In thirty-six thrilling days, Melanie Radzicki McManus hiked 1,100 miles around Wisconsin, landing her in the elite group of Ice Age Path thru-hikers known as the Thousand-Milers. In prose that’s alternately harrowing and humorous, Thousand-Miler goes with her through Wisconsin’s forests, prairies, wetlands, and farms, past the geologic wonders carved by long-ago glaciers, and in to the neighborhood pubs and gathering places of far-flung small towns. Stick to along as she concerns about about Thousand-Miler: Ventures Hiking the Ice Age Trail wildlife encounters, wonders if her harmed foot will ever recover, and looks for an elusive fellow hiker referred to as Papa Bear. Woven throughout her accounts are details of the history from the still-developing Snow Age Trail-one of simply eleven National Scenic Trails-and helpful insight and strategies for undertaking an effective thru-hike.

Furthermore to chronicling McManus’s hike, Thousand-Miler also contains the little-told story from the Ice Age Trail’s first-ever thru-hiker Jim Staudacher, an account of the record-breaking thru-run of ultrarunner Jason Dorgan, the experiences of a young combat veteran who embarked on her thru-hike in an effort to ease back to civilian life, and additional fascinating tales from the trail.