This Is Drivel

Tag: exercise

  • once around the prairie

    once around the prairie

    I had some time for a quick trip to the arboretum this afternoon and I wanted to know how far a lap around the Curtis Prairie was, following the roads that ran around the perimeter by the tall trees. I guessed it would be about 2.5 miles and was surprised to learn it was just… Read.

  • big snow big shoes

    big snow big shoes

    The first big snowfall of the year gave me the motivation to dig my snow shoes out of the corner of the garage where they’d been buried for months, so I could take them to the arboretum and stomp around in the fresh snow — but first, I there was the little matter of clearing… Read.

  • IAT Verona Segment – 11/25/2025

    IAT Verona Segment – 11/25/2025

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    It took a little while but I believe I can finally call the Verona segment done. I’ve started this hike from the north end, I’ve started from the south end, but both times I never went far enough to get all the way across. Today I filled in that short gap I left in the… Read.

  • IAT University Ridge – 11/17/2025

    IAT University Ridge – 11/17/2025

    Not really hiking the Ice Age Trail, more like trail maintenance. I spent the morning and part of the afternoon today with volunteers working to remove buckthorn and honeysuckle from a wooded area at the University Ridge golf course. I was led to believe that buckthorn was the worst of the two to handle, but… Read.

  • IAT Verona segment – 11/05/2025

    IAT Verona segment – 11/05/2025

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    I had a walk around the neighborhood where we live but after completing my morning chores I felt the need to get out and get another walk in some place I hadn’t been before. There are several nearby segments of the Ice Age Trail I haven’t visited yet, believe it or not, so I picked… Read.

  • cannonball

    cannonball

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    Went for a short walk along the Capitol City Trail and the Cannonball Path, two paved cycling/running/walking paths I’ve biked on often but have only rarely walked on. There’s an interesting little connecting path where the two mail paths pass close to one another, near Ashbourne Pond in Fitchburg. I don’t use it much when… Read.

  • IAT Straight River Segment – 9/10/25 to 9/14/25

    IAT Straight River Segment – 9/10/25 to 9/14/25

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    Three weeks ago, I spent five days with dozens of other volunteers helping cut a new trail through the woods near Luck, Wisconsin, for the Ice Age Trail Alliance. This was my first IATA trail-building event. I’ve been walking the Ice Age Trail for a couple years. The trail stretches around what had been the… Read.

  • IAT Blue Spring Lake Segment

    IAT Blue Spring Lake Segment

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    Today was a beautiful day to hike the Ice Age Trail! It started out crisp and cool but ended up delightfully warm and was sunny all morning and afternoon. I was a little concerned the warm temps would thaw out the frozen ground and turn the whole trail into a muddy bog, making today’s hike… Read.

  • IAT Whitewater Lake segment

    IAT Whitewater Lake segment

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    This was a very pleasant afternoon walk in the woods. Moderately easy, but still a satisfying hike over gently hilly terrain. I parked my van in the lot on Clover Valley Road and walked as far as Esterly Road, 2.8 miles, before turning back. I would have liked to go as far as Highway 12… Read.

  • IAT Brooklyn segment

    IAT Brooklyn segment

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    I walked the Brooklyn segment of the Ice Age Trail from the north end to the south and back to the north end, about 6 miles in two and a half hours. I’m feeling pretty well-chuffed about going that far in less time than the 3.7 mile hike I made yesterday, both with a 20-pound… Read.

photo of the author and the author's best friend