Great Lakes walk
Women plan 332-mile trek to Lake Superior to garner support for conservation issues
A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, according to the common translation of a Chinese proverb.
The concept applies to all large undertakings, of course.
Even 332-mile hikes to garner support for the world’s biggest freshwater resource.
Julia Robson and Alyssa Armbruster took their first symbolic strides Saturday in Walk To Sustain Our Great Lakes, an effort to raise awareness for regional conservation issues.
The Milwaukee women plan to walk more than 330 miles beginning in August for the project, which will also include a documentary film and fundraising for nonprofit groups.
Their prospective route will take them from Discovery World in Milwaukee to the Lake Superior shore.
But first things first for WSOGL. Thirty-five people joined Robson and Armbruster on Saturday for a public “warmup hike” in Grant Park.
“We’ve got some training to do,” said Robson, 26. “And Alyssa and I will have hundreds of miles to talk to each other later this summer, so it’s great to have so many people sharing the trail with us today.”
Fittingly, the outing started on the shore of Lake Michigan and passed several sites where habitat improvement or ecological restoration had taken place.
“One of the things Julia and I
want to stress is the progress made on many fronts over the decades,” said Armbruster, 23. “We know there are challenges, and those can’t be ignored. But it’s important to remember the accomplishments, too. They can help give people hope.”
Robson and Armbruster are graduates of UW-Milwaukee’s Conservation and Environmental Science program who now work for the Milwaukee County Park Department’s Natural Areas Program. Robson is an assistant coordinator, Armbruster is a field technician.
At a time when many twentysomethings are chasing the latest smartphone designs, Robson and Armbruster are focusing their energies on conservation issues of global importance.
The idea for the WSOGL came to Robson in January after she overheard a coffee shop conversation among people roughly her age.
One said: “What do we really need the Environmental Protection Agency
for anyway, all they do is test our vehicle emissions?”
Robson said the remark made her think of a line in Dan Egan’s new book, “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes.”
“To paraphrase, it says ‘the biggest threat to our lakes is our own ignorance,’ ” Robson said. “My generation grew up when rivers running into these lakes were no longer catching on fire. Much has been cleaned up. But we can’t afford to be ignorant about these vast yet vulnerable resources. I wanted to find a way to bring attention to it.”
Robson had been inspired by several efforts to raise ecological awareness in recent years, including a 2013 project called the “Long Walk for the Birds” by Bill Mueller of Milwaukee. Mueller hiked 247 miles from Ozaukee County to the Mississippi River to benefit bird conservation.
Robson decided a hike in the Great Lakes could be an effective vehicle for her goals. Armbruster, an experienced leader of back-country outings and former staff member of UWM’s Outdoor Pursuits program, quickly accepted an offer to join the effort.
The women are collaborating with Rayni Day Productions to produce a documentary about the restoration of the Great Lakes and how far they have come since the 1970s when the Clean Water Act was established.
The film will feature the 300-plus mile journey as well as interviews with local residents about the value and challenges facing the Great Lakes and footage of projects implemented to improve and protect the region.
Robson and Armbruster plan to depart Aug. 26 from Milwaukee. Their tentative route will travel north, initially on the Oak Leaf Trail, then head through the Kettle Moraine State Forest-Northern Unit and on to Green Bay.
From there, they will head northwest through the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest and then into the Ottawa National Forest in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The pair will secure off-trail passes and camp along the way.
Their scheduled end point is the shore of Lake Superior in Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park near Ontonagon, Mich.
Armbruster is downloading maps and planning the trail in detail, including multiple options for campsites or lodging at the end of each leg.
The pair will travel as lightly as possible but will carry essential gear including a tent, sleeping bags, stoves, clothing, water filtration devices and food.
Both Robson and Armbruster are experienced backpackers and hikers, but have never attempted anything on this scale.
The trip will be as “green as possible,” they said. They will donate a carbon tax for any fossil fuels used during the walk, such as vehicle transportation to or from drop-off points.
The pair plan to cover 15 to 20 miles a day on the hike. At that rate, it would take them about 31⁄2 weeks to reach Lake Superior from downtown Milwaukee.
Robson, a full-time employee, will use accumulated vacation time to complete the walk. Armbruster is a seasonal employee and will be on unpaid leave.
The project has a website, a Facebook page and is establishing a Go Fund Me account.
Proceeds from the walk will be donated to nonprofits that assist with Great Lakes conservation and education, including the Alliance for the Great Lakes, Discovery World and the Urban Ecology Center.
The pair hope the walk and outreach efforts will “inspire others to act locally on Great Lakes and freshwater resource issues, so that our freshwater resources may be protected for and enjoyed by future generations to come.”
The women decided to do the walk before budget cuts to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and Environmental Protection Agency were proposed last month in Washington, D.C.
“The need for regulation, research, restoration and education on local, statewide and national levels is imperative now more than ever,” Robson said. “We all have a stake in what happens to our natural resources, a stake in the future of these streams, rivers, lakes and Great Lakes. This walk is our way of trying to do our part.”