Getting ready for the Ice Age Trail

It seems like it’s been forever now that I’ve been getting ready for my Ice Age Trail trip. Now that I’m just days away from actually starting I feel like I’m completely unprepared. But I guess you are never completely ready, the time just comes and you need to start.

It’s impossible to plan the entire trip being it’s 1200 miles. There are so many variables you can’t foresee. In the past, I have usually gone on much shorter, meticulously planned out camping trips. There will be a lot of “winging it” along the way this time. I guess that makes it a true adventure. Many days I won’t know where I’m going to lay my head that night.

It is pretty wild to think this started as just a crazy idea 9 months ago and is now about to become a reality in a few days. It’s exciting and it’s terrifying as well. I’ve backpacked and I’ve camped quite a bit, but never this kind of distance and duration. Normally when you backpack or paddle your car is waiting in a parking lot not too many miles away to whisk you back home in a few days. This time Nazan is dropping me off and leaving me! Picking me up in late May… or sooner if my body starts betraying me. Somehow this feels so much more isolating. Even though I’m going to be around people most of the hike, I’m going to feel very much “on my own”.

The Gear

I feel good about my gear. My pack’s dry weight is going to be right around 17 pounds, with my three pounds of camera gear for a total of 20. Dry weight is all your gear before you add food and water. Which will fluctuate quite a bit from day to day. So I figure on average my pack will weigh about 25 pounds.

I invested in some high-tech lightweight equipment. I figure I need all the advantages I can get with the weight of my camera gear and the fact I’ve never been an athletic person. I’ll spare you the details being there is already a ton of stuff on the internet about camping gear already. Basically, I have lots of super lightweight Dyneema fabric and titanium doohickeys in my pack.

If you are curious about gear and lightweight food here are a few of the most useful sources I came across in lots of research. I learned a lot about lightweight backpacking from watching the YouTube channels of Darwin on the Trail and Homemade Wanderlust. The Backcountry Foodie cookbook was awesome for ultralight meal ideas. Almost all of my meals are her recipes or variation on them.

Finishing a 65 mile trip on the Florida Trail.
63 miles down! The end point of my trip was also the very beginning of the Florida Trail. The first section of the Florida Trail was made here at the South end of Ocala National Forest.

Preperation

I’ve always been more of a paddler than a backpacker so most of my camping experience has been in a canoe or kayak. Maybe it was being in the Army Infantry in my 20’s that kept my enthusiasm for backpacking at bay.

To get ready for backpacking I’ve done several 5-day backpacking trips and lots of weekend trips over the past 9 months carefully analyzing what I brought and what I didn’t need to bring. Each time trimming serval pounds off the pack.

I flew to Florida and backpacked 65 miles of the Florida Trail in March as my last shakedown hike. The photography and the hike went well.

The photography

My goal of the Ice Age Trail trip is to capture more than just the landscapes of Wisconsin, but the communities and people as well. I will be doing lots of stops in the small towns I go through in Wisconsin, so my pace is going to be much slower than the average hiker.

I’m not your typical long-distance hiker because my purpose of the hike isn’t to just cover miles. I’m a photographer first and a hiker second. This won’t be a thru-hike in one year. It will most likely take two years between hiking and doing art fairs in the summer months with my pinhole photography.

The Florida trail passes right behind a great little bar in Ocala National Forest called the 88 Store. It was Karaoke night when I arrived and I enjoyed some good company, good food, and $1.50 beers! I camped right behind the 88 Store that night.

This is going to be an adventure, as well as a miserable experience at times too. There will be rain, bugs, sore muscles and feet, and cold nights. The thing I’m most looking forward to is creating photographs, and the people I will meet. That will make it all worthwhile!

Follow along

And of course, sharing the journey with you will be rewarding too. Be sure to follow along on my Instagram account and Facebook page.

The Florida Trail in Ocala National Forest is a beautiful mix of peaceful habitats.

By Cameron Gillie

Cameron Gillie began his photography career as a staff photographer at several daily newspapers. As a photojournalist he documented all aspects of life, everything from the extraordinary to the ordinary, learning to appreciate both equally. Photojournalism is like having a front row seat observing life as it unfolds. He explored life in Colorado while working for the Greeley Tribune and in Florida while working for the Naples Daily News. Leaving the newspaper business to begin a freelance photography career, he continued to follow his curiosity and explore new creative challenges. Cameron has been an exhibitor in art festivals and galleries around his new home in the Midwest, his art taking on many forms over the years. His love of the outdoors inspires him to photograph wildlife and nature, while his fascination with the simplicity of homemade cameras brought him to pinhole photography. Cameron is an avid film photographer using analog vintage cameras. He develops and prints the images in a darkroom in his basement in Madison, Wisconsin. This diverse background in photojournalism and creative photography prepared him for his biggest project ever — hiking the Ice Age Trail and documenting the landscapes, communities, and people of Wisconsin. Cameron enjoyed blending nature photography as well as capturing storytelling images of the interesting people he met along the way.