Time is a strange thing, and the pandemic made us all realize that. The sense of time changed during the pandemic. Some days went by fast, others seem to last for weeks, and now we’re left saying “That was FOUR years ago?”.
I have lived in Wisconsin almost twenty years, but for most of those years I didn’t know about the Ice Age Trail. One day, I realized I had been on it extensively, mostly trail running.
I only started keeping track years later, as I realized that between my time in the Northern Kettle Moraine Forest, and several visits to Hartman Creek’s State Park and Devils’ Lake State Park, I had accumulated some significant mileage!
I started to more consistently and methodically think about hiking the whole Ice Age Trail, in segments, focusing on weekends, breaks, or afternoons off. Then the pandemic gave me more time generally, and more time to spend on the trail specifically. I was going to get serious about it.
The Ice Age Trail is one of 11 National Scenic Trails. It is over a thousand miles long and entirely in Wisconsin, winding through the state from the Door County Peninsula to the border with Minnesota, north of Minneapolis, following the edge of the last glaciers from 12,000 years ago. It has yellow blazes, and goes through several State Parks and State Forests, but also towns, which helps thru-hikers restock on food and sometimes rest in a real bed.
When I ran or hiked the trail before the pandemic, I felt that it wasn’t worth driving over an hour to do a segment that was only a couple of miles long. I do many alone, meaning out and back to my car, doubling the distance, but still, some felt too short for me to invest time in them. I would drive a couple of hours for several segments I could do in a row, and sometimes made a weekend out of it by camping and doing even more segments in a day.
Although the Ice Age Trail Alliance strives to build more trail, much of the Ice Age Trail involves road miles. Some areas have several sections of road between trail segments, and sometimes you’ll find short segments surrounded by 20 miles of road connectors on each side. I had avoided those, saving them for later, when they’d be longer.
Then, the pandemic hit and kept us home. After months of not being able to do much traveling, of working from home and staying in more than I liked, my mindset started to change. Suddenly, driving to do a short segment definitely seemed worth it.
I could listen to podcasts during the drive (“Backpacker Radio”, anyone?) and I could complete new segments, adding to my overall mileage. But also, and maybe most of all, I could get out of the house, in nature, breath in the fresh air, and feel the sun on my skin.
Before the pandemic, as I started keeping track and seeking out new segments to hike, I had favored longer segments such as the 10-mile Point Beach Segment in Potawatomi State Park, the 7.5-mile Mecan River Segment, or the Southern Kettle Moraine Forest, which contains several segments uninterrupted by road connectors. I used to think I wouldn’t drive two hours to only spend two hours on trail, I always wanted more.
Post pandemic, I was ready to drive for shorter segments, and be content with them.
I opened my Ice Age Trail guidebook, looked at segments in my area that I had skipped over before, and started planning. And I discovered several new short, very nice segments. In the summer of 2020, I hiked the following short segments: Cedar Lakes (2.8 miles), East Twin River (1.4 miles) & Mishicot (2.9 miles), John Muir (1.8 miles), Portage Canal (3 miles), Tisch Mills 2.6 miles) and Walla-Hi (2.3 miles).
One of my motivations for hiking the Ice Age Trail in the first place was to see more of Wisconsin, and so I did!
I have two favorites from this list: The John Muir segment, in Marquette County, which is a pleasant path around a lake and provides quite a bit of history about the man; and the Walla-Hi Segment, in Manitowoc County, which has beautiful sections in the woods and along a river.
I loved its rolling hills as well as its newly made stone staircase, which made me appreciate the work of the volunteers all that much more. (The Ice Age Trail is entirely maintained by volunteers, thanks volunteers!)
These short segments were a delight to explore, and even as I did think to myself “I wish this were longer, it’s so pretty!” I also had to admit I was grateful for them, for the opportunity to be outside, for not being sick and being able to hike, for nature that was still around, still beautiful, still reliable.
At this point, I have hiked just over 300 miles, which is almost half of the “trail” sections of the Ice Age Trail. I’m still not in love with the road connectors and will favor real trail and nature for now. But one of the newest sections of blazed trail, as I write this, is the Gibbs Lake Segment. Old me would have saved it for… later, maybe, one day. New me, post-pandemic me, is planning a road trip to hike all 1.3 miles of it!
For more information on the Ice Age Trail, check out their website: https://www.iceagetrail.org
Born in France of Italian parents, Lea Cicchiello now lives in Wisconsin with her husband, where she shares her love of languages and cultures, professionally and personally. Her favorite activities include reading, hiking the Ice Age Trail, trail running, and kayaking, in her neighborhood and around the world. Follow her adventures on her Youtube channel or on Instagram @trailsandtravelswithlea.
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Other guest posts on Hello Stranger…
Lea is our first repeat Guest Writer on Hello Stranger! Check out her previous piece, Distance Hiking in the Italian Dolomites and Choosing NOT to Summit: a story about walking, just walking.
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Read about life in a California beach town with Emma Beans in Regret Can’t Exist Here.