Author Archives: jbanello

Originally printed January 20, 2019. How I came to hike in the Wausau area last weekend is an interesting story in itself. For the most part, I tend to do my segment hiking in order. After a fashion, I guess I’m trying to be a purist. I think there have been, maybe, three exceptions. But,Continue reading “Day 65 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally printed November 8, 2018. Roll with the changes, and you will be rewarded! That was the major theme of last Saturday’s hike in the Waupaca area. After a great fish fry on Friday, I slept like a rock in my room at the B&B. At 6:15 Saturday morning, I quickly rolled out of bed.Continue reading “Day 64 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally printed November 4, 2018. It will be great to be in deep woods on new trail again! That was the general thought as I returned to the Waupaca area Thursday afternoon for two days of hiking on Friday and Saturday. I had done some shakedown hikes in the south Kettle Moraine, and I hikedContinue reading “Day 63 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally printed October 31, 2018. Break out the fog horns! Last Sunday’s hike started with the temperature at 43 degrees and with heavy overcast, a misty rain and thick fog. It was easily the darkest “daylight” sky for any of my hikes. It was so dark that I dug into my pack for a pieceContinue reading “Day 62 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally printed October 28, 2018. I’m baaaaaack!! It has been over six months since I injured my knee on the Deerfield Segment of the Ice Age Trail. Since then, I have had two surgeries – one to repair a hernia and the other to clean up some cartilage damage in my left knee. I haveContinue reading “Day 61 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally printed May 12, 2018. Last Thursday, I took advantage of good spring weather to do some hiking in Waushara County. For those of you unfamiliar with this area, it is a little more than an hour north of Madison. This hike represented a first for me. For my previous 59 hikes, either my wifeContinue reading “Day 60 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally printed May 6, 2018. There are so many things about which to write that I don’t quite know where to begin. I guess I’ll start with the note I received in the morning from Gary E., trail angel par excellence. “Jim, call me before leaving the motel.” And so I did. This is whyContinue reading “Day 59 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally printed May 5, 2018. Squeeze in the hike and avoid the raindrops. That was my challenge on Thursday as I set out to hike a 13.2 mile Connecting Route from Westfield to the start of the Chaffee Creek Segment of the Ice Age Trail. For better than a week I had been following theContinue reading “Day 58 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally printed April 7, 2018. There are several sayings about the folly of making plans. Most people have heard “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.’ A few years ago, I heard the advice that if you want to make God smile, tell him you have a plan. So, I shouldContinue reading “Day 57 on the Ice Age Trail”

Originally written March 25, 2018. What the hell?!? Get your ass moving!!!! That was me Friday morning when I woke and realized it was too light out to be 6:15, when I wanted to get up, and that my alarm had not gone off. Once I checked my clock and realized it was 6:45, IContinue reading “Day 56 of the Ice Age Trail”