Deciding to Hike the Ice Age Trail

"You're doing WHAT?!"

We've been hearing that a lot lately, from family members to friends to coworkers. That's usually followed up by questions along the lines of "how can you take those wonderful girls over 1,000 miles on foot through the wilderness?" The simple answer is that it was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision based on a random comment that sounded like fun.

We've hiked with our two daughters at local state parks, particularly the Lapham Peak Unit and Scuppernong trails. My wife once mentioned that there was a state-wide trail that ran through those areas, the Ice Age Trail. Sitting around the table one night several months ago, I mentioned it might be fun to hike the entire trail when the girls got older. My wife said "why wait?" and started planning our trip.

Sure, logistics are still ongoing, but the Ice Age Trail Alliance has some great maps and books, which were enough to get us started and flesh out a basic plan. Our past experiences lent some expertise as well. Living within a couple miles of almost half the trail helps, of course, but many people in Wisconsin and Illinois live within a short drive of some portion of the Ice Age Trail.

And the girls? They're excited. I doubt they quite grasp the concept of the true length of the trail, but every summer we take a few weeks to visit national parks and camp and hike along the way so they're no stranger to the idea of it. We'll definitely have to go over certain concepts with them, such as not carrying a rock collection in lieu of more necessary items, but even that will be a learning experience and fun!

So we're going to start north of Green Bay, at the Ice Age Trail Eastern Terminus in Sturgeon Bay, and work our way south and west. Our four and six year olds will be right there with us, every step of the way. And at the end, they'll be setting a record as the youngest people to ever through-hike the National Scenic Trail.

Won't you join us on this journey? Don't forget to subscribe for e-mail updates when we post new content, Feel free to comment below. Please remember this is a family site when you reply! We'll see you down the trail.

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