Day 20, it doesn't get much better

Ice Age Trail 1000

Thursday, May 3. 2007

Day 20, it doesn't get much better

What a great day! 943 miles done, 136 miles to go. ADDENDUM: Photos added.

Timo writes: With another 49 miles behind him, today Jason had yet another good day on the Ice Age Trail.

The temp was 45 degrees when Jason started out from a point west of Slinger, WI. Robert saw him off at 6:29 a.m. Some roads to cover today, but mostly some of the best trails. The skies were sunny all day, and there was a pleasant cool wind from the east (the direction of nearby Lake Michigan). The high temperature was 61.

Part of the trail runs through Silverbrook Girl Scout Camp; the Milwaukee Area Girls Scouts sent out a delegation to cheer for Jason. The IAT foundation recently had a permanent easement deal put together with the camp to guarantee the trail will always go through this area.

Wayne Bohlman was the first escort to join in. He was Robert’s X-CC coach in High School at Menomonee Falls East. Then Laura and Gene Taylor joined up with Jason at about 10 o’clock.

At Sunburst Ski Hill, the trail traverses the steepest part and then descends the bunny hill. Now Jason was headed north on the well-established trail segments in the northern Kettle Moraine. Yours truly, Timo, hiked the old Glacial Trail when he was a Boy Scout in the early 1960’s. This is now where the popular Glacial Trail 50-mile Run is held every October; Robert is the race director for that popular race.

3:08 pm on the trail

Nathalie McCoy and Tim Luft met Jason’s growing convoy of runners at about 11:30. At Mauthe Lake, Mike McCoy arrived at about 1:30, bearing milk shakes. Kevin Schmidt also came out at about the same time. Today was Kevin’s longest run ever at 18.1 miles, he said Jason had inspired him to run the entire northern kettle. It was impressive to have so many runners out and have others achieve personal bests. A little after 3 O’clock, Jason cruised by Butler Lake. Shortly after that, Richard and Suran Johnson and Peter Wadsack joined the group.

At 5:37 p.m., Jason trimmed his flaps and came to a soft landing at Hwy A near Greenbush, WI. Jason will spend the night at the AmericInn in Plymouth, WI. First, dinner at O’Malley’s restaurant with Robert, Gene and Laura, Peter, and yours truly.

Jason adds: The body felt wonderful all day. The pinky toe tweaked a few times due to new skin, but the ankles and hamstring were never an issue. The calves have some tightness, but nothing like past injury pain. With so many people out, the day flew by. And tomorrow is going to be great - we should almost get to Two Rivers and the new trail segment along the lake at Point Beach State Forest.

Just just need to get through 2 and a half more days. With 136 miles to go it is almost the exact distance of Badwater which I did in 38 hours. I hope to finish the IAT in about 30 hours.

Posted by Jason Dorgan in On the Trail
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Last modified on 2007-05-04 21:40

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#1 - Nick 2007-05-04 11:20 - (Reply)

From Slinger to the Red Oaks section of the trail at County A near Greenbush in one day, excellent stuff. That is one beautiful part of the IATrail. Very hilly too. I'd like to see Greenbush become a IAT trail Mecca or starting point for the people who are unaware of its charms. Half the population of Wisconsin lives within an hour or so of it.

I think more people would hike the Ice Age Trail if they knew which sections would appeal to what they like, i.e. flat or hilly, water or no water, meadow, hardwood forest or pine plantations. There are very few really good descriptions of the various trail sections.

Also, people like loop trails with benches. The IAT is not a loop trail and has very few benches. And yet, in many places one can hike out a segment of the IAT and come back on a local hiking or horse/snowmobile trail. A map showing how this could be done would be a cool thing to get people out on the trail.

In the end, any IAT publicity is good and what Jason is doing to increase public awareness of the trail is simply amazing and fantastic. It's a heroic endeavor for the ages!

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