Ice Age Trail

http://www.iceagetrail.org/

Today two of the LAs and myself went to UW-Baraboo (didn't even know Baraboo HAD a UW...) and built a portion of the Ice Age Trail. It's a 1000 mile project in Wisconsin and holy crap was it fun.

We arrived on the campus at 8:30pm yesterday and camped out in a field they'd allowed us to use. There was a campfire, a free keg of beer, and more awesome people than any one campsite has a right to have. I had a great time talking to all the people who'd helped with the trail before and were avid hikers. Where they'd been, what their story was, etc. There were old people, some women in their 70's came and hauled 12-foot sections of tree I'd cut out to the pile, and there were young people. A bunch of them live here in Madison, and a lot are UW students.

After surviving the freezing night temperatures in my roommate's awesome sleeping bag, we woke up and were given free hot breakfast (all meals are provided for volunteers...sweet!). Delicious. We set out at 8am.

First thing we did was walk the portion of the trail that had been completed since Wednesday. Then we walked through the woods, following little yellow flags, which would be where we would build trail that day.

It was unbelievable to see the transition within a few hours to go from wilderness to manicured trail, and it wasn't even that hard. And chopping down stands of sumac is TONS of fun. So is using a pole saw.

One of the most fun times I've had in a while. I can't wait to go back. Me and those I went with plan to bring a bunch of the other LAs with us when we go again in spring. I plan to invite others from the neighborhood that I know would get a kick out of it as well.