That Trail Guy: A Wisconsin native's 16-year journey along America's trail system

-- Photo courtesy of Bart Smith �

Hemlock Creek, Barron County along the Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin.

By Craig Spychalla

For the past nine days, Bart Smith has been alone in a woods in upstate New York without any chili to eat.

And that just may save his life.

With 20 pounds of camera gear and a heavy sleeping pack, his only contact with the outside world is a cell phone he uses sparingly so it doesn't die before he gets to the next small town.

Smith is nearing the end of a journey he began in 1992 when he set out to hike the eight National Scenic Trails in the United States that encompass roughly 15,000 miles.

He's photographed a haunting fog over the Appalachians, water cascading along the Ice Age Trail and animals hanging out watching hikers.

But there is one picture Smith did not capture that would have showed the true scope and danger of his project.

One of the first trails he set out to complete was the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail in Northern California. Stopping for the night, he decided to forgo setting up his tent, choosing to sleep below the stars in his sleeping bag. After polishing off some dehydrated chili his wife made him for the trip, he turned in.

At 1:30 in the morning, Smith was jolted awake by a sharp pain in his lower backside. A black bear, trying to trace the source of a smell, decided to take a bite out of Smith right through his sleeping bag.

"My guess, the digestive process was taking place and the bear was allured to what was taking forth," Smith joked of the indigestion he got from his meal.

"I rolled over as fast as I could and scared the bear. It was a camp bear which was the most dangerous kind," he said. "He ran off, but he did leave four good bruises."

The bear didn't break skin, but four of his teeth bruised Smith's backside. And it added to his amazing story.

Through his photographs, Smith has captured America's landscape in a different way. His latest book, "Along Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail," brought him back to his home state and through areas near Madison where he grew up.

It was along the Ice Age Trail where Smith encountered his scariest moment.

The illusive woodpecker

Having run into the small town of Portageville, N.Y., the night before to recharge his cell phone, Smith talked from his outdoor office along the North Country Trail.

In two weeks, he will reach Syracuse and the end of the trail that stretches all the way to Wisconsin — 3,200 miles in all.

His goal is not to walk every inch of the trail, but to complete the vast majority of the eight trails and shoot them all for publication.

"Hiking and photography are not the most compatible," he said. "To get good photography you often need time and need the lighting. And with hiking, you need to make time. There is a conflict there."

Smith often has returned to spots along trails just to get better lighting for the perfect shot. While he doesn't seek out wildlife for his pictures, except for an elusive woodpecker he still hasn't captured on film, animal moments do arise.

"I have to have wildlife that's fairly cooperative," he said.

He has logged more than 50,000 photographs, shot with his 35 mm cameras, and just this year he changed to digital.

Before he began his journey, Smith worked as a contractor, and got his start in photography taking pictures of operations for a hospital.

"I don't have one of those lives that's easily described," he said.

Earlier this week it snowed in New York where Smith is hiking. While it can add to the beauty of a shot, Smith said he's not a fan of hiking in snow.

"Sometimes I camp in a location that will have photographic value even if I don't make it as many miles as I would like to," he said.

A Badger at heart

Along the Ice Age Trail, which runs 1,000 miles through Wisconsin, Smith came across a place that had an eerie feeling.

"In Door County I came through a park. It was almost kind of spooky, and it triggered a memory in my mind," he said. "I swear I was there as a kid."

Smith's love of the outdoors and photography stems from his father, who would take the family from its home in Madison to explore Wisconsin's outdoors.

"It's always been kind of my life. My dad was a professor of pediatrics at Madison. He brought our family on really amazing adventures," Smith said. "I was raised in my dad's backpack."

The Ice Age Trail presented Smith a chance to relive childhood moments.

"It was fun to go back and do that."

Because of the chili incident, and other creatures of the night, Smith uses a tent 95 percent of the time, and spends a couple of days in a motel to recharge, shower and get ready for the next leg.

While he lives with his wife in Tacoma, Wash., Smith rarely is there. Last year he spent a little more than two months at home. But that's an opportunity for his wife Bridgie Graham Smith, a nurse who works overtime to help fund the project, to join her husband on a trail.

In 2004, Smith set out on the Ice Age Trail and was impressed by the open prairies, and how few beer cans he found along the side of roads, unlike other states he's traveled.

That summer, he was joined by Bridgie as they passed through Portage and Baraboo at the height of the local mosquito blood drive.

"I bought all this gear to hike, and we got there and had to (purchase) mosquito outfits," Bridgie said.

One night when Bridgie got up to use nature's bathroom, she didn't have her mosquito protection and became food for the blood suckers.

She had so many bites that the hike was called off for her, and she got a motel room in Baraboo. Bridgie soon found the Dells area to her liking as well.

"It was the most perfect trip," she said of her Ice Age experience. "They had antiques real reasonable."

Everywhere Smith has traveled, Bridgie has found a way to meet him somewhere along the trail.

"I always say I'm a trailhead groupie," she said.

The Ice Age

Being bit by a black bear in a woods is enough for anyone to call off the trip, but not for Smith.

"I get the impression a lot of people would be afraid of the outdoors, but being outdoors so much, there is just not a lot to be afraid of," he said.

Smith's scariest moment in the outdoors had more teeth than the bear. It was along the Ice Age Trail during a lightning storm that lasted five hours.

"I've never experienced something that intense," he said.

"If anything ever happened (to me), a hunter would find me six months later."

Bridgie said she is not worried about her husband on the trails. She knows he takes precautions to ensure he is safe.

With the exception of his wife traveling to meet him on occasion, Smith hikes alone.

"I've hiked with other people before, but most people can't get time off for a month-long hike at a time," he said. "To be honest, I love the solitude."

One last hike, maybe

On Oct. 2, Smith's journey will come to an end along the Continental Divide in New Mexico with thousands of pictures to relive his adventure, and 15 pairs of worn boots.

The 48-year-old has been able to get four books published so far about his journey, the last with the University of Wisconsin Press. But not all of his trips will make it to print. Some of his early work along the Potomac may never be published, he says, because it lacks marketability.

But his main goal is something bigger.

"I am hoping to get a book on America's National Scenic Trails System (published)," Smith said, adding he's talking to National Geographic.

He would also like to have a photography exhibit of his adventures at the Smithsonian.

Oct. 2 marks the 40th anniversary of the creation of the National Trails System, and finishing on that date is a way for Smith to pay homage.

He will be loaded down heavily for the New Mexico trip with extra food because of its remote location. And no doubt Bridgie will be waiting for him at the trailhead.

"I am just fortunate that someone shares my dream," he said.

About the book

-- What: "Along Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail" is a collection of Bart Smith's photography from his journey. It also has short stories about the trail.

-- Pages: 104.

-- Published by: University of Wisconsin Press.

-- Price: $24.95.

-- Other Smith Books: Bart Smith's books include: "The Appalachian Trail: Calling Me Back to the Hills," "Along the Pacific Crest Trail," and "Along the Florida Trail."

National Scenic Trails

Trail Name   Year  Length

Appalachian   1968  2,174

Pacific Crest  1968  2,638

Continental Divide  1978  3,100

North Country   1980  3,200

Ice Age   1980  1,000

Florida   1983  1,300

Potomac Heritage 1983 700

Natchez Trace   1983  695