Tookish Me

"As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by hands and by cunning and by magic moving through him, a fierce and jealous love, the desire of the hearts of dwarves. Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the water-falls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick..." from "An Unexpected Party", chapter 1 of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien)



It sorta looks like me


I'm a hobbit at heart - I'm short of stature, stocky and hair grows on the top of my toes. While I don't blow smoke rings (or smoke at all), I have been known to take a second breakfast from time to time. Although I've spent the majority of my life in Wisconsin, I have traveled outside the state - to New York City, Orlando, Seattle, Kansas City and other destinations - as well as outside the country on a handful of occasions - Canada, Mexico and to the Philippines three times. I love a good adventure so long as it's not life-threatening. While a replica of Sting, Bilbo's famous short sword, hangs on my living room wall like him I value "food and cheer and song above hoarded gold." And I own a walking stick, except mine is made of composite material whose length I can adjust as needed.

I first became acquainted with the Ice Age Trail back in the early 1990s. In fact, by chance our family happened to be at the Chippewa Moraine Ice Age Interpretive Center east of New Auburn one afternoon shortly after it had opened and a reporter from the Eau Claire Leader took our picture which ran in the paper the following week. Our children were young then and so we only would hike the .75 mile Mammoth Nature Trail but given the topography that was challenging enough for their little legs. As they got older and we added a few to our small tribe, our hikes would get longer, often an out and back on the Ice Age Trail proper between Hwy M and the trail leading up to the center. Through the 90s and into the early 2000s we made repeated visits to the Interpretive Center for hiking, sledding or snowshoeing adventures and, when our oldest began running in high school, for the annual CC race that used to be held there. But it wasn't until I purchased the Ice Age Trail Companion Guide (2004) that something Tookish woke up in me and an idea began to gestate about venturing outside the known boundaries of the Chippewa Moraine Recreational Area and walking the length of the Ice Age Trail (IAT).



It was actually the 2004 guide
that got me thinking

 The guide that I own assumes that someone committed to being a Thru Hiker will begin at the Eastern Terminus in Potawatomi State Park overlooking Sturgeon Bay. But since I live only about 55 miles away from Interstate Park, the location of the Western Terminus, that seemed like a better place to start. I bought the guide sometime in late 2004 or early 2005 and would pull it out from time to time at home to browse through it. Like Bilbo, I love maps and while the '04 (or the '11) guide does not contain any just gazing at the little Wisconsin map insets at the beginning of every chapter stirred my wanderlust.  But it wasn't until early 2006 that on a beautiful, sunny January day that I drove out to Interstate Park outside of St. Croix Falls to begin "the journey" and like the Chinese say, the journey of a 1000 miles begins with a single step.

First pic of the journey

From the beginning I've kept a journal of every trek (52 to date) and here is the beginning of my first entry in January '06:

Thursday, January 12, 2006
Trail's Head - Interstate Park, St. Croix Falls.
12 noon

Hike 1: Interpretive Center to the Western Terminus/Western Terminus to Lion's Park

For several years now I've wanted to hike the Ice Age Trail in its entirety. Whether I have the time and the commitment to do just that remains to be seen. I know,  however, that I have the strength for it. My life as runner and snowshoer testify to that.

It's a warm, Jan. day. Really spring-like. The ranger informed me that the trail is icy & slippery. Well, what else would I expect of the Ice Age Trail? So, I begin w/hopes of writing my journey's thoughts and various mental meanderings.

The view of the St. Croix from the Western Terminus

This is how this hobbit began his Thru Hike. Given the fact that after six years I am only perhaps 200 miles along I'm gonna be at this for quite some time. But the way I figure it, the IAT isn't going anywhere. If anything, improvements and enhancements continue to be made so what may call for a road connector in, say, the Dane County chapter may be part of the official trail by the time I get there.





This blog is dedicated to that journey and to anyone else who loves meandering the IAT and would care to read of my travels. I hope to post lots of pictures and reflections of previous hikes and log my progress as I meander

...over rock and under tree...
over snow by winter sown,
and through the merry flowers of June...
from "Roads Goes Ever On" in "The Last Stage" in The Hobbit

So, with a good dry pocket handkerchief on me and a good walking stick in my hand, I keep plodding along the Ice Age Trail seeing just where it may take me.