Author Archives: jbanello

Originally printed June 21, 2020. Thursday, June 18th, was my last day hiking in Taylor County that week. On the menu was the 5.4 mile western chunk of the Wood Lake Segment. I was expecting a relatively short, intense hike through hilly country. My guidebook mentioned that “Hikers can expect to cross unbridged creeks andContinue reading “Day 95 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally printed June 20, 2020. On Wednesday, June 17th, I set off for a hike on the “middle” leg of the 13.4 mile Wood Lake segment. My hike would be 7 miles – the longest if the three hikes I would be doing. In addition, there would be a bike shuttle from where my carContinue reading “Day 94 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally printed June 19, 2020. After some planning and consultation with the chairperson for the High Point chapter of the Ice Age Trail Alliance, I designed a way to cut 17 miles of trail into three pieces, each accessible by bicycle self shuttling. With Jane’s blessing, I made the trip to Medford last Monday forContinue reading “Day 93 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally printed June 10, 2020. Friday, June 5th was my last day of hiking in Lincoln County for the time being. On tap was the 6.9 mile Newwood Segment. Rain was in the forecast, but the showers ended earlier in the morning, and it began to clear as I once again made my way toContinue reading “Day 92 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally printed June 9, 2020. Thursday, June 4th dawned sunny and humid. I had an inkling I would be working up a lather on today’s hike on the 4.9 mile Averill-Kelly Segment of the Ice Age Trail. Today would be my first attempt at self-shuttling from my car to the trail head on my trustyContinue reading “Day 91 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally printed June 8, 2020. June 3rd was a day of firsts for me. It was my first hike to begin late in the day. Usually my hikes start sometime in the morning. It was my first time to down a shot of whiskey before a hike. I’ll explain that later. And, happily, it wasContinue reading “Day 90 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally printed on March 17, 2020. I admit it. Last Saturday I took my 7.6 mile hike for granted. Yes, I was happy to be outdoors. The weather was great for road hiking – in the 20s, overcast and dry with much calmer winds than the day before. I was up a little earlier onContinue reading “Day 89 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally printed March 16, 2020. One of the advantages of hiking during the winter is that it is an ideal time to knock off Connecting Route miles – road miles – when it is not so beastly hot. With that in mind, I set out last Friday to hike a 7 mile portion of aContinue reading “Day 88 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally printed March 16, 2020. Fog hanging low on the horizon. Temps in the mid 30s. A steady, penetrating drizzle. Let’s go hiking. When the schedule affords the opportunity to get to northern Wisconsin for three days’ hiking, I’ve learned to embrace the opportunity and put up with a little rain. So, I was happyContinue reading “Day 87 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally printed February 27, 2020. After a long distance hike on Friday, February 21st, I was looking forward to Saturday’s 1.9 mile short hop on Tower Road in western Lincoln County. The distance involved was so short that I elected to do my first out-and-back hike, as opposed to having a trail angel shuttle meContinue reading “Day 86 on the Ice Age Trail”