Mike Summers was in good company last week as he relaxed in a leather conference chair, munched on a supreme slice from Tano’s Pizza and sipped a Sprecher’s Hard Root Beer.

At the end of the conference table was Tim Malzhan, 59, who thru-hiked the 1,200-mile Ice Age National Scenic Trail more than 25 years ago. Across the table to his right was Luke Kloberdanz, 40, who hiked the trail in one continuous trip in 2003. And seated directly across from Summers was Dave Caliebe, 34, who in 2010 thru-hiked the trail that winds through Wisconsin along the terminal moraine created by a glacier that receded more than 10,000 years ago.

The trio all work for the Ice Age Trail Alliance, a nonprofit based in Cross Plains that builds, maintains and promotes the trail. Malzhan, Kloberdanz and Caliebe all did their hikes in summer and fall. But on this day, they gathered in the Alliance’s conference room to welcome and refuel Summers, a skinny, bearded 26-year-old from Portland, Oregon, who is attempting a winter thru-hike of the trail, something never before accomplished.

He started the trip at Potawatomi State Park near Sturgeon Bay on Dec. 22, 2016 and is hoping to be at the trail’s western terminus at Interstate Park near St. Croix Falls by mid-March.

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The warm weather might be throwing a wrench in some people’s holiday plans to go skiing, but while the snow stays at bay, exploring Wisconsin’s Ice Age Trail might not a bad second choice.

The trail stands at a total of 1,200 miles across southern and central Wisconsin and is still growing. It runs through towns across the region, connecting communities with the outdoors. The conditions range from paved pathways to rugged and narrow trails.

“I personally like the Point Beach State Park area over in Manitowoc County. Just the forest there, the hemlocks and the cedars, and the different kinds of wildlife you see there. It’s just amazing its so beautiful,” said outdoors writer Rob Zimmer.

The wildlife on the trail spans a wide spectrum. “Along the trail you could see just about anything. I mean in some sections of the trail you could realistically see wolves or black bears, porcupines… I’ve seen mink and ruffed grouse, and wild turkeys and white tail deer, foxes,” said Zimmer.

The trail itself has largely been accomplished by community efforts. “Just about the entire trail has been put together by volunteers,” he said.

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Wisconsinites might grimace at how rough winters can get these days, but 20,000 years ago much of the state was under a sheet of ice thicker than a mile in some places. This Laurentide Ice Sheet extended south of Chicago. One of the most fascinating marks it left as the ice melted was the Kettle Moraine.

A “kettle” forms when debris from a grinding glacier gathers in a deposit as the ice melts away. In this case, a chunk of ice at the center lasts a bit longer under the pile and when it finally does shrink, it creates a sunken bowl-shaped middle to the moraine. This long north-to-south area between the crushing forces of two major ice lobes — the Green Bay and Lake Michigan lobes — is so rife with them that the entire region took the term as a proper name.

Geneva and Pike lakes are two of the largest kettles. The extensive collection of moraines, eskers and kames is a natural geological textbook, and much of it has been set aside as state forest. When the mosquitoes and hot temperatures are gone for the season, hikers head for Kettle Moraine for its excellent fall colors.

Five units make up Kettle Moraine State Forest: the Northern, Southern, Lapham Peak, Loew Lake and Pike Lake units. Covering 56,000 acres, the units extend 100 miles along glacially altered lands from Elkhart Lake in the north to just south of Whitewater. But the state forest does not encompass the entire Kettle Moraine and several areas outside park borders make excellent hikes as well, particularly along the rustic footpath of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, or IAT.

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After more than two months of walking, the generosity of strangers is what surprises Natalie Koffarnus the most.

The Wisconsin resident on May 3 set out on the Ice Age Trail from St. Croix Falls with the goal of walking the entire 1,200-mile path to Potawatomi State Park by Aug. 1. It’s the kindness of people she’s never met that has helped her along the way.

Trail “angels” are Ice Age Trail Alliance members who offer food, refreshments or shelter to hikers such as Koffarnus. Member Bob Baker accompanied Koffarnus on her journey for a short time as she passed through the Janesville portion of the trail, the southern-most tip before it turns north.

At the end of each week, a nearby Veterans of Foreign Wars member picks up Koffarnus and lets her shower, eat and do her laundry before giving her a place to stay for the night.

“For anybody who doesn’t believe in the goodness of people, go for a walk and you’ll be startled at how good everyday people are,” the 30-year-old hiker said.

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