My dad is one my biggest cheerleaders. The poor guy has to listen to me whine about everything from house repairs to aching muscles to my favorite character getting killed off in a movie. Basically, I’m lucky that I’m the youngest and only daughter. When he’s not rolling his eyes at me, he reminds me that I’m capable of accomplishing a lot more than I think I can.
He suggested instead of looking at the overall trail, I should think of what I want to accomplish this year. So I decided one of my 2016 goals was to complete the trail through the Kettle Moraine region. At the time I assumed the Kettle Moraine was some sort of feature that only existed within the Kettle Moraine State Forest (there are 6 units of the forest in southeast Wisconsin), but the more I’ve hiked in eastern Wisconsin the more I learned the Kettle Moraine extends far beyond the State Forest’s boundaries. As a matter it goes through at least seven counties from Walworth in the south to Kewaunee in the northeast.
If you don’t really care how the Kettle Moraine came to be, feel free to skip ahead (it’s not like I’d ever know).
From what I’ve gathered (although I could be wrong), the Kettle Moraine’s origin story started when He Who Must Not be Named killed a young Muggle-born mother protecting her infant son and a lightning shaped scar appeared on the baby’s forehead…okay, so that’s the origin story of Harry Potter. You got me.
In actuality, the Kettle Moraine was created around 15,000 years ago when two glacial lobes (think massive fingers of ice stretching south) bumped into each other. They left behind a bunch of dirt and rocks that formed an uneven, clumpy ridge (called a “moraine”). When the lobes ran into each other, chunks of ice (unbelievably huge chunks – larger than an iceberg) sometimes broke off and got buried beneath all the dirt that the massive ice fingers were pushing around. When the glaciers receded and the ice melted, large holes were formed (many, but not all, filled with water) which are called kettles or kettle lakes.
So there you have it: The Kettle Moraine – a very long, very hilly stretch of land with over one hundred miles of the Ice Age Trail for hikers like me to climb up, then down, then up, then down, then up…
In the past year, I’ve hiked from the southernmost point in Walworth County to the Lower Cato Falls County Park in Manitowoc County, which totals about 167 miles. I’ve hiked through all of the state forest segments and am on my way to Kewaunee.
The topography throughout the Kettle Moraine is challenging (I’m the crazy hiker on the trail muttering to myself about stupid hills), but the views are spectacular. Just take a look at some of the beauty I’ve seen…
I’m just taking it one hill at a time.
