# Masafumi Saito and the Ice Age Trail **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 14, 2025, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masafumi-saito-and-the-ice-age-trail/1024855 "2025-11-14T18:22:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2025, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masafumi-saito-and-the-ice-age-trail/1024855/1 "2025-11-14T18:22:33Z")
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: > **[He came from Japan to hike the 1,200-mile Ice Age Trail. Wisconsin hikers...](https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2025/11/04/japanese-hiker-masafumi-saito-hikes-ice-age-trail-in-wisconsin/86934670007/)** > > Wisconsin's hiking community has been captivated by a Japanese man trekking the Ice Age Trail. Many have shared the state's culture with him. Brian - There are quite a few gaps. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2025, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masafumi-saito-and-the-ice-age-trail/1024855/2 "2025-11-14T18:29:35Z")
Americans have always had a soft spot for tramps. They have good stories and are gone the next morning. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2025, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masafumi-saito-and-the-ice-age-trail/1024855/3 "2025-11-14T18:49:22Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2025, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masafumi-saito-and-the-ice-age-trail/1024855/4 "2025-11-15T06:29:01Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2025, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masafumi-saito-and-the-ice-age-trail/1024855/5 "2025-11-15T12:05:25Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2025, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masafumi-saito-and-the-ice-age-trail/1024855/6 "2025-11-15T13:09:51Z")
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).