By Kevin Passon, Antigo Daily Journal
An early fall hike on the Ice Age National Scenic Trail in Langlade County is planned for Saturday morning.
The hike, organized by the Langlade County Ice Age Trail Chapter, is open to the public. Interested persons and groups should meet at 10 a. m. at the Kettlebowl Ski Hii parking lot.
Participants are encouraged to wear suitable clothing and bring a lunch or snack. Hikers can individually hike the Ice Age Trail with dogs on leash, but the chapter requests that no one bring their pets, leashed or otherwise, on the group outing.
Another feature for September outing participants will be an opportunity to earn a special hiker patch observing the chapter’s 50 years of Ice Age Trail activity in Langlade County. To earn the patch, persons must make two of three outings offered by the chapter.
Other chapter hikes are scheduled for Oct. 8 and tentatively for April 29, 2023.
The September chapter outing will be a special hike of a 4-mile loop trail atop the Summit Lake Moraine portions of the Kettlebowl and Lumbercamp Segments of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail.
Unlike the Green Bay and Parrish Terminal Moraines that frame the Antigo Flats, the Summit Lake Moraine is a landform known as a recessional moraine.
It was created from an advance of the Wisconsin Glacier more than 19,000 years ago after the massive ice sheet melted away from the edge of the Antigo Flats, a large outwash plain created by huge volumes of meltwater.
The Summit Lake Moraine stretches more than 80 miles through Langlade County and neighboring Lincoln, Oneida and Oconto Counties. It also contains the highest terrain in Langlade County, including Kent Hill at 1,903 feet above mean sea level.
The Langlade County Ice Age Trail Chapter is one of 21 volunteer organizations affiliated with the Ice Age Trail Alliance based in Cross Plains to develop, maintain and promote the national scenic trail.
The Ice Age Trail was added to the national system of scenic trails with the passage of federal legislation in 1980. Currently there are 11 national scenic trails to provide long-distance hiking opportunities.
Additional information on the hike, the Ice Age National Scenic Trail and volunteer opportunities with the chapter are available by mail by writing 622 First Ave., Antigo, WI 54409, or calling 715-623-2645. Online trail information is available at www.iceagetrail.org or the chapter webpage at www.iceagetrail.org/volunteer/chapters/langlade-county. Another local trail online source is the chapter’s Facebook page.