Hikers scale Ice Age Trail at annual fall walk
|
|
|
 |
Parade of Colors Volunteer Joann Parks follows the trail behind the Chippewa Moraine National Ice Age Reserve Saturday morning.
|
Hikers arrived by the busload to take part in Saturday's Parade of Colors through the Chippewa County segment of the 1,000-mile Ice Age Trail. |
The event was hosted at the Chippewa Moraine National Ice Age Reserve near New Auburn. Volunteers signed in and shuttled a record 151 participants to various points on the Wisconsin trail, then served an outdoor lunch to returning hikers.
Parade of Color organizer Richard Smith, of New Auburn, is the chairman of the Chippewa Moraine Chapter of the Ice Age Trail Foundation and secretary of its board of directors. This is the eighth year he's overseen the hike, and it was one of the best, he says.
"The weather was good. Food was good. People were happy. Everybody had a good time."
"The variety of hikes, food, refreshments, organization and weather were outstanding," remarks Mike Wollmer, executive director of the foundation.
Volunteer Joann Parks, of Cadott, agrees.
"It was a fantastic day," she adds.
The event also brought in more than $400 in donations, which helped cover the cost of food.
More than 30 of the hikers were foundation members bused in from an overnight stay at Beaver Creek Reserve in Fall Creek to commemorate the foundation's semicentennial anniversary.
"Fifty years is a good time to look forward and a good time to look back," Smith says.
Smith feels members are primarily focused on ensuring the organization's legacy.
Like resort owners and other purveyors of outdoor activity, the foundation seeks to draw younger generations into the fold. Centers and county chapters are increasingly manned by volunteer retirees, and the continuity of the foundation and maintenance of the trail rely on their ability to pique the interest of young families and pitch outdoor recreation to a more diverse society.
The Parade of Colors, with its shuttles, multitudinous hikers and color-coded trail, makes first-time hikers feel comfortable, Smith says.
"We try to make the trail accessible and friendly and get people to take a stab at it."
For information on the trail, contact Smith at 967-2164 or visit the foundation's Web site, www.iceagetrail.org.
|
| ©The Chetek Alert 2008 |
