journey’s end, he met Eric Lacousiere, who had hiked about 50 miles through eastern Quebec to meet him.

“We’ve agreed to link our trails to create an international trail system,” said Nilsen, who also attended the meeting at the border.

Kish, an outdoors columnist for the Maine Sunday Telegram, described his 15-day trek as “fantastic.”

“I saw an awful lot of beauty, had a great deal of solitude and saw just two moose,” he said.

When Cohos Trail Association President Peter Castine began putting out the word about Kish’s fundraiser, the Sentiers Frontaliers hiking club from Lac Megantic, Quebec, put its own hikers on its trail to boost support.

By linking with the Canadian hiking club, Nilsen and others envision creating a second cross-border hiking trail in the eastern United States, joining the International Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Mount Katahdin in Maine to St. Anthony, Newfoundland.

Looking at the hikers gathered in Pittsburg on Friday, Nilsen said, “This symbolizes what can and will be done.”