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- Location Change! Time Change! - Chapter Meeting: Monday, March 20th 6 p.m.
- Gaylord Nelson Earth Green Award Recipient: Jerry Sazama
- Girl Scout Snowshoe Event at Camp Nawakwa FEB. 25
- Spotlight Trail Projects Planned for 2023
- Time to RENEW Your Volunteer Agreement for 2023
- Mobile Skills Crew 2023 Events - Next: Rib Lake
- Partnering with Blue Hills Chapter
- Chapter Calendar 2023
- 2022 Chapter Highlights
- Thousand Miler Happy Hour Series - via ZOOM!
Location Change! Time Change! - Chapter Meeting: Monday, March 20th 6 p.m.
The chapter meeting location has changed!! Instead of the library, it will be at the home of Tom and Sue Kolb at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 20.
Kolbs live at 16138 120th Ave, which is north of Chippewa Falls off of Hwy 178 (first road to the right after O’Neil Creek).
Come and join us to find out what is coming up for our chapter this year. Please contact Vicki Christianson at chippewamorainechapter@iceagetrail.org if you plan to attend. (Head count is important to arrange for seating.) Hope to see you there.
Gaylord Nelson Earth Green Award Recipient: Jerry Sazama
Jerry Sazama is being presented with the “Earth Green Award” by the Chippewa Valley Group of the Sierra Club - Wisconsin. This award recognizes Jerry’s significant contributions to the environmental health of the Chippewa Valley and western Wisconsin through his dedication to the Ice Age Trail Alliance and the Chippewa County Land Conservancy. The event is scheduled for Monday, April 17th at 5:30 at the First Congregational UCC Community Room located at 310 Broadway St. in Eau Claire. There will be a reception with beverages, appetizers, and dinner, followed by a short program.
Members of our chapter are invited to attend this event. There is a fee of $25 per person to attend. If you are interested in attending the event, contact me at chippewamorainechapter@iceagetrail.org and I will email you the registration form.
Girl Scout Snowshoe Event at Camp Nawakwa FEB. 25
On February 25th, with 15” of fresh new snow on the ground, the Chippewa Moraine Chapter led their annual snowshoe event at Camp Nawakwa. Snowshoes that were donated by Scheel’s in Eau Claire last year were available for girls that did not have snowshoes. There were about 30 participants for the event.
We started out at the Heyde House at Camp Nawakwa and headed west along the ridge of the hill before heading downhill on the shared horse trail. After passing the horse trail picnic spot, we joined up with the Ice Age Trail and hiked around Picnic Lake. After crossing the bridge, we headed onto the lake ice. We followed close to the lake shore around to the east side of the lake where we made snow angels. Then on we went to the waterfront. From there we climbed the hill up to the flats and then up to the Heyde House. Perfect snow and a perfect day.
Thank you to JoAnn Parks, Sherry Jasper and Pat Kosher for assisting on the hike.
Spotlight Trail Projects Planned for 2023
We have a couple of trail projects lined up for this year in addition to our monthly chapter workdays.. We will be building a new Dispersed Camping Area (DCA) just uphill from this beaver dam bridge on the Firth Lake Segment. This is near the western trailhead on 245th Ave. (Moonridge Trail). We will also be building new trail to replace our detour at Horseshoe Lake on the Chippewa Moraine Segment. Several years ago, lake levels on Horseshoe Lake rose about 2 feet higher than the bridge across a channel. The flooded bridge was removed after a temporary detour was made on an old forest road. We are now going to replace that detour with a more scenic trail high above the lake.
Look for information about our upcoming trail work in future emails.
Time to RENEW Your Volunteer Agreement for 2023
All new volunteers need to have a completed Volunteer Agreement for the National Park Service in order to participate in our trail improvement days or to volunteer at events. They have a new form on the Alliance Website.
To access the new Volunteer Agreement, here is the link: https://www.iceagetrail.org/wp-content/uploads/Packet-Individual-301a-exp-10_2024.pdf Please fill out the fillable form and email it to Daniel_Watson@nps.gov Please note the large box at the bottom of the first page of the new Volunteer Agreement. Dan Watson has provided links and videos for volunteers to look at.
NOTE: Fill in all the required boxes. The fillable boxes are on everything except the signature line. You can type your name and date in the date box next to the signature line. Save the document to your computer and then send it to Dan Watson as an attachment. Or print off your completed document, sign it, and mail it to Dan Watson Dan’s address is on the directions page that comes with the form.
