Weekly Blog #12 - The "Next" Big Trail...
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posted: Saturday, July 18th, 2026
Welcome to the BIG REVEAL of the next big trail Sponge will tackle!
In last week's blog, the most valuable lesson Sponge learned on the Superior Hiking Trail was revealed: "It's OK to tone down ambitions."
After targeting 200 miles of the Appalachian Trail in summer of 2025 (completing 110) and 200 miles of the SHT this past summer (completing 150), Sponge realized longer trail journeys spanning 2-3 weeks were not his future. Instead, a new plan:
10 Trails - each for 100 Miles. Or 1,000 miles in the next decade.
With that decided, the task of finding the first 100-miler was on! But how to decide? AT first, Sponge considered throwing a poll on social media to let his readers and fans choose for him. At some point, this still could be a fun idea. But for now, he opted to take two important factors into consideration:
1) The trail needed to be within driving distance.
2) The trail needed to utilize Sponge's current gear
Finding a trail that satisfied both of these ensured that Sponge could do next summer's trip quickly and without having to invest a lot of cash in new equipment. This eliminated trails with colder climates, as Sponge isn't ready to invest in a warm, expensive quilt quite yet. It also (to a certain extent) eliminated trails with drastic elevation changes - as an ultralight tent (dropping a good 2 lbs. from his pack weight) would likely be needed to give him a fighting chance. Besides, he actually LIKED his 4 lb. Mongar 2.
So Sponge starting scouring the internet and message boards. He soon realized just HOW many 100+ mile trails are in (or close) to the Midwest. For a part of the country often associated more with plains and farming- there was certainly a LOT of wilderness to be enjoyed. All it took was time and ambition.
And then, he found it. A long trail he was not insane or unemployed enough to thru-hike, that combined small trail communities with natural beauty created by the slow, grinding work of glaciers thousands of years ago:
The Ice Age Trail.
Located entirely in the state of Wisconsin - 1,200 mile trail sprawls from east (starting not far from Green Bay) to west (ending just short of the Minnesota border). It has about 500 miles of road walks to connect it to the 700 miles of yellow-blazed trail, but that wasn't a deal breaker....especially since Sponge could be picky about what 100 mile segment he wanted to try. He joined the Facebook community for the trail and dug deeper - introducing himself to members and asking where he should start.
The answer surprised even Sponge. At the end.
It's rare to find many trails where you don't start at the beginning and hike to the end (heading north usually). But welcome to one exception to that rule.
The beginning, while certainly beautiful in some stretches, has less camping and more potential road walks. Those viewing Sponge's photos of the AT and SHT immediately pointed out he'd find the west terminus more accustomed to what he was looking for. This certainly makes sense, as it's only 112 miles that separates the west terminus of the IAT from the southern terminus of the SHT.
Sure enough, the west Ice Age trail has plenty of primitive camping - more rugged than the campsites of the SHT, but that's ok. It has full Far Out app compatibility for maps (BIG sigh of relief), a stable elevation profile and stable water sources. Starting from the west terminus and hiking to the community of Rice Lake would be 98 miles (well over 100 if a few loop trails are explored). Only 12.7 miles would be road walks.
So, the trail is now chosen. There will be plenty of challenges to prepare for: rain, bugs, shuttles, increased sun exposure and a more obvious need to perfect the art of "cathole" digging. But that's what the next 11 months are for, right?