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| Ice Age Trail and LaGrange Benchmark, WI | |
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| | Ice Age Trail and LaGrange Benchmark, WI | | | |
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Ice Age Trail and LaGrange Benchmark, WI
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| Hiking | 4.64 Miles |
700 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.64 Miles | 3 Hrs 42 Mns | | 2.60 mph |
| 700 ft AEG | 1 Hour 55 Mns Break | | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
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| no partners | | Well, here I am in the midwest.
Before the nearby forests get too thick with summer foliage, I ‘took-a-hike’ in the Kettle Moraine State Forest.
Ironically, last year (almost to the day) I hiked in the Kettle Moraine, and although I successfully located Palmyra Benchmark on that hike, the hike itself was rather boring, plus it turned out to be quite a ‘blood-letting’ event. Thick shrubbery entwined with horizontally growing vines made last year’s hike akin to hiking through a needle-infested sweater.
I had none of that on this venture. This hike was much better in every way.
On this hike, I mostly used the Ice Age Trail to get near LaGrange Benchmark, then bushwhacked through some kettles and moraines to actually get to the BM, located on a rather high piece of ground. (Luckily, those ‘kettles’ were dry.) 
The Ice Age Trail is a trail that loosely follows the outline (terminus) of the last glacier that traveled into, then retreated from, almost all of Wisconsin. That was 10,000 years ago. Glaciers really modify the landscape, as evidence in the rolling hills in Wisconsin, as opposed to the very flat, non-glacial land just south in Illinois.
The Ice Age Trail is over 1,000 miles long and is totally in Wisconsin. It’s one of only eleven trails designated as an official “National Scenic Trail”. Those eleven trails were given authorization under the National Trails System Act of 1968.
(FYI - The Arizona Trail is also one of those eleven trails)
Many have hiked the entire 1,000 mile Ice Age Trail, with thru-hikers taking about 3 months.
One ultra-marathoner did the whole 1,000 miles in 22 days and 6 hours. Yikes !!
For more info about the Ice Age Trail - Go here -http://www.iceagetrail.org/home
I used a couple horse trails (once forest roads) to meet up with the Ice Age Trail, then proceeded down the trail to a spot to start my bushwhack to the benchmark. It turned out to be a very doable, off-trail bushwhack, since the forest tree canopy is quite thick and limits heavy vegetation growth below. I only got ‘scratched-up’ a little bit. 
With the help of its datasheet, I found LaGrange Triangulation Station (1957) and its two reference marks, all situated in cement blocks, protruding only about 2 inches above ground.
One reference mark was under a pile of leaves, so a little bit of ‘raking-with-my-boot’ finally exposed it.
I always chuckle at datasheets that give benchmark and reference mark ‘location info’ that includes distances from specific trees and other shrubs, including tree height and girth. After 57 years, that type of info is rather useless. Lat/Longs plus true-course and distance from the BM is always given, and thankfully, that ‘location info’ won’t change over time.
I’ve included a couple maps in the photo set, as I know some HAZers have hike-experience in the Kettle Moraine State Forest. You can view and ‘reminisce’.
This was a fun ‘midwest’ hike. I’ll tackle more of the Ice age trail in the coming months, before getting back to “HAZ” country. Arizona hiking is definitely still the best. |
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Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
J.R.R.TOLKIEN |
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