Annie Wiess (l) and Jason Dorgan (r). In 2007, trail runner Jason Dorgan set the first FKT on the Trail by running it in 22 days and 6 hours. In 2018, trail runner Annie Weiss broke the record and clocked her time at 21 days, 18 hours, and 7 minutes.

By guest writer, Rachele Krivichi

Since the late ‘90s, trail runners have been documenting their fastest trail runs under the moniker “FKT,” which stands for Fastest Known Time. The title implies that a person has run or hiked the trail faster than everyone before them. The tradition of FKT was started on the major hiking trails out west. However, in the past decade, a few runners have brought it home to the Ice Age Trail. In 2007, trail runner Jason Dorgan set the first FKT on the Trail by running it in 22 days and 6 hours. In 2018, trail runner Annie Weiss broke the record and clocked her time at 21 days, 18 hours, and 7 minutes. Mammoth Tales volunteer Rachele Krivichi spoke with both Jason and Annie to get their insights on accomplishing this challenge.

Rachele Krivichi: Why and how did you decide to run the trail? Did you have previous trail running experience?

Jason Dorgan: I started ultra-distance events in ‘94. It went from 50 miles to 100 miles, to Iron Man as I kept getting into the next thing. I started reading about Appalachian Trail runs and I was impressed by them. I knew I didn’t have time to do that kind of length, though. So, I started thinking why not try the Ice Age Trail? I realized no one had ever really tried to run it before. It was in my backyard, so I figured I’d better try to use it.

Annie Weiss: I participate in a lot of ultra-distance events, anything up to 100 miles. But running the Ice Age Trail, which was my husband’s idea, is the longest I’ve run. We had hiked a lot on the Holy Hill segment and got inspired to try the entire Trail. My goal was to essentially break the women’s record and then underneath it all I also wanted to break Jason’s record. There were days when I would run up to 75 miles, but we knew on average I had to do 50 miles a day to hit the record.

RK: What did you hope to accomplish by running the entire Trail?

AW: I’ve run Wisconsin races and I’ve run races out west and it really blows my mind how many runners, novice to pro, have never heard of the Ice Age Trail. So, mostly I wanted to bring light to the Trail. At first I wanted to promote it within the running community. But after I started, I was amazed by how many 9-13 year old girls followed along as I ran. I’ve done more talks with that age group since running it. I wasn’t trying to inspire that age group, but it was cool how that came out of it!

JD: Mostly, I wanted to experience the whole trail. I knew there would be sections that were more rugged than I’d previously thought. In addition, I also wanted to make my run into a fundraiser. I ended up raising about $15,000 for the Trail. It was kind of amazing how well I got the word out, because this was before Facebook. I ended up being interviewed and was on TV all across Wisconsin.

Jason Dorgan followed by a cadre of friends –Dave Sarocka, Roy Pirrung, Peter Wadsack, Brenda Bland, Kevin Radel, Vince Varone, and Ann Heaslett – who joined him for his final leg, a run through Potawatomi State Park, on his way to the Eastern Terminus of the Ice Age Trail. Photo by Tim Yanacheck.

RK: What did you learn about yourself in the process?

JD: I learned that it was possible for me to come back after hitting the low point. I had a plan to finish in three weeks. But sometimes, every step was painful, and I would need a pep talk from someone in my crew. So, the mental part of it was, “Yeah, this hurts, but I gotta push through it.” The last week was probably one of the easiest parts to do. I even felt like I could have run a few more days. But mentally, I was done. A week later I ran the Ice Age 50, the race down in Whitewater. But after that I took two months off from running.

AW: I think running the Ice Age Trail was a really good learning experience in being alone. Yeah, I might have had a runner with me sometimes, but I had so much alone time overall. So, I learned how to be with myself. I also learned that, even though my pain tolerance is already pretty high, I can handle more than I previously thought.

RK: What did you learn about the Trail?

AW: There are a lot of segments of the Trail that I had never run before that I really enjoyed. I was thoroughly impressed with the West Bend segment. It made me wonder why there isn’t a race there. I also learned there are a lot of road segments but that the Trail is really well marked. There were three occasions where I got turned around, but otherwise I had no problems. The volunteers really do a good job in maintaining the Trail.

JD: In hindsight, I realized how much effort it takes to maintain the trail. Before I started running, a chapter coordinator in the Northwoods heard about my run and warned me there was a place where the bridge was out. He made a temporary bridge with logs so I could run across it without getting soaked. I learned that nothing happens without the chapter, they’re so intimate with what’s in their area. It’s a small group of people that really make the Trail happen.

