June 2017 Dispatch

Ice Age Trail Alliance
Chippewa Moraine Chapter

Ice Age Trail Dispatch                                  

June 2017


Celebrate! National Trails Day Hike This Saturday, June 3, at 9 AM (no Sunday hike this month)

Our monthly hike in June will be on Saturday morning instead of Sunday afternoon, and will celebrate National Trails Day. We plan to hike 3.3 miles from Hwy E west toward Deer Fly Trail, though a shorter option is available.


National Trails Day Hike

   Date: Saturday, June 3

   Time: 9 AM - 12

   Meeting Place: Ice Age Trailhead on County Highway E (south of Camp Nawakwa). 25111 County Highway E, New Auburn WI

   More detail, location map, calendar widget: http://www.iceagetrail.org/event/chippewa-moraine-trails-day-hike/

   Registration: Optional. Please use this link to reply online.

   What to bring: Water, snack; mosquito repellant; long sleeves and pants, & socks are best for ticks and mosquitos.


We’ll Scour The Woods for the Elusive Solstice: Bring the whole family!

Don’t miss the Solstice Family Hike on Tuesday evening, June 20! It’s actually two hikes: A Discovery Hike, for families with younger children, and an Adventure Hike for everyone else. Young Discoverers will be outfitted with the gear they need to make an amazing discovery, thanks to help from our Mayo Clinic partners. Adventurers just might find the Elusive Solstice on this rare evening (he only shows his face two times per year). It promises to be an exciting evening on the Ice Age Trail at the Obey Interpretive Center near New Auburn. Snacks will be available for all the discoverers and adventurers, and we’ll wrap up by 9 PM to get everyone home at a reasonable time.


Solstice Family Hike

   Date: Tuesday, June 20

   Time: 7 PM - 9 PM

   Meeting Place: Chippewa Moraine Ice Age Unit, Obey Interpretive Center, 13394 Co Hwy M, New Auburn WI.

   Location maphttp://d.pr/gFxSq

   Registration: Encouraged: REGISTER.

   What to bring: Mosquito & tick defense; long sleeves and pants, & socks are best for ticks and mosquitos; kids; friends


June Trail Improvement Day, Saturday, June 17

There’s room for more a this Saturday’s Trail Improvement Day. We return to the Three Sisters boardwalk for some decking replacement and other nearby projects. See details, and note that the meeting place and timeframe have changed slightly.


June Trail Improvement Day

   Date: Saturday, June 17

   Time: 9 AM - 12 or 12:30

   Meeting Place: To be announced

   More detail, location map, calendar widget

   Registration: Highly desirable. Please use this link to reply online.

   What to bring: Water, snack; mosquito repellant; wear long sleeves and pants, socks; work gloves; rubber boots if you have them.


The ticks have been plentiful, and the first few hungry mosquitos were present on Wednesday. We’ll just work till noonish and then have some refreshments.


Be sure to register. Please email the leader, Jerry Sazama. That way, if there are changes due to weather, etc., we can notify you timely. More here.


Coming up in July: Annual Chapter Meeting and Potluck at Obey Center

Our annual mid-Summer break for an evening at the Obey Center featuring a potluck picnic and a brief chapter meeting occurs on Monday, July 17. Mark your calendar for this annual favorite.


Annual Chapter Potluck and Meeting at Obey Center

   Date: Monday, July 17

   Time: 6 PM - 8 PM

   Meeting Place: Obey Interpretive Center at the Chippewa Moraine

   Location maphttp://d.pr/gFxSq

   RSVP: Requested. Please use this link to reply online.

   What to bring: Ideas!


Blue Hills Storm Clearance MSC Event

Our thanks to the 16 Chippewa Moraine Chapter volunteers who worked one or more days at the Blue Hills Storm Clearance Event. It was an outstanding response, and resulted in making the trail considerably more usable. Teams tackled painting signage, removing tangled trees from the trail, rebuilding sections of trail, and mowing and lopping. All under the leadership of Jerry Sazama. 


Chippewa Moraine Master Plan

We are still awaiting a final draft master plan for the Chippewa Moraine State Ice Age Unit. The open house to solicit comments on the plan was tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, June 13, but if the plan is further delayed, the meeting may well be delayed as well. Some of the topics we are hearing have been considered in the plan include whether to maintain a school program or not, whether to keep the Obey Center open in fall and winter, and whether to conduct commercial logging in the state park. Plans for the old Girl Scout property will also be addressed. The draft master plan was expected by the end of May, but at this writing has not yet appeared on the DNR website planning page. When the plan is released, you will be able to find the draft documents and the meeting date and time there.


Where to Find IATA and Chapter Event Information

The go-to place to find current information about all our chapter events and IATA events everywhere is the calendar at the IATA website, www.iceagetrail.org. The Calendar link is in the menu, or bookmark www.iceagetrail.org/events/. To find our chapter-specific events, either choose Chippewa Moraine from the dropdown menu under Event Category and click the “Find Events” button, or just bookmark this button  ⬇︎


Chippewa Moraine Chapter Events



See you on the trail,

Richard Smith

Chippewa Moraine Chapter Chair