Slow hiking the Ice Age Trail

A kettle pond

Slow hiking is what I’d call my first 28 days and 250 miles on the Ice Age Trail.

My pace has been determined by my photography. I don’t regret it at all. In fact, when I go back out after Labor Day to continue the hike, I plan on slowing it down a bit more. My goal is to experience Wisconsin and photograph the trip, not see how many miles I can cover in a day.

I won’t be considered a “thru-hiker”, because I won’t finish the trail this summer. But having a great experience is more important to me than attaining some kind of a title.

The Kettle Moraine

I rarely pass up a bench. They are put in a location for a reason! It’s generally a great place to take a break and soak up the surroundings.

I also make sure to explore the towns along the way as well. When a person drives across the state you rarely go through the small towns and never stop. If you do stop it’s at the Culvers or McDonalds. There are a lot of fascinating things and people in small towns along the way.

If I wasn’t walking across the state jumping into people’s lives to photograph them I would have no idea I was sitting next to a New York Times best selling Author Andra Watkins in the Coffee Corner Bistro in Kewaskum. Her book “Not Without My Father: One Woman’s 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace” a National Book Award nominee and a NY Times best seller.

Walking is about the journey, not how fast you go. If you are in a hurry, take your car.

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.