A Mammoth March

There's no better way to celebrate the Ice Age Trail's 50th birthday
 than to hike or run it

By Don Erickson

Celebrate the IAT on National Trail Day,  June 7 Commemorating the colossal geological, environmental, social and cultural significance of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail in one day or even over one year is overpowering. But that's what the 22 individual chapters of the Ice Age Park & Trail Foundation will set out to do on National Trails Day by covering every inch of the 1,000-plus-mile trail. You don't have to do the whole IAT to enjoy it. The trail is a terrific resource for those who are looking for a convenient spot for a day's hike. One section of the trail or another passes within 10 miles of 25 percent of Wisconsin's residents so it should be easy for many to join the Mammoth March on National Trails Day, Saturday, June 7. For more information on the anniversary events or the IAT in general, call the IAPTF at 800/227-0046 or visit the IAPTF website, www.iceagetrail.org.    Don Erickson

I caught my breath atop the Johnston terminal moraine and took in the transfixing panorama. At that moment, Ellen Drought turned toward me and divulged, "My dad told me by being involved with the Ice Age Trail, you get to see beautiful places in Wisconsin that you may never otherwise see."

Seven of us had gathered around the Aldo Leopold bench after an uphill hike along a snake-like esker on the Sauk Point Segment of the IAT. We had started at the Solum Lane parking area and had reached the promontory overlooking the former melt water flowage that had drained Glacial Lake Wisconsin.

Ellen's father's remark of how the Ice Age National Scenic Trail takes one to so many scenic gems is a notion often crossing my mind. Not just the major popular tourist attractions like Parfrey's Glen, the Dells of the Eau Claire or state parks bearing the names Potawatomi, Brunet Island, Straight Lake, Hartman Creek, Interstate and Devil's Lake. There are also secluded natural jewels such as Mindy's Creek, Mequon Springs, Grandfather Falls and the rushing whitewater rapids of Hemlock Creek as it courses through the Rusk County Forest. These scenic sanctuaries can be reached only on foot.

My visits to these special places prompts the same thought that U.S. Rep. David R. Obey expresses in the foreword of the recently released book Along Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail (see review, page 40). As Obey puts it, "The large majority of Wisconsin residents … have never experienced (the IAT's) beauty. Oh, what they are missing!"

Earlier in the day, Drought chaired a committee meeting of the Ice Age Park & Trail Foundation (IAPTF) held nearby at the Aldo Leopold Heritage Center. She is a trail volunteer following in the footsteps of her father, Tom Drought.

Ice Age Park & Trail Foundation volunteers spent many hours building the boardwalk for the Point Beach Segment of the Ice Age Trail in Manitowoc County. Photo by Kevin Thusius

It was in 1958 that Ray Zillmer, an attorney and alpinist adventurer from Milwaukee, founded the IAPTF. Seeking a way to preserve Wisconsin's unique glacier heritage, he envisioned a long, linear park that followed the terminal moraine left by the last glacier. Although IAPTF will celebrate its 50th year this June, nobody seems to know the age of the trail except that the moraine it follows is more than 10,000 years old

During the committee meeting, talk turned to fitting ways for observing the 50th anniversary of the IAPTF. A deluge of brainstorming revealed it wasn't going to be easy to commemorate a trail with such depth of significance and personal meaning. Consider the fact that the IAT is one of only eight national scenic trails. The Florida National Scenic Trail and the IAT are the only national scenic trails entirely within one state.

In my estimation, of all the national trails, the IAT has the greatest tale to tell – namely how the last glaciations from the Pleistocene Epoch or Great Ice Age covered the continents and shaped much of our landscape, as we know it. When David Startzell, executive director of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, hiked portions of the IAT, he noted how he had to learn a new language to describe the landforms. Moraines, kames, kettles, eskers, drumlins, pitted outwash plains and ice-walled lake plains are words and phrases that IAT hikers are apt to have in their vocabulary.

How do you celebrate the countless dramas and adventures that have played out along this pathway and have inspired and transformed so many lives? Well, the enthusiasm and passion some Thousand Milers – hikers who have covered the entire trail on foot – provide a hint or two.

