Blaze: October on the Ice Age Trail

The woods were calling… It wouldn’t be the wildest thing in the world for me to respond, though I couldn’t say for sure why I answered this particular missive. 

The Ice Age Trail is one of about a dozen National Scenic Trails in the United States, a 1,200-mile path that winds through the state of Wisconsin, showcasing the ecological and geological diversity of landscapes shaped by glaciation. The trail was started in the ‘50s, and nearly 700 miles are officially protected and designated, marked with signature yellow “blazes” on signposts, trail markers, and trees as the path traverses forests, wetlands, prairies, farm fields, multi-use trails, small-town main streets, and country roads. The goal of the Ice Age Trail Alliance nonprofit is to finish the remaining 500 miles of the trail, which currently exist as “connecting routes.”

I knew about this trail, of course—had inadvertently hiked sections of it while aiming for other adventures; seen their mammoth mascot, Monty, on Instagram during the Giving Tuesday fundraiser scramble; met* the trail’s first Black female thru-hiker backstage on a virtual program; clocked their specialty license plates on the road and in grocery store parking lots. The previous month, at a conference, they’d even had a table right next to ours. It piqued my interest a little at the time (realizing, for instance, that I’d never actually seen a full map of the trail), but the curiosity evaporated as suddenly as their booth setup.

It was only after a satisfyingly grueling hike at the end of September (on the Sauk Point segment) that I finally, for the first time, ended up at their website. A photo of an orange-hued forest invited me to “Spend October Outside” through the Mammoth Hike Challenge: hike 46 miles, visit 3 trail communities, earn an exclusive patch. I’ve never in my life cared about or known what to do with a patch; I’ve only casually hiked the trail before; I’ve got a newly bum knee; and I just learned about this all of two minutes ago, but sign me up! Wait, was 46 miles in 31 days even doable? I subtracted the two weekends I was traveling, bolstered the remaining weekend hikes with some shorter weekday jaunts on my local stretch of trail. It didn’t look promising. But hold on, they had a bonus mile program—and I could get 10 miles just by becoming a member? Charitable giving had never motivated me more. Five miles for walking a new-to-you segment; two miles for seeing a license plate somewhere besides a trailhead? Recalculating, it actually seemed like it might be possible—challenging, to be sure (I’d probably spend every free minute of daylight walking), but possible.

September hike on the Sauk Point segment 

 

In the last days of September, a giddy excitement overtook me. It reminded me of the old days of NaNoWriMo, the frantic outlining and note-taking as the clock ticked down to November, putting pen to paper at the stroke of midnight. Instead of writing a 50,000-word novel draft, I’d be putting feet to trail, writing a story of sorts as I traversed Wisconsin’s autumn landscapes. Instead of developing characters and outlining a plot arc, I mapped out nearby trail segments, calculated mileage, sketched out an itinerary for the month.

 

Unlike with NaNo, I wouldn’t have to worry about writer’s block, but burnout was still a real possibility, especially considering the unpredictable chronic knee pain. Your health comes first, I firmly reminded myself, worrying (and knowing) the excitement would probably make me heedless. Though I didn’t want to stifle it, this near-frenzied joy, a particular sort of ambition I hadn’t felt since high school. Maybe... a balance could be struck.

 

Printed hiking log at the ready, and an after-work reminder pinging me from my phone, I hit the Ice Age Trail on October 1.

 

Oct 1: Baraboo segment, 3.89 mi

Starting off close to home with a familiar stretch. In these parts, the IAT overlaps with the Baraboo Riverwalk trail, a paved multi-use path along the river and through the historic circus district (the home of the current Circus World Museum and many preserved buildings that were part of the Ringling Circus operation).

first blaze!

some circus views across the river

 

 

Oct 2: Portage Canal segment, 5.55 mi

Inevitable misadventure. Despite having bad or weird experiences every single time I’ve visited this town, I keep coming back and hoping it’ll be different. Sticking to the familiar canal trail, I wondered what could possibly go wrong. Silly question. What went wrong was daring to cross railroad tracks on a Friday afternoon, then getting stranded on the wrong side of them for over half an hour, going back and forth between finding a long way around (and back to my car) and being taunted by train cars moving only to stop again. (And randomly bleeding from my finger the second I got out of my car...)

