Janesville
Janesville, WI, May 15, 2025, by Greg in Wild / Roger Carpenter
On a long, multi-month hike, I am able to ponder the highs and lows of my life, how much I appreciate what I have accomplished, and what I can do in the future. Often, I think of my childhood and the events and places of my youth that had lasting impacts on me. On the Ice Age Trail, I had the opportunity to hike through a city that had a profound impact when I was between five and seven years old. That would be from 1959 to 1961 (if you are keeping score…I am really old!) in Janesville, Wisconsin. The official route of the IAT goes through the heart of Janesville and very close to where my family lived and where I attended school. Hiking to places that I still remember clearly was not just enjoyable but very powerful. Brian, my brother who lives in northern Illinois, made the 90-minute drive to join me in touring the city.
When I visited Janesville in 1998, I saw a trail marker for the Ice Age Trail in downtown! I never imagined that Janesville would have a National Scenic Trail routed through it! I knew then, 27 years ago, I would hike the Ice Age Trail again.
Janesville is an old city that had considerable growth in the mid-1800s. The house we rented was built during that time. The short, easy walk to downtown and of the two schools I attended for kindergarten and first grade formed my current preference to live where I can walk to town or places to enjoy the outdoors. Janesville has many parks, and I recall enjoying them often. When my mother gave me a dime I would walk solo to a little shop where a man would add Coca-Cola syrup in a glass, add soda water and ice, and I would eagerly drink it before walking through a park on the way home. The Rock River, which flows through downtown, was home to ducks ready to receive tossed pieces of popcorn Mom had just purchased in the Five-and-Dime on Milwaukee Avenue. Today, the IAT passes the old building that was once the drug store store. I am happy to report that ducks still inhabit the river!
On May 15, Brian and I walked a 2-mile segment of the IAT in downtown, past the school where I had kindergarten, to the site where our 1800s era house once stood (sadly, it was demolished and replaced by a nursing home) and to my first grade school. All of these places are with a half-mile of the IAT. The next day, I departed Janesville to continue my thru-hike. With my fully loaded backpack, I visited the schools and the house site again. Those two miles of my 1,153-mile journey are like none other I experienced on the three long trails I have completed. My Wisconsin roots run deep. Connecting my childhood to hiking as a 71-year-old inspires me to never forget where I come from and how my early experiences inform my growth as an adult.
Our mid-1800s era house stood where the single story nursing home is now.
