Ice Age Trail Alliance
Chippewa Moraine Chapter
Ice Age Trail Dispatch
March 2018
Chapter Meeting, Monday, March 19
Chapter members and friends will gather for the first time since fall at our March chapter meeting on Monday, March 19 at the Chippewa Falls Library at 6:30 PM. It’s been awhile, so there’s lots of trail news to catch up on, and a season of events to sort out. They are coming up fast! Join the conversation and help make it all happen.
Help IATA Win $5000!
Our members and friends demonstrated that they were as facile online as on foot in 2016 as they voted online and helped the Ice Age Trail win the grand cash prize in the Michelob Ultra challenge. A slimmed-down version of that contest has arrived and everyone can once again vote for IAT as their favorite trail. It’s the Gear Junkie’s “Fastest Known Time” contest. One of nine “Iconic Trails” will win $5000, and all will win something. You can win something, too (a guided hike, a pair of trail shoes). Like the last contest, you can vote early and often - daily if you wish, and even get bonus votes each time you upload a photo taken on the trail. We’re up against stiff competition, but thanks to your persistence, we did it last time. Vote often between now and May 31.
- Full information: https://gearjunkie.com/merrell-find-your-fkt-favorite-hiking-trail-contest
- Your link to vote: https://gearjunkie.com/c/find-your-fkt
Look for the link on the first page to share the contest with your facebook and twitter friends.
It Was A Fun Family Snowshoe Hike at the Chippewa Moraine
A nice turnout enjoyed great weather and snow conditions for our first Family Snowshoe Hike on Feb. 24. Participants and volunteers numbered 48 for this first-time event. Thanks to the staff at Chippewa Moraine and our co-sponsor Mayo Clinic Health System, as well as a group of dedicated volunteers for making the event happen. Special thanks to Carol and Ted Hakala and Rod Gont for laying out and marking the route in advance, and Christine Tharp at Mayo. It was great fun seeing all the kids navigating in the snowshoes, and the scenery was extraordinary. View photos here.
IATA Annual Conference, April 12-15
Plan to attend the IATA Annual Conference at Blue Harbor Resort in Sheboygan, April 12-15. There’s still time to register. Full details are at iceagetrail.org.
One highlight of the event is a “Backpacking Track”, a series of workshops all day Saturday to take you from “I think I’d like to…” to “I can do this!”
Trail Cleanup Day, Saturday, April 21
Mark your calendars and plan to join the fun for our annual trail cleanup day on Saturday, April 21. This year we are going to be joined by lots of volunteers from Latitude 44 Yoga Studio in Eau Claire, and a group of Scouts from Eau Claire as well. They’ll need lots of tender loving guidance by our experienced trail maintainers, so we hope you can be among them. We’re planning a special day, with some surprises, and a never-before accomplished trail-wide sweep.
Why the focus? With luck the snow will be but a memory, and coming up the following week is an IATA-organized backpacking group trip, and the annual Chippewa 50 Ultramarathon.
Tony Schuster is our master of the broom, and we will look forward to your confirmation.
Chapter Event Calendar Postcard
Chapter members have received their annual chapter annual event postcard, suitable for sticking to the refrigerator door. If you aren’t a member and would like your own copy, you can find one at the Obey Center or on the chapter website (http://iatchippewa.org, under Members & Volunteers).
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
Newsletters and information are also available at the chapter web site: http://www.iatchippewa.org. You can also go here to View Online.