19 Feb 2010

 

Get Ready for our Annual Conference!

 

The Ice Age Trail Alliance's Annual Membership Conference runs from Wednesday, April 21st through Sunday, April 25th. It will take place at Rotary Botanical Gardens in Janesville, Wisconsin. See this flyer for more information and a preregistration form.

 

Clap those clods out of your hiking boots and get ready to climb the Devil’s Staircase. This famous segment of the Ice Age Trail and the IATA's Rock County Chapter play host to this year’s Annual Conference. We’ll have a hike a day on local segments of the Ice Age Trail. Get acquainted with fellow Ice Age Trail enthusiasts throughout the Conference. Attend the Annual Membership Meeting to hear about our strategic planning for 2010 and give your input. Round out the days with seminars and presentations on the late Congressman Henry S. Reuss, social networking media, wildlife management and mountain climbing.

 

Camping is available at Camp Rotamer, just eight miles down the road from conference headquarters. Of course, you don’t have to rough it. We’ve reserved rooms at Baymont Inn & Suites and dormitory-style lodging, also at Camp Rotamer.

 

Come for all or part of the Conference. Much of the event is tailored to IATA members, but several presentations and all group hikes are open to non-members, too!

21 Jan 2010

Maybe you don't need an excuse to hike your favorite segment or explore a new segment of the Ice Age Trail, but here's one anyway. The IATA is going to be updating the Ice Age Trail Companion Guide for a 2011 edition, and we could use your help as a field editor!

 

What you do as a Field Editor: Travel to an area of Ice Age Trail and check that Trail and trailhead descriptions listed in the current Companion Guide are still accurate. Update town information and verify Trail access descriptions for car and foot travelers. (Take a look at this excerpt if you’re not familiar with the format.)

 

You’ll be given an editing packet with guidelines, text copies of the Trail section to work from and maps. Expectations are that you’ll hike your segment and submit your revisions and updates by September 1st, 2010.

 

The Companion Guide is a valuable tool for day-, section- and thru-hikers of the Ice Age Trail. It contains Trail descriptions, GPS waypoints and information on Trail access, area communities and IATA volunteer chapters. 

 

This is a great opportunity to explore an area of the Ice Age Trail and get to know the community around it. Segments of all lengths are available...helping out by covering a one-mile segment is just as valuable as a ten-mile segment.

 

If interested or for more information contact volunteer Sharon Dziengel (sharondziengel(at)yahoo.com, 262-271-0703) by April 1st, 2010. We hope to see you in the "field"!

18 Jan 2010

Calling all Ice Age Trail supporters! In case you haven’t yet heard, we’ve set a goal to increase our membership to five thousand by the end of this year. We already have nearly three thousand wonderful individual members, and we know we can make the Ice Age Trail even better by recruiting more.

 

So we’re asking you to inspire others to become members of the Ice Age Trail Alliance. Try inviting a friend out hiking, snowshoeing or skiing on the Trail. Give a gift membership. Include a call to action in your email signature, such as:

 

Please consider joining me in support of the Ice Age Trail Alliance. Visit www.iceagetrail.org to join today!

 

You could even host a group of friends for a hike, a dinner, or a volunteer day, with the goal of introducing them to the Ice Age Trail. The possibilities are endless. Consider renewing or increasing your support this year, or become a member if you’re not already.

 

Finally, we want to thank all of our members who have already recruited a new member (or several!). We couldn’t reach the goals we’ve set without you.

01 Dec 2009

We're proud to say that the Ice Age National Scenic Trail is named as a "Life List" hike in the Readers' Choice Awards section of the January 2010 issue of Backpacker Magazine. 

If you haven't added the Ice Age Trail to your life list yet, visit our FAQs page or our Photo Gallery for some inspiration, or head to our Hiking Info page to find out where you can hit the Trail!

31 Aug 2009

 

Nothing captures the imagination quite like the thought of hiking the entirety of a long-distance path like the Ice Age Trail. One could argue that the idea of the Ice Age Trail as a single, unified path thrives because of those who seek the challenge of covering every mile of it.

 

To read all about the latest group of individuals to accept the challenge and meet the goal, visit http://www.iceagetrail.org/hikingprograms.htm and take a look at our 2009 Thousand-Miler Tribute document. It features information on our Thousand-Miler program plus the stories of 10 people who recently completed hiking the entire Ice Age Trail.

13 Apr 2009

Along Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail, a beautiful coffee-table book featuring more than 100 stunning Ice Age Trail photos and a suite of interesting essays on various Trail topics, is now available to Ice Age Trail Alliance members at 20% off the normal price.

The book is published by UW Press and available through their product page for the book. Simply enter a promo code of ICEAGE to receive your discount.

09 Jan 2009

Over the past year, Wisconsin Public Television's "In Wisconsin" program has aired several informative and entertaining features on the Ice Age Trail. You can take a look at these videos via the "In Wisconsin" web page: http://wpt2.org/npa/IATIW.cfm.

If you're thinking about volunteering, there's also a very nice video about one of our recent volunteer projects on MSN. Click here to check it out. (Note...there's a bit of an introduction prior to the Ice Age Trail content, but it comes eventually.)