I’ve been reflecting a lot on what I learned backpacking the Ice Age Trail. Hiking an entire National Scenic Trail is bound to change you in some ways. You have a whole lot of time to think about things as you walk alone with only your thoughts for 1200 miles.
I’m a photojournalist, and I set out to tell the story of Wisconsin’s landscapes, communities, and people for a photography book. Here’s what I learned on a personal level. Of course, I learned a lot about backpacking logistics and gear; I have another post about gear. This post is more about how this trip changed me personally.
The landscapes
The terrain left behind by the glaciers is, in my opinion, Wisconsin’s premier natural feature. Arizona has the Grand Canyon, Florida has the Everglades, and Wisconsin has the Ice Age Trail. Every day I hiked the trail, I developed a much deeper appreciation of the wonders of the natural areas of Wisconsin.
When we first moved to Wisconsin in 2008, I looked into the Ice Age Trail. I had never heard of it, and at first glance, I thought, “How interesting can a hiking trail across the agricultural state of Wisconsin be?” I never gave the Ice Age Trail much thought until years later when I took a freelance photography job for the Ice Age Trail Alliance. As I traveled around the state photographing trail building events, I also hiked segments of the trail all around the state. Almost every time I finished a segment, I kept saying to myself, “Wow, that was way cooler than I thought it would be.” Last week, as I was finishing the trail, I hiked the beautiful Mckenzie Creek Segment. I said it again, “Wow, that was way cooler than I thought it would be.” In fact, it may be one of my favorite segments. The trail never stopped amazing me right through to the end.
Driving across Wisconsin, the roads generally take the path through the easiest terrain to build a road. Walking A National Scenic Trail, you take the more inspiring route and the path less followed. The Ice Age Trail is a surprisingly rugged trail that follows the glacial moraine left behind 12,000 years ago and therefore is a far more picturesque way to cross the state than driving.
The Communities
The small towns of rural Wisconsin are full of friendly warm people. Even the smallest towns will surprise you with interesting characters and their stories. A stop in a tiny grocery store for a soda might wind up in an hour-long conversation. I’m originally from a small town in Northern Minnesota. I’ve always joked that it takes forever to get across a city because of traffic, and it takes forever to get across a small town because you have to stop and talk to everyone you pass by. It took me 113 days over two years to complete the trail, in part because I kept stopping and having so many of these hour-long conversations.
Across Wisconsin, there were, of course, many cafes and bars, just as I expected. But there was also the unexpected, like a Monastery in St Nazianz where I was their guest for the night. There was a small sunrise wedding I happened across in Devil’s Lake State Park. I met a girl and her mother walking her sheep down the road getting then ready for the Portage County fair, or there was a New York Times best-selling author passing through town sitting at the next table to me in a coffee shop in Kewaskum. You’ll never know who you will meet crossing the state on foot.
Open doors and talk to strangers! Stop in a cafe to order lunch and talk to the owner. You’ll meet hard-working people who love their communities and their neighbors. Your backpack is always the conversation starter. Ask them a few questions, and you might wind up hearing all about their lives and the rich history of their town.
The People
I saw hiking the Ice Age Trail as a reintroduction to my rural roots. I grew up in a tiny town in Minnesota. Since then, I have lived in what that small-town boy would have called “big cities,” where I worked as a photojournalist. So I’ve lived on both sides of the political and cultural lines assigned to rural and urban communities by politicians and cable news channels.
I vowed before I even started the hike not to talk politics with anyone I met along the way. I just saw people as human beings and didn’t label them liberal or conservative. If a cafe owner is cooking me a hamburger after spending days in the woods, why should I care at all who he voted for? I’m just grateful for his food and hospitality. You’ll never meet anyone you agree with on absolutely everything, not on the Ice Age Trail or anywhere else.
I met a lot of great people along the way on the Ice Age Trail. I think that was the best part of the hike. I want to thank everyone I met along the way for your conversation and hospitality. After days in the woods, it was always nicer than you can imagine coming in from the cold, the rain, or heat, bugs, or whatever mother nature was throwing at me that day. Just sitting down on a chair to rest weary legs and to have someone to talk to was always sublime after a 14-mile day.
I’m usually an introvert, but the best piece of advice I can give anyone hiking the Ice Age Trail is to talk to strangers and enjoy their company! The people you meet along the way are the best part of any journey you take.
One thing that continues to totally blow my mind every time I look at a map of Wisconsin, and the Ice Age Trail is, “I actually walked that entire distance!” This may seem really weird, but it makes the state seem so much smaller to me than it used to. Maybe Wisconsin really is much smaller, and we are all far more connected than we think.
What is next?
Now that I have reached the Western Terminus of the Ice Age Trail, what’s next? It’s an end to an amazing 1200 mile trek through rural Wisconsin. But it’s just the beginning of the journey.
What I discovered while hiking the trail is I have just scratched the surface of countless stories to be told in small towns around Wisconsin. Not just on the Ice Age Trail but all over Wisconsin. There are a lot of beautiful towns, natural areas, lakes, and rivers yet to explore. I’m going to continue traveling and photographing the landscapes, communities, and people of Wisconsin and telling stories.
Stay tuned for more exploring. I will continue to travel to new parts of Wisconsin. Some trips will be revisiting parts of the Ice Age Trail. There was way too little time while averaging 10 miles a day to photograph everything I would have liked to. There is also a lot more to the state left to explore than just the Ice Age Trail.
Some trips will be much shorter and leisurely, and some may be epic journeys again. Some may be hiking, biking, and some may be paddling a canoe, and sometimes I might just drive a car!
Thank you to all of who has followed along on my first journey Around Wisco. I’ve developed a real love for rural Wisconsin. I hope to bring you many more stories from Wisconsin!!!
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Thank you for this meaningful reflection and for your photos! We are blessed to live in this beautiful state, and it does seem that by slowing down and really meeting people, and listening more than talking (not always easy for me), we can learn much and gain much from others who live here too.