Mobile Skills Crew 2023 Events - Next: Rib Lake
Have you thought about getting involved with MSC (Mobile Skills Crew) projects? The MSC calendar has been set and there are projects going on all over the state in 2023. Attending an event is a great way to learn about trail building, invasive species removal, and building structures such as boardwalk and bridges. Experience is not a requirement. It’s terrific on-the-job training. Information on the events is available on the Ice Age Trail Website. Check it out at: https://www.iceagetrail.org/our-work/trail-building-maintenance/msc-program/
Apr. 27-30 Rib Lake (Trail Building)
May 17-22 Rib Lake (Trail Building)
June 8-11 John Muir Park (IAT-University: Crew Leader Training)
June 21-25 Storrs Lake
July 12-16 John Muir Park (IAT-University)
Aug. 9-13 Iola Ski Hill & Emmons Creek (Trail Building)
Sept. 6-10 Sturgeon Bay (Trail Building)
Sept, 26-Oct. 1 Rib Lake (Trail Building and Celebration)
Oct. 18-22 Cross Plains
Partnering with Blue Hills Chapter
At the Chippewa Moraine Annual Meeting in November, we voted to increase our assistance on trail maintenance on the Blue Hills segments. We have been working on the Blue Hills in August. We are now adding a second team project in the spring. The first week of May, the Blue Hills will be having a sawyer/swamper group clearing up the damage to the trails from the storms this winter. The tentative dates will be May 4-7.
The Blue Hills will also have monthly trail maintenance days on May 9, June 28, August 2, and September 21. We will post information on registering for these events the month prior to each event.
Chapter Calendar 2023
These are our annual events. Watch for additions and changes (in red) to this calendar in the monthly newsletters.
Mar. 20 Chapter Meeting
April 15 Monthly Trail Maintenance
April 17 Green Earth Award and Dinner with the Chippewa Valley Group of the Sierra Club
April 22 Adventure North 50K
April 20-24 Annual IATA Conference in Sheboygan
May 4-6 Sawyer/Swamper/Lopper Crew - Blue Hills
May 7 First Sunday Hike - Chippewa River
May 10 Mayflower Hike with Natural Resources Foundation - Chippewa River
May 15 Chapter Meeting
May 20 Trail Maintenance Day
June 3 National Trails Day Hike - Harwood Lakes
June 17 Monthly Trail Maintenance
June 20 Solstice Hike with Girl Scouts
June 28 Blue Hills Trail Maintenance Day
July 17 Chapter Picnic at Mill Yard Park, Cornell
August 2 Blue Hills Trail Maintenance Day
Aug. 6 First Sunday Hike
Aug. 19 Trail Maintenance Day
Sept. 3 First Sunday Hike
Sept. 16 Trail Maintenance Day
September 21 Blue Hills Trail Maintenance Day
Oct. - All Month: Mammoth Hike Challenge
Oct. 7 Parade of Colors Hike - Chippewa Moraine
Oct. 14 Hike and Meet Monty- Chippewa River
Oct. 21 Trail Maintenance Day
2022 Chapter Highlights
Happy New Year 2023! We hope that the new year finds you on the Ice Age Trail.
2022 was a busy year. The highlights were:
• The new owl at the Obey Center.
• Our new Chapter Hiking Patch (available on the Ice Age Trail Website).
• And especially, the new boardwalk on the Firth Lake Segment.
2023 is shaping up to be another busy year.
• Our annual hikes are on the calendar.
• We have the go-ahead to add another DCA (Dispersed Camping Area) by the beaver pond and bridge toward the west end of the Firth Lake Segment.
• Our big project this year will be to reroute the detour on the Chippewa Moraine Segment by Horseshoe Lake. This will take us off the temporary forest road and take us uphill to travel high above the shoreline of the lake. We hope you will join us for this project of trail improvement.
Thousand Miler Happy Hour Series - via ZOOM!
The Ice Age Trail Alliance is offering this series of Zoom meetings which are part of their Virtual IAT-University program.
Grab a beverage of your choice and a comfy chair. Settle in for entertaining and inspiring tales by recent Thousand Milers. They’ll share their adventures along the trail, favorite segments, meaningful Trail Angel interactions, encounters with wild animals, and much more. This three part series features a panel of segment hikers, thru hikers, and family friendly hikers. Along with lots of photos and short stories, these armchair sessions will have you considering where you’d like to explore next and are the perfect way to stay connected to the Trail during the cold winter months.
Schedule (each session is 6:30-8:00):
January 10, 2023: Segment Hikers
February 7, 2023: Thru Hikers
March 7, 2023: Family Friendly Hikers
To register and for more information, visit: https://bit.ly/3hS19Mb
State Park Stickers Available Now
A number of state parks are near or on the Ice Age Trail. Park stickers are now available for 2023. You can order them at: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/admission
There is a reduced rate for WI residents who are 65 or older.
Chapter Annual Meeting and Elections Report
Chapter Annual Meeting and Elections
The Chippewa Moraine Chapter of the Ice Age Trail held their chapter meeting on Monday, November 21 at the Chippewa Falls Public Library. Elections were held. Tom Kolb will continue as Chapter Treasurer. Mary Skalecki will continue as Chapter Secretary. Julie Kosher was elected as the Assistant Coordinator. All of these are two year terms. Thank you to Tom, Mary and Julie for serving as officers for 2023-2024. Jerry Sazama reported on trail maintenance for 2022. The main projects were the building of 3 DCAs and the new 730 foot boardwalk at Firth Lake. Looking ahead to 2023, an additional DCA will be built at the west end of the Firth Lake segment, and a new section of trail will built to replace the temporary detour at Horseshoe Lake at the east end of the Chippewa Moraine segment. The new trail will take us off the old forest road and will travel high on the hill with views of the lake.