When Emily Ford set out to thru-hike Wisconsin’s Ice Age Trail in December she thought it would be a good way to find her place in the racial justice movement by connecting people of color to backpacking.
What she found as she became the first woman to thru-hike the trail in winter was a community of people eager to join in her journey, offering their homes when the weather turned bitterly cold, leaving trail magic for her, and tramping down the trail to make it easier for her to hike through the snow.
“I had no idea the (trail) culture was so deep,” Emily says.
Her Instagram account grew from 200 to 10,000 followers, with many writing words of encouragement and praising her as an inspiration.
“Thank you, for all of the inspiration that you have given me this winter. You touched so many lives, and kept us going during such a strange time in America. You were the light!” wrote Lakewapo.
And from Martyhake: “Your strength, courage and kindness have inspired and motivated so many.”
Not only did Emily become the first woman to thru-hike the trail in winter, her trek was the second recorded winter thru-hike, according to the Ice Age Trail Alliance. Accompanying her on the trail was Diggins, a 3-year-old Alaskan Husky loaned to her by a sled dog kennel.
Emily, 28, from Duluth, Minnesota, began planning her thru-hike in November. As the head gardener for Glensheen Mansion, a 39-room historic house on 12 acres in Duluth, she has time off during the winter. She’s hiked the Kekekabic, Border Route, and Superior Hiking trails, and was looking for a Midwest trail of about 1,000 miles to hike this winter. A friend recommended the 1,200-mile Ice Age Trail, a National Scenic Trail, and it was game on.
“I wanna do this for other people too,” Emily posted on Instagram before her hike. “People who haven’t ever felt like they fit in in the crowds of people or never found their ‘group.’ People who feel different for all sorts of reasons. For the people who look like me and are afraid to spend a night under the stars. I don’t want others to be depraved of such calm and beauty because of societal fear. I think that we can change that and I want to help.”
Emily left the Eastern Terminus in Sturgeon Bay on Dec. 28 and arrived at the Western Terminus in St. Croix Falls on March 6, where she was greeted by family and a crowd of people who had followed her journey on social media.
She and Diggins were mostly alone on trail throughout the hike, and Diggins’ companionship was priceless. “I miss her terribly,” Emily says now that Diggins—named for Minnesota native and Nordic skier Jessie Diggins—has returned to her kennel. (In April, Emily asked the kennel if she could keep Diggins permanently, and the kennel owners agreed.)
They found dispersed sites to pitch a tent at night, except for about two weeks when the temperatures dropped below zero, sometimes reaching minus 35F. Even with a sleeping bag rated to minus 30, Emily thought it better to stay inside overnight.
“I came to a realization that my mental health and finishing the trail were more important than proving that I can sleep in -30°F weather for weeks on end,” she says on Instagram
So Emily messaged people who offered a place to stay when she passed through, taking them up on their hospitality. She took some zero days with friendly hosts, but resisted the temptation to linger too long in towns.
She planned nine resupply drops, relying on friends to drive to prearranged meeting spots. Although the trail follows roads in many places, the villages it passes through have little for resupply or overnight lodging. “I’m so glad I did it that way,” Emily says of her resupply drops.
She started out pulling a sled but sent that home, instead carrying a 60-pound pack. Diggins carried her own food and gear.
At first Emily hated the road walking—18 miles of pavement on one day—but eventually came to grips with the solid, snow-free surface. She started out with snowshoes but sent them home when carrying them through packed-down stretches of trail proved unwieldy. She postholed through knee-deep snow on many sections of trail at a speed of about a half-mile an hour. “Talk about slowing down,” Emily says.
So does Emily think she accomplished her goal of inspiring people like her to take to the outdoors?
“For sure I do!” she says.
Featured photo courtesy of Emily Ford