Japanese hiker “Masa” recently (today Nov 14th) finished hiking the Ice Age trail, a ~1000* mile trail that crosses Wisconsin along glacial boundaries.
He has become a minor celebrity, getting plenty of “rail magic”: help (food, lodging, etc.) and encouragement – a lot more than the typical through hiker, but the typical hiker doesn’t fly 6000+ miles to the starting point.
I personally found following Masa’s journey and the hospitality he found heartwarming.
Here is a story from a while ago:
The Ice Age Trail follows (more or less) the boundary between the Driftless (rather Vermont -like topography) and glaciated (more typical upper Midwestern) landscapes of Wisconsin.
No shade on his treks. But, you would have thought that Marie Kondo would have taught him a thing or two about packing lighter.
The article reported his pack weighs 50 pounds. And the photo of him being welcomed into a home with his pack on suggests the 50 pounds might be undercounting. 50 pounds is an insane amount of weight for a thru hiker. FWIW, I have pretty light (not ultralight) gear, bring some heavier luxuries like a camp chair and 4+ r-rated air mattress, like to chef up food on the trail, carry a stove and gas, ok as long as it’s not below freezing at night, and can go for 1 week with a complete pack weight of 20 pounds.
I was thinking the same thing. I presume that is total weight, and not base weight (so it includes consumables like food at water). The article does mention gallons of water which I think is crazy – there are plenty of water sources along the trail* – yes lake and river water needs to be treated, but that is why you have a water filter.
Brian
* I haven’t studied the whole trail in depth, so there may be sections where you would need to carry extra, but it isn’t like the Arizona trail
The throne of “a man traveling slowly through the Midwest, encountering nice, generous folks, helping him to heal from a family tragedy” reminds me of the wonderful film “The Straight Story” (based on a real story).
