HARTLAND — Someone we can all thank for keeping our hiking trails in Wisconsin beautiful is a person who has hiked the entire 1,200-mile-long Ice Age Trail, has traveled the state building hundreds of miles of trail, and is a retired teacher turned nurturer of nature. This steward for Wisconsin's outdoors is Pat Witkowski.
“Respect nature and take care of it, and this is a perfect opportunity to do that," Pat Witkowski said about her role as Trail Maintenance Coordinator for the Waukesha/Milwaukee Chapter of the Ice Age Trail Alliance (IATA).
She has been a volunteer for the IATA ever since she finished section hiking the entire Ice Age Trail in 2004. The trail snakes its way through Wisconsin. Witkowski said she was the 24th person to complete the entire hike. She did that via section hiking, which means hiking in portions.
"Not only did I get to see the whole trail when I hiked it, but I get to see it again now, maintaining it," she said.
Since the year she completed the Ice Age Trail, she has been putting in roughly 20-30-hour workweeks as a volunteer and leading trail maintenance efforts. Sometimes that means answering emails or hopping on Zoom calls, but primarily, she is outside getting her fingers dirty.
Watch Pat Witkowski's story here...
“I was a farm kid, so I grew up working hard," Witkowski said.
Trail maintenance is her passion. While she mainly works for the Waukesha County Chapter of the IATA, she leads trail-building efforts across the state. Sometimes those trips can be as long as eight days.
For all of her work, she was awarded the IATA's most prestigious honor, the Spirit Stick. It goes to one person, recognizing a long-term commitment to volunteering and trail stewardship. The National Park Service also recognized Witkowski for volunteering 10,000 hours on the trails.
“When we’re building trail, I always think about - even this little muddy little patch here. This might be somebody’s favorite place on the entire 1,000-mile trail," she said.
One of the groups she oversees is called The Mudders. They meet every week and pretty much work rain or shine. Many of the Mudders said that Witkowski inspires them.
“She’s so welcoming. I guess that’s the thing that really made me want to come back again and again. She’s empowering. She makes you feel useful. She teaches you how to use all sorts of different tools," Brenda Marquardt, a volunteer with the IATA for the past five years, said.
“Our chapter does things that none of the other chapters do, and my answer to that is, well, because all the other chapters don’t have a Pat Witkowski leading the way," Lee Taylor, a volunteer of four years, said.
"She really inspires people to come out. A lot of people will return time and time again for our chapter work days. You've got groups like (The Mudders) that are people that come out almost every week. She's really motivated and inspired us and wants us to keep going," Mike Drehobl, who has been volunteering for six years, said.
Witkowski, and all these other volunteers have the same goal. They want to keep the trails accessible so everyone can enjoy them, today and for decades in the future.
“I’m going to have a great-grandchild in a couple of weeks. I want it to be a great place for him to be able to hike," Witkowski said.
Which is why you will find Witkowski outside every week, leading The Mudders, and organizing crews across the state in order to keep our trails a treasure.
And this is all despite her claims that she is slowing down due to a knee replacement. From what I saw, she hasn't missed a beat.
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