RK: How have you been shaped by the experience of running the Trail? Did it change you?

JD: It strengthened a lot of my core values. I’ve come to realize that, even though I ran this thing, I didn’t do it alone. Nothing is possible alone. I personally had a lot of good support. My overall philosophy of life is that you’ve gotta give back and help people. Even though it looks like a person accomplished something alone, all by themselves, that’s not a true perception.

AW: It proved to me that I like competing against myself. I’ve gotten into a stage where I don’t want to compete against other people; I’d rather just enjoy my time with them. So, this was a different kind of competition

Annie Weiss is radiant in her proud moment. She and her crew, Kevin Cannaday and Ryan Norton, reached the Eastern Terminus on September 30th at 12:56 am. Annie set the new Fastest Known Time record of 21 days, 18 hours, and 7 minutes, besting the previous record by 11 hours and 53 minutes. Photo by Brian Frain.

RK: How have you engaged with the Trail (or Alliance or chapters) since your run?

AW: My husband and I belong to the Ice Age Trail Alliance. We also plan to participate as Field Editors for the 2020 guidebook because they don’t have as many volunteers in the northern part of the state. So, we wanted to help up there. I’m also doing a few different presentations for different chapters in the next few months. I love doing that kind of stuff.

JD: I was on the board for six years and I’ve been doing the Mobile Skills Crew events since 2008. I had also been to the 2006 annual conference before running the Trail, and now attend almost every year. Also, I maintain and mow a 2.5-mile section of Trail near Verona. I also joined the Yellow Blaze Club to help support and fund the Trail. So, that’s how I give back now.

Rachele Krivichi is a writer, artist, and outdoor lover from Wisconsin. Her work has been seen in Wisconsin Gazette newspaper, Temporary Art Review, and Culturaal blog, based in the Netherlands. In 2016 she finished her first book, a study of camper and recreational vehicle culture. She recently moved to Minneapolis, but Wisconsin and the Ice Age Trail are some of her earliest loves.

Trail blazer, James (Jim) Staudacher, the first person to thru-hike the Ice Age National Scenic Trail. Here he is along the Ice Age Trail in the Chequamegon National Forest, Wisconsin, July 1979. Photo courtesy of Jim Staudacher.

Article by guest writer, Bill Polacheck

For James (Jim) Staudacher, the inspiration for the journey of a lifetime came from the very first Ice Age Trail Guidebook, On the Trail of the Ice Age, written by Congressman Henry Reuss and published by the Milwaukee Journal in 1976. The guidebook captured the imagination of then 17-year-old Jim and he began researching the geography of the ice age in Wisconsin.

Two years later, he took a summer backpacking trip to Isle Royale National Park and decided that he wanted to be the first person to walk the entire Ice Age Trail route.

“I wanted to achieve this as a personal rite of passage but also to promote the sport of hiking which was just becoming popular in the 1970s,” recalls Jim. The first step to realizing his dream involved contacting Reuss’ office to secure permission. “I was a nervous 19-year-old on that fall day in 1978 when I met Rep. Reuss at his Milwaukee office,” says Jim. “He received me graciously and asked me why I wanted to hike the trail and why I thought I could succeed in such a physically demanding endeavor. I answered awkwardly, and probably less coherently than I wanted to, but my enthusiasm was unmistakable.”

A week after the meeting, Reuss contacted Jim and gave him permission to attempt the first complete hike of the trail in the summer of 1979. He also assigned one of his staff members, Sarah Sykes, to assist with details of trip planning. Sarah and Jim decided that he would document and informally survey the existing route of the trail, make suggestions to improve the route, and providing descriptions of the ice age features found along the trail. Reuss’ office would provide maps and postage for re-supply packages as well as reimbursement for long-distance phone calls.

Campsite along Ice Age Trail in Point Beach State Forest, Wisconsin.  May 1979. The tent certainly added to Jim’s pack weight. Photo courtesy of Jim Staudacher.

Jim accepted the challenge and on May 14, 1979, the 20-year-old drove from his suburban Milwaukee home up to Sturgeon Bay, signed in on the trailhead ledger, and began his adventure. He set off following tentative routes that he changed as he traveled, all the while knowing he had to be back by August to start his junior year at Marquette University. Not only did he not have the benefit of a GPS system, but his clothing was also low tech. Except for a new Gore-Tex parka, he was outfitted with what he could find in his closet– wool shirts, blue jeans, cargo pants, and heavy hiking boots. Without the benefit of modern water filters, Jim struggled to find drinkable water and when he did he carried as much as he could. That water, along with food, pushed the weight of his pack up to 45 pounds. Fortunately, Jim wrestled in high school and quickly adjusted to the heavy load.

