Hidden beneath the left sleeve of April Scheel’s blue hiking shirt is a shape etched in black ink on her bicep. 

It is the Chinese symbol for purpose. 

Those seven small black lines serve as a reminder.

“I thought at least if I tattooed it on myself, it would be there for me to look at, if I didn’t feel like I had a purpose,” Scheel says.

Born with cerebral palsy, she spent years struggling to find her purpose in this world. 

Until she embarked upon a 1,200-mile journey. 

That journey through the moraines and waterways and woods of Wisconsin — the equivalent of walking from Madison to Maine — Scheel found her purpose hiking the state’s historic and scenic Ice Age Trail. 

It is on those same 1,200 miles where the countless volunteers make Scheel’s purpose possible, paving the way for future generations and impacting lives in ways they may not even be aware of. 

Every person has their own trail story, and each individual has their own goal. Without the volunteers, Scheel and the other hikers wouldn’t be able to tell their story. And without each hiker, the volunteers wouldn’t bring their work to life. 

As the backbone of the trail, the volunteers are actively working to energize the younger generation and fuel the future of the Ice Age Trail. With each mile Scheel hikes, she inspires more along the way. And with each boardwalk the volunteers repair, they are blazing a trail for the next hiker.

But it is bigger than everyone telling their own trail story. Although each story is different, they all converge on the path of the Ice Age Trail. 

Roughly 12,000 years ago, when woolly mammoths roamed the land that nearly 6 million people now call home, glaciers carved out the 1,200-mile national scenic trail that follows the moraines — a landform of rock and soil — left behind from the last Wisconsin glaciation. 

It is one of only 11 National Scenic Trails and the only one in Wisconsin. The Ice Age Trail begins at the Interstate State Park on the border of Minnesota and travels east, halfway across the state, before winding south, all the way down to Janesville and then back up to the shores of Lake Michigan at Potawatomi State Park in Sturgeon Bay, on the thumb of Wisconsin in Door County. 

“I think anybody in Wisconsin who sees the landscape gets a feeling for what happened and wonders how it happened,” says former UW–Madison professor of geoscience David Mickelson. “Whether it’s somebody just driving from Madison to Milwaukee or Madison to northern Wisconsin or any number of places, you cross glacial deposits and they’re striking.” 

Mickelson says hikers in the Kettle Moraine area appreciated the unique landscape features and urged politicians to begin forming the trail in the 1950s. 

In the early 1970s, the Ice Age Council (which changed its name to the Ice Age Alliance in 2009) was formed, and from that day forward, countless volunteers have worked to make the trail what it is today. 

The Ice Age Trail has been brought to life by the unseen — the hikers, and those they can’t do it without, the volunteers. 

Last year alone, the Ice Age Trail Alliance, the nonprofit organization that oversees the trail, reported more than 100,000 volunteer hours from 1,990 volunteers. A large part of the current volunteer base is older, and a young professional cohort called the Trailblazers is looking to change that. 

“We think of it as kind of like a stepping stone between getting younger people to become active volunteers with the alliance,” says Miranda Murphy, the operations assistant at the Ice Age Trail Alliance.

The Trailblazers organization is dedicated to forming a strong, young volunteering community, in hopes of creating a solid foundation that will remain for years to come, according to Murphy. 

Sometimes people in the younger generations feel it is such a tight-knit community that it’s difficult to break in, Murphy says. But that is not the case, and the Trailblazers are the bridge between the two generations. 

Ranging from fourth graders to retirees, the trail fosters community for those who are looking to get involved and enjoy nature, says Katie Cervenka, a Trailblazer and UW–Madison senior. 

Because the core group of volunteers is retired, growing the corps of younger volunteers is vital to preserve the longevity of the trail. 

“Having the input of people with different backgrounds and different perspectives and different ages just makes an organization more well-rounded,” Cervenka says.

Along the 1,200 miles of the trail, each person has their own trail story and end goal. When Cervenka began working on the trail and connecting with everyone involved, she had a moment of recognition. 

“I realized that it was something much bigger for a lot of people,” Cervenka says.  

Forging a Purpose 

Scheel’s trail story started early — she just didn’t know it yet. 

“Growing up, my legs were basically cut off and put back on so that I was able to walk later in life,” Scheel says. 

Forty-nine years later she would set out on her ultimate goal to become a thousand-miler, which means she would attempt to hike the entire 1,200 miles in shorter chunks. 

As someone born with cerebral palsy, a condition that affected her movement and ability to walk, childhood was hard for her, she says. She faced bullying, teasing and mocking. 

“You don’t really have a purpose, you don’t know where your life is going,” Scheel says. “You’re just kind of in survival mode. You’re at the mercy of what this is.” 

Scheel spent years searching for that purpose. 

Growing up on a dairy farm in Marshall, northeast of Madison, she spent her younger years carrying corn, flipping hay and letting in the cows. She credits her mobility now to that labor on the farm. 

“I think if my parents would have had a 9-to-5 work job where that constant physical activity wasn’t instilled in me, my body wouldn’t be as mobile,” Scheel says. “I’ve been told that by different doctors, ‘I’ve seen people your age that aren’t because they haven’t been so active in their life.’”

Scheel said she was inspired to hike the Ice Age Trail by the story of Emily Ford, the first woman to hike the trail all the way through in the winter, in 2021, and one of only five people of color to complete it. 

“How am I going to hike 1,200 miles? What are you kidding?” Scheel says. 

But Ford made Scheel believe. She committed to the journey in June 2023 and has hiked about 140 miles so far. 

“I want to prove to myself that I can do it in my own way. Everybody hikes their own hike,” Scheel says. 

Until that moment in 2023, Scheel had struggled to find her purpose. The Chinese symbol etched in black ink on her upper left bicep reminds her of the commitment she made to herself. 

“I am supposed to use this vessel of the body I was given to inspire myself and others along the way,” Scheel says. 

Even if hiking isn’t their inspiration, Scheel says maybe she can help inspire someone to talk to their Mom or talk to a friend they haven’t seen in 20 years. 

“​I just want to do good,” Scheel says. “I want to spread kindness and inspiration and love and hope and because we all need that, regardless of what you do or don’t believe.” 

In the end, it’s the work of the volunteers that allows Scheel to live out her purpose and her mission of inspiring others. 

“I spent a good amount of time thanking all of them because if they don’t, if they weren’t there to volunteer their time to clear the path and to make it walkable, I definitely won’t be able to do it,” Scheel says. 

Seven glimpses of Ice Age heaven

Must-see spots along the Ice Age Trail

Spanning across the state of Wisconsin, the Ice Age Trail winds through a variety of different landscapes. Explore this map to find out about some of the hidden gems that lie along the trail and offer a peaceful escape from the stress of everyday life.