Sharon Bloodgood hiked as a child, went on to backpacking and long-distance hiking and eventually hiking the entire IAT as well as the Appalachian Trail. She became progressively more involved with IAPTF as a volunteer and eventually served as foundation president. Bloodgood's trail name is Tripalong.

Here's how she describes her relationship with the IAT: "Hiking the Ice Age Trail has been such a part of my life for so many years. The Northern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest was my playground when I lived in Fond du Lac. I skied, snowshoed and hiked that area many times. That was where I first became acquainted with the Ice Age Trail. My most memorable experience was the day Laura DeGolier and I hiked 22 miles as part of her training for a special adventure. It was my first 20-plus-mile hike. Other backpacking trips with Sandi Cihlar and my sister Irene took me to Rusk and Marathon counties and enlarged my perspective of the IAT. It wasn't just a wonderful trail near my home, it was a statewide treasure."

Bloodgood's sister Irene Cline (trail name Tagalong) one day surprised her kid sister by declaring, "We're going to hike the Appalachian Trail." When they completed the hike, Cline set a record as the oldest woman, at age 77, to section hike the Appalachian Trail (her record has since been broken). In 2006, she set another record as the oldest woman, at age 86, to hike the entire IAT section by section.

As Cline continues to hike the IAT, her fellow residents in the retirement condo in Madison marvel at her dynamism and gumption. Cline modestly replies, "Get out on the trail. You can do it, too!"

Barbara Voigt has hiked the trail with Cline and Bloodgood but at other times ventured out alone. She was on her own Memorial Day weekend 2006 when, she said, "I climbed up a hill along the Mecan River and came around a corner. The early morning sun was hitting the tall green, grassy field just right. The dew looked like crystals on the grass and a large cobweb looked like it was spun out of silver threads. The squawking sounds I heard were made by two sandhill cranes and their baby right next to the trail. It was a moment made by God and I was privileged to see it."

Pat Witkowski became a Thousand Miler in April 2006 when she reached the trail's western terminus at Interstate Park a day before the IAPTF Annual Conference in nearby Osceola. Witkowski hiked the trail as a segment hiker rather than a thru-hiker. She said the advantage of hiking the trail section by section over the years is she came to know the trail in all four seasons. Pat's elementary school students kept track of her progress on an 8-foot map.

Witkowski said she finds it hard to choose her favorite time on the trail, but that breaking 50 to 60 miles of trail on snowshoes through Taylor County was particularly memorable.

It's easier for Pat to pick her most inspiring experience on the trail. "On Easter morning, I was hiking under some stately old-growth white pines along the rim of a deep canyon on Hemlock Creek," she said." When I glanced down at the fast-flowing stream there was the reflection of an eagle soaring, with white head and tail and outstretched primary wing feathers. It was the only time that I have looked down to see an eagle in flight."

 Penny Bernard Schaber and Dale Schaber became Thousand Milers section hikers after leaving the eastern terminus on September 6, 2003, and reaching the western terminus at Interstate State Park, on August 2, 2005. The husband and wife team summed up their experience with a trail report using every letter in the alphabet to crisply and succinctly record their observations.

Here are excerpts: "Abundant animals and awesome aspens. Bodacious birches, basswood bastions and bountiful bunchberries. Corduroys, cursed clear cuts and cows for company. Dragonflies, deer, dairy air with Dale drawing dastardly deerflies. Enormous erratics and enjoyable eskers. Fascinating fens, fabulous ferns and a fiendish focus on the finish. Gnarly grassy glens, grasshoppers and gandy gancers covered with gravel road grime. Hellacious hills, hazards well handled, hundreds of hepaticas, hot and humid humans. Incredible Ice Age images. Jagged junket and jumbled journey. Kettles, kingfishers and kames…."

On July 31, 2006, thru hiker John Bauer was at Brunet Island State Park in Chippewa County, still more than 150 miles from his destination, when he had to duct tape his beat-up boots. It didn't hold so he finished the remainder of his trek in sandals. Although the adventure was hard on the boots, Bauer said, "backpacking the IAT was a life-changing event in my life."

