Jim & Jeff's 1,099.5 mile adventure!

(photo by Craig Sanford)

I met up with my close college buddy, Jim Sickels, and his family on a slightly overcast but beautiful fall Wisconsin day as his oldest daughter, Morgan, competed in the Classic 8 Conference Championship cross-country meet in Hartland, WI (I forgot my camera). Morgan placed 5th (she was lauded to finish first or second but was sick) and is headed to sectionals. She's a talented runner (top-ranked in the nation) and is contemplating several offers to run in college.

After the race, Jim and I retired to the Delafield Brewhaus to discuss one of the many adventures we plan to go on since my moving back to Wisconsin. Jim's an avid outdoorsman and hunter (like my family) and the 11+ years (not counting the 5 1/2 years I was in IA before CA) I've been away haven't afforded us much time to enjoy the outdoors together.

Click on READ MORE! if you're curious to find out what we're up to. If not, enjoy the above picture of a scenic Wisconsin vista north of Rice Lake.

Jim and I are tackling the 1,099.5 miles of Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail. We'll take it in segments (no particular order), a weekend here and there over the next 3 years or so. We've talked about this for a few years - and we're gonna make it happen.

"More than 12,000 years ago, an immense flow of glacial ice sculpted a landscape of remarkable beauty across Wisconsin. As the colossal glacier retreated, it left behind a variety of unique landscape features. These Ice Age remnants are now considered among the world's finest examples of how continental glaciation sculpts our planet. The Ice Age National Scenic Trail is a thousand-mile footpath — entirely within Wisconsin — that highlights these Ice Age landscape features while providing access to some of the state's most beautiful natural areas." (Ice Age Trail Alliance website)

The Ice Age Trail is a designated National Scenic Trail in the United States that will run some 1,200 miles through the state of Wisconsin once completed. As of 2008, the trail is 1,099.5 miles long with 467 miles being traditional hiking paths, 103.2 miles being multi-use trails, and 529.3 miles being connecting roads and sidewalks. The trail wanders through 30 of Wisconsin's 72 counties, following the southernmost location of the last continental glaciation. The first person to backpack the entire length of the Ice Age Trail was 20 year old James J. Staudacher of Shorewood, Wisconsin during the summer of 1979.

We plan to begin hiking in December (we think). Stay tuned for a new blog tracking our progress and adventures. For more information, go to Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail on Wikipedia or check out the Ice Age Trail Alliance website.