He re-supplied his food rations at small-town post offices along the way. Sarah communicated with Jim via postal service and payphone calls and mailed the food so that it would arrive just in time. Since he was on a college student’s budget, Jim’s food consisted of grocery store basics like mac and cheese, Pop-Tarts, granola bars, and Rice-A-Roni.

Adding to his pack weight was his SLR camera which he describes as a “monster” compared to today’s cell phone cameras. And where today he might have taken thousands of digital photos, back then he only took about a hundred and many of those shots are blurry.

Some of those blurry shots include pictures of a tornado he spotted after a line of storms blew through west of Madison near Cross Plains. Jim says he wasn’t afraid at the time.

“Maybe I was naive but I didn’t feel that vulnerable,” he recalls.

Jim with his 45-lb pack surveying the glacial sand deposit, Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest near New Fane, Wisconsin, May 1979. Photo courtesy of Jim Staudacher.

He did experience fear, however, about 130 miles north of Cross Plains at his campsite east of Stevens Point in the Kronenwetter swamp. Hot, tired, wet and covered with wood ticks, he decided to build a fire in order to fling the ticks into the flames. As he scraped the ticks with a knife, four to five wild dogs appeared and immediately approached him. The leader of the pack bared his teeth and tried to grab his ankle. In fear of his life, Jim defended himself with a piece of firewood left behind by hunters and ended up killing the alpha male. At that point, the rest of the pack retreated.

“I pitched his broken body far into the swampy woods, not wanting the other dogs to return,” Jim says. “I spent that long night sitting by a huge fire, dirty, scared, angry, and knowing that the next morning I had to pack up and walk through the very swamp from whence they came.”

One of the greatest tasks Jim faced was measuring the total length of the trail. The guidebook estimated 600 miles but he logged 1,006 miles on his hike. About 40% of those miles were on the road, although back then many of the gravel roads were barely distinguishable from the trail itself. He hiked through parks, county forest land, and miles of abandoned railroad tracks. In Waukesha and Washington Counties, the trail guided him through rows of brush and woods in the midst of open farmland. (Today, he notes, the trail has been rerouted in these areas due to the transition to fence-to-fence farming as well as urban sprawl.)

Averaging 15-20 miles per day, Jim finished his solo hike on July 29 in Interstate State Park in Taylor Falls, Minnesota. Jim still has slides of his hike as well as his journals, topographic maps, backpack, and leather boots. But more than that, he has his memories of the summer of ‘79.

“I was looking for adventure, and I found it,” Jim muses. “It set me up for the rest of my life.”

Bill Polacheck is a teacher and writer living in the Milwaukee area. An avid environmentalist, he enjoys hiking, biking, and kayaking, and challenges himself to find beauty in the world around him on a daily basis. Follow him on Instagram @bill.polacheck.

Old Railroad Segment, Langlade County. BEFORE and AFTER. More clean-up efforts to yet to come. This initial work (by a dedicated volunteer and certified sawyer) is a great start to getting the Trail back into shape.

Shear winds and tornadic activity ravaged the North and Central regions of Wisconsin on July 19 and July 20, 2019.

The areas hit the hardest by the storm were Polk, Langlade, and Waupaca counties. Hundreds of trees are down all along the Ice Age National Scenic Trail corridor. In a conservative estimate, well over 127 miles of Ice Age Trail was drastically affected by the storm.

The Ice Age Trail Alliance and its Chapters have been busy assessing damage. Small crews are already out on the Trail tackling the most immediate areas of need, however, more hands will help make light work of what will is shaping up to be a BIG job.

If you’d like to wield a handsaw or clippers, or otherwise help remove debris from the Trail, please register at the link below. In order to effectively organize crews and equipment, we’d like to know which county you’d be willing to travel to and which days of the week or weekend you’re available.

Old Railroad Segment, Langlade County, BEFORE.

Old Railroad Segment, Langlade County, AFTER.

GOOD NEWS! They voted YES!!

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve the S .47 Natural Resources Management Act, in a bipartisan vote, 363-62. Continue reading →

Please CALL or EMAIL your House Representative before TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26th at 3:30 p.m.

Voice your SUPPORT for the S. 47 Natural Resources Management Act.

S. 47 is one of the most significant public land packages to enjoy bipartisan support in congress in recent history! It will create more than 1.3 million acres of wilderness out West, add three national park units and expand eight others. Continue reading →