Completing the Ice Age Trail is about more than the miles
Serena Stipek (center) completed the Ice Age Trail Oct. 23, after section hiking for 15 months. There to help her celebrate the accomplishment of becoming a 1,000-miler, were her niece, Kylee Stipek (left), and her brother, Cory Stipek (right), with additional sign-making by Kylee’s cousin, Zander Wood (not pictured).
By Julia Wolf
When Serena Stipek first hiked a trail marked with yellow blazes, she never thought she would end up walking the entire Ice Age Trail. After seeing what the Ice Age Trail can offer, Stipek wants to encourage others to see for themselves what the National Scenic Trail is.
“If you say you can’t do it, you’ve got to at least try,” said Stipek.
The Cornell native, who now lives between Cadott and Cornell, says she always enjoyed the outdoors and connecting to nature. Stipek says, prior to the Ice Age Trail, she usually stuck to hiking around state parks or other designated trails.
“It was nothing, really, ever like this,” said Stipek. Stipek was camping in Hartman Creek, near the Waupaca area, in July 2020. One of the trails she hiked while she was there, is part of the Ice Age Trail. She remembered there are segments in the Cornell area and in Chippewa County, so she decided to purchase the guide book and started going from there.
Stipek says the increased use of parks during COVID-19 led her to seek quieter places to recreate, instead of parks she would normally camp at. She started hiking the trail, section by section.
Then, Stipek connected to others on the Ice Age Trail Facebook page, as well as the Thousand Miler WannaBes group.
“I never posted on that one, because I thought, I’m never going to hike the whole trail,” said Stipek.
The next thing she knew, it happened.
Stipek finished her last section Oct. 23, about 15 months after she started. She says she didn’t do any particular order for the various segments and road hikes, and picked whatever area worked with her schedule and the weather, since she hiked sections year-round.
“In the woods, you can get so shielded from the forest, it protects you from the rain and the wind,” said Stipek.
On hot days, Stipek says the rain is almost welcome, as long as the weather isn’t severe.
“If you dress for it, you can be out there every season,” said Stipek, adding it is a mindset, as well.
She says she is happy she finished before winter this year, since a lot of the last segments she had left to complete were on the east side of the state, and she didn’t want to do that much winter driving.
A lot of the hiking Stipek did was out and back, so she followed the same trail back to her vehicle as she hiked out on.
“It wasn’t about the miles,” said Stipek. “It was just about enjoying my day, getting out.”
Sometimes she would find more creative ways to do the segments, to avoid out and back hiking. Stipek sometimes parked on one end of the trail, biked to the other end, then hiked to her car and picked up the bike later. Other times, she teamed with fellow hikers, dropping them off at one end of the segment and hiking toward each other, switching keys when they met so the other hiker could pick her up.
She also jokes that the hiking gave her some good driving practice, since she was working from home, at the time.
Stipek did a journal to keep track of her thoughts on the hikes and posted on her Facebook page. She says she was surprised how many people were interested in what she was doing.
“That just gives you encouragement, too,” said Stipek. She says her online community made it feel like others were enjoying the adventure with her, even though she was often on the trail by herself.
Stipek says it is difficult to pick a favorite area or segment of the trail, but the McKenzie Creek, Plover, Dells of the Eau Claire, Lake Eleven and Jerry Lake segments, stuck out to her.
“There’s just so much beauty in Wisconsin,” said Stipek. She says, if there was a day she didn’t enjoy as much as others, it was likely because of the weather or how she was feeling that day, not the trail itself.
Stipek would like to revisit parts of the Ice Age Trail to see them in other seasons, as well as check out the western bifurcation in the south-central Wisconsin area, since she only hiked the eastern bifurcation of the trail.
Her total counted miles for the hike were 1,121.6 miles, with 1,278 miles counting the out and back hikes. She hiked solo 57 percent of the trail and 43 percent with other hikers.
She says she is thankful the experience helped her find a another community to be part of, with similar interests.
Stipek says she also plans to pay it forward, by volunteering and helping others experience the Ice Age Trail.
She says there are ways to search for segments, based on ratings of how challenging each section of the trail is rated and says it is nice to spend some time outside each day.
For those looking for additional motivation, some chapters also offer patches for those who walk segments in their area. Those who send in documentation saying they have hiked the entire trail, will receive recognition and a certificate.
“If you’re driving, and all of a sudden you see that yellow blaze or you see parking for an Ice Age Trail, you know, just stop and go walking in for a little bit.”
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Serena Stipek hiked most of the Ice Age Trail sections alone, but was joined by other hikers for some portions of the hike. She says it wasn’t about the miles, but about enjoying the day, and encourages everyone to go outside and experience nature.[/caption]
