Originally printed July 10, 2017.
Saturday was a special day. After shuttling me on many hikes, Jane joined me for a hike on the Ice Age Trail
While Jane and I have gone for walks in our neighborhood, she never expressed any interest in hiking on the trail. However, we did quite a bit of walking in Europe, and the treks in Iceland, while not extremely long, were pretty challenging. Jane held up pretty well on all of these jaunts, with the possible exception of an unplanned walk in Paris in pretty high temps. Right around that time, Jane read a review of various brands of walking sticks, and she ordered a pair. Using them really enhanced her enjoyment of walking, and she began mentioning that she’d like to give the IAT a try, as long as the segment wasn’t too long.
The next segment, Arbor Ridge, fit the bill nicely. It was 2.1 miles long, a good distance for a first attempt. At the same time, it was rated a “3” on the IATA’s 5 point hilliness scale, so there was some challenge. The trail runs on an easement through private property before entering the Robert Cook Memorial Arboretum, a 166 acre park owned by the city of Janseville and run by the Janesville School District. It is heavily wooded, so one can get the feeling of being in wilderness, even though they are in the city’s limits. The Ice Age Trail Guide describes the segment as “handy to Janesville but feels miles away.”
Our plan was to hike the segment together. Then, Jane would go back to motel and shower while I hiked a 4.5 connecting route that linked with where I had started hiking the previous weekend. Jane would then pick me up at the end of our hike and take me back to the motel to shower. Darned civilized.
We arrived in Janesville the day before our hike and located where we would meet our trail angel at the Arboretum Parking lot. Then we got some dinner at the Milwaukee Grill, a nice local place on Janesville’s north side. Apparently, there were big doings in town that weekend that made it impossible to get a room in town, so we stayed in Whitewater.
Saturday’s weather was perfect for Jane – low 60s and cloudy, with no chance of rain. We met Dennis, our trail angel, who quickly took us to our starting point. At 7:40, we got started.
After walking a short distance along a street, the trail jogged to the right and plunged us immediately into a deep hardwood forest. The IAT description of the trail was quite accurate. What a gift it is to have access to such a wooded area right in the city limits! Our path was fairly level at first. Then we began a descent as the trail traced a path parallel to Marsh Creek. With all the rain we’ve had lately, the creek was running very swiftly. We stopped briefly to take some pictures at a pretty clearing where a picnic table and a park bench had been placed at a bend in the creek. Then we continued on the trail into the Arboretum itself.
Almost immediately, we began a steep ascent. Here was where this trail earned its rating for hilliness. The sun began to burn through the morning overcast, and it began to get warmer. For most of the hike, I let Jane take the lead and set the pace. She did just fine on the hills, although she quickly learned that breaks for water tend to be brief in deep woods like this, because the skeeters really had us zeroed in. Mosquitoes aside, the woods were a very beautiful canopy of hardwoods of many types. Signage along the way provided information about the trees and other vegetation in the area.
Eventually, our trail reached the top of its climb, and the footpath we had been walking widened and became an asphalt walkway, much like you would find in any city park. We passed a frontier-era cabin that had been relocated to this spot by the Janesville Public Schools. Shortly afterwards we came to the segment’s end. Jane jumped into the car and headed to Whitewater for a shower, and I started my hike along the connecting route on County Highway A. By now the sun was high in the sky, and the heat was radiating off the pavement. I made terrific time – too terrific – and arrived at the end of my hike 45 minutes earlier than expected. Fortunately, I found some shade, and I settled down to relax with some water and some mixed nuts. Jane pulled up in about 30 minutes.
If you are new to hiking, and you want to try it on for size, I recommend the Arbor Ridge Segment.
My Days on the Ice Age Trail 