Thousand-Miler

Adventures Hiking the Ice Age Trail

By: Melanie Radzicki McManus

Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman

In 36 thrilling days, Melanie Radzicki McManus hiked 1,100 miles around Wisconsin, landing her in the elite group of Ice Age Trail thru-hikers known as the Thousand-Milers. In prose that's alternately harrowing and humorous, Thousand-Miler takes you with her through Wisconsin's forests, prairies, wetlands, and farms, past the geologic wonders carved by long-ago glaciers, and into the neighborhood bars and gathering places of far-flung small towns. Follow along as she worries about wildlife encounters, wonders if her injured feet will ever recover, and searches for an elusive fellow hiker known as Papa Bear. Woven throughout her account are details of the history of the still-developing Ice Age Trail - one of just 11 National Scenic Trails - and helpful insight and strategies for undertaking a successful thru-hike.

In addition to chronicling McManus's hike, Thousand-Miler also includes the little-told story of 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 as a way to ease back into civilian life, and other fascinating tales from the trail.

©2017 The State Historical Society of Wisconsin (P)2017 Tantor

Great story, journey and an inspiration

As Iam researching for a thru hike of the Ice Age Trail, I discovered this book. I found some good trips and even better stories of the trail and that my friend and Co worker was the first person to thru hike the trail! He has always been a humble guy, but I sure would have loved to hear about it sooner! This research has become even more motivation for my Crack at the trail in 2022!

Hidden Gem

I loved the detailed stories of the people and places she interacted with. I didn’t expect to receive the history of how the ice age trail was created and first explored. Nice hidden gems through out the book.

Severely hampered by the narrator

The book itself is reasonably well-written, but I'm 7 chapters in and I'm about to give up on listening because the narrator is insufferable. Even when narrating basic facts or talking about a beautiful moment, her voice sounds perturbed at best, and in moments where the author is having difficulty, the nasal sounds of annoyance approach a level usually reserved for extremely irritated teenagers. It makes it feel like the author is never having fun or appreciating the journey, no matter what the actual words say.

Do yourself a favor and buy a print copy of this book, rather than signing on for hour upon hour of some nasal soprano princess trying to talk about nature. Have a friend or loved one read it to you instead.

Made me want to hike the Ice Age Trail

As a Milwaukee resident it was fun to hear about places I was very familiar with. I liked the description of the trail and the research that had gone into people and places. Most illuminating.

great book all around

I have always loved the Ice Age Trail, but I am one of the lucky few that has it in their backyard it was really exciting to hear about her accounts with the trails I hold near and dear. my New Year's resolution was to hike a hundred miles of different parts of the Ice Age Trail mind you it is not the whole Trail but this definitely got me excited about the warmer months ahead. if you are not a wisconsinite I feel you'll still enjoy this book if you enjoy hiking and learning about history of a place.

A fun story

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes, this was entertaining and I learned alot about a trail I had never heard of...

What other book might you compare Thousand-Miler to and why?

Home is forward by Gary Sizer. Both are autobiographies of hiking adventures

Which scene was your favorite?

no particular one

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

no

Good lord

The whole book is her complaining about her feet or telling you about everyone else’s hike either on the Ice Age Trail or another. Only made it through 3/4 of the book. Couldn’t take it anymore.

great book

Very interesting book-- from beginning to end. I really enjoyed it. A lot if history.

Hardly got through it

I told myself I could only write a review if I finished the book and gave it a chance to redeem itself. It did not. The tone of this book is whiney and ungrateful. I’m sure the author is a nice person but I could hardly take it. She mixes in the stories of a few other people (in kind of a neat way where their story is told up to the point of meeting her) and some information about the trail but as a whole it’s all pretty uninteresting. Author doesn’t do a great job of turning hardships into anything more than complaints. She is also rude to the people helping her. “The nice thing about having family help you is they have to like you even when you’re a jerk” or something like that was the nail in the coffin for me. Congrats to her on finishing the hike. Glad others like the book. For anyone wanting a book with a whole different tone to it I would recommend “AWOL on the AT.”

Hike with Someone Else

What a complainer. I had to abandon the book after only a few hours of listening. The author didn't adequately inform herself in advance of her hike and then whines. I wish she'd stayed home.