 

first of the three trail community visits

trapped by the train...

well, at least I could get some popcorn

on the way out / on the way back

Oct 3: Lodi + Lodi Marsh segments, 5.42 mi

Some may say the ferry ride is part of the journey (though it doesn’t count for miles, of course). This was a good mix of town time (on the Lodi segment) and nature immersion (on the Lodi Marsh segment).

 

ferry ride across Lake Wisconsin

 

second trail community

 

Lodi's main street

 

 

 

 

with Susie the duck! (the town mascot)

 

 

the Lodi Marsh segment

 

 

I... wasn't planning to go to a terminus today, but thanks

 

 

shades of aster

 

 

Oct 5: Baraboo segment, 1.85 mi

And the burnout strikes… Knee pain flared up not a few blocks in, before I’d even made it to the trail; ill-advisedly, I pushed myself anyway and was rewarded with an unsettling pins-and-needles sensation in my leg and foot. Yikes! (What did I say about my health coming first??)

Oct 7: Baraboo segment, 2.7 mi

I’d never explored this end of the segment, which goes up past Baraboo High School and the former UW Baraboo campus, winding through a lovely little patch of woods I had no idea was this close to town.

 

 

seriously, how did I not know about this

Oct 9: Devil’s Lake segment, 2.35 mi

Enjoying some pops of fall color on the bluffs, as seen from the Roznos Meadow trail.

blaze 'n' bluffs

 

 

red stripe of sumac

 

Oct 10: Cross Plains segment, 9.14 mi 

This town hosts the headquarters of the Ice Age Trail Alliance. Aside from getting a little lost as the path cut through suburbia, this was one of my favorite hikes of the month (not least of which because it was my record—and I somehow didn’t feel completely dead afterward!).

 

the mammoth's back

Monty the mammoth at the IAT headquarters

 

no, not the plague doctor!

 

Oct 12: Baraboo segment, 2.87 mi

I’ll never regret bringing my camera… but I’ll always regret not bringing it. *sigh*

 

 

Oct 14: Baraboo segment, 1.4 mi

The UW Baraboo campus woods segment crisscrosses with a disc golf course. I had the misfortune/privilege to pass by one agitated disc golfer, whose furious laments of “WHERE is my DISC, bro????” followed me basically the whole way back to my car. (I couldn’t help giggling every time, honestly.)

Oct 16: Baraboo segment, 3.55 mi

 

 

 

more circus views

 

Oct 18: Gibraltar Rock segment, 7.37 mi

Another trip on the ferry to another new trail segment. This was an extremely popular spot—many were exploring this state natural area for the day (great views from the top of Gibraltar Rock), a few backpackers with gear for an overnight camp somewhere further along the trail; I was grateful for a bit more solitude when I crossed the highway and made it to Steenbock Preserve (and was rewarded with even more great views). Despite not being the longest hike, this one wrecked me the most… my calves didn’t fully recover for four days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

looking out to Lake Wisconsin

 

 

 

 

Oct 28: Sauk Point segment, 2.33 mi 

With the Gibraltar Rock hike, I’d already completed 46 miles. Already?? What do you mean I actually hiked that many miles? (With not a single bonus mile required, though I’d steadfastly accumulated them.) It was a triumphant shock to tally all my explorations thus far and see I’d hit the goal—but it was bittersweet, too. I wasn’t ready for it to be over. So after returning from my late-October getaway, I decided I’d do one last jaunt and head back to where it all began: the Sauk Point segment. One month later, I truly didn’t recognize it at all, and it was a delight to come full circle, yet feel like I was discovering something completely new.

 

late September / late October 

 

 

Total Mileage: 48.42 mi

Bonus Miles: 33 

 

I’ve found myself in a phase recently of saying fuck it, let’s do it! to things I know little to nothing about, and being absolutely, gobsmackingly overjoyed by the experience. (See also: Hadestown.) This challenge was such a delight, from the gleeful excitement it kindled to the hidden gems it pushed me to discover so close to home. Sometimes I struggle to get motivated to do the things I truly enjoy doing (like hiking/getting out in nature, visiting new places, taking pictures), and this experience gave me that push to go out and do them, and I’m glad to have spent those hours roving through Wisconsin’s beautiful natural areas and quirky little towns, letting the yellow blazes guide my way.

The hikes don’t stop here, of course. Considering I only covered a small portion of the trail’s impressive length, there’s a lot left for me to explore. We’ll see how many miles I can cover before next year’s challenge—if my knee ever forgives me for this year’s, that is.