This journal entry of Bauer's tells why: "July 4, Devil's Lake State Park, Sauk County:  Devil's Lake was amazing. I enjoyed every moment of the day. Hot and humid. I took a lot of breaks and still covered about 20 miles. I cooled off midday with a dip in Devil's Lake; enjoyed lunch and ice cream at the concession (stand). A memorable Fourth of July. I felt an American spirit in me that day, thankful to be free and able to enjoy this trail in this beautiful country we call home. The terrific vistas on both bluffs and the Johnston Moraine made it clear to me why the Ice Age Trail is so important. We need to conserve and appreciate the natural beauty of our lands."

On August 9, 2006, Bauer reached Interstate State Park in Polk County, marking the end of his 1,000-mile hike. He wrote in his journal, "I cannot say in words all that I felt as I read the plaque on that rock overlooking the mighty St. Croix River. All I endured and went through was worthwhile. All the pain and suffering was numbed by the beauty encountered daily on the Ice Age Trail." (For more, see "Two-month Trek," October 2006 issue.)

Ultrarunner Jason Dorgan knew that if he was going to set a record for covering the IAT, he had to do it in less than 32 days. He set a goal of running and walking almost 50 miles a day hoping to take 22 or 23 days. After running an average of 11 hours a day, on May 5, 2007, Dorgan arrived at Potawatomie State Park in 22 days and six hours. His experience is unique in seeing the trail in a fast-forward mode.

Dorgan took on the arduous challenge "to raise awareness of the Ice Age Trail. I felt not enough people knew the trail existed. I am satisfied that the goal was met with the wide coverage given by the media and on the web. I also wanted to raise money for the IAPTF and managed to obtain more than $15,000 in donations. I was delighted that so many runners joined me for a few miles or more. I hope that my run will encourage runners and others to join the IAPTF." (See "Jason Dorgan Does it," June 2007 issue.)

Sharon Dziengel is one of several Thousand Milers who became part of the IAPTF family. After she completed her thru-hike, on June 21, 2002, she felt an accurate and comprehensive trail guide was needed. So Dziengel organized a group of volunteers and staff-members to design, write and edit The Ice Age Trail Companion Guide. She recently oversaw completion of the third edition.

When you chat with Dziengel about hiking the IAT, you quickly realize the trail not only takes one to picturesque places but also to bighearted, friendly folks. She said that during her hike there were many times when trail volunteers welcomed her into their homes, offered her a comfortable bed, hot shower and a home-cooked meal.  The kindness of strangers was another joy of the journey, she said.

I once stopped at a house along a hot road section of the trail and asked the owners if I could fill my water bottle from their garden hose. I soon found my bottle filled with cold tap water and ice cubes and was offered cookies.

Later, I ran into the same couple at a highway wayside (on Interstate 39 in Waushara County). They offered me a ride to town if I needed it and said if ever I was in the area and needed a place to stay, to stop by their house. All of this thoughtfulness from simply asking for some water and telling them about my hike.

Tim Malzhan was only the third person to thru-hike the IAT. His motivation? "To explore my home state, on foot and with a camera." After tasting the waters of the grand St. Croix River in October 1991, Tim immediately set to work as a volunteer and began service as a full-time IAPTF staff member in November 2000. Today Malzhan is director of field operations and provides leadership for the IAPTF Mobile Skills Crew program that takes on major trail, bridge and boardwalk construction projects around the state.

"My hike taught me many things, perhaps none more important then the meaning of the expression 'one step at a time,'" Malzhan said. "Today it is deeply gratifying to design and build the IAT where previously I walked roadside. Although the complexities of this project can be staggering, the rewards are immeasurable. The IAT is not so much about the past as it is about the future."

Don Erickson is a freelance writer.  When not writing, he looks out the window of his home in Birchwood to see if the weather is best suited for cycling, canoeing, cross country skiing, snow shoeing, hiking or working on the IAT.  He is an IAPTF segment leader, member of the board of directors and former coordinator for the Superior Lobe Chapter.