Part of my mission with the She Go Journal is to not only document my own experiences trying new things (whether that’s giving wakeboarding a try or surfing in California) but to also share how other people are embodying the #SheGOlive attitude.

Which is why I was so excited to get to talk to one of the raddest people I know. She runs ultras, skis, cycles, rock climbs, is planning a mountaineering trip in Peru—AND is one of my oldest friends. 

(She is also the person who convinced me to hike Half Dome and witnessed me getting pummeled by waves at Diamond Head when I was too impatient to start with the basics while learning to surf).

A while back, she posted on Instagram about a new challenge she’d given herself: run every mile of Door County Land Trust trails.

I can always count on her to be doing something interesting, so I thought I’d give her a call to learn more. 

What is the Door County Land Trust

Since the start of the pandemic, my friend has been traveling—working remotely (oh, yeah, she’s also killer at her job) in a variety of places that allow her to chase the snow during winter and rocks during the summer. 

For the past couple of months, however, she’s stayed somewhat stationary. Slowing travels for the time being, she and her fiancé (a Wisconsin native) have been enjoying his mid-Western hometown. During their prolonged visit, she’s discovered the Door County Land Trust.

The Door County Land Trust is a non-profit organization that’s dedicated to preserving ecologically and scenically valuable land within the county. To do so, the trust purchases properties, accepts land donations, and enters into conservation easement agreements with private landowners (legal agreements that protect the land by limiting its use).

“They’ve collected land throughout this peninsula,” my friend explained to me over the phone.

And “collected” is the best way to describe it. 

Often, when we think about environmental conservation, we imagine large swaths of land. We feel that we must protect entire wetlands, forests, or acres upon acres of terrain to make a material impact. (If you’ve ever read “The Last American Man” by Elizabeth Gilbert, that was certainly Eustace Conway’s take).

The Door County Land Trust, however, has opened our eyes (my eyes at least) to an alternative. Does it have to be all or nothing?

As with any collection, the areas that make up The Door County Land Trust weren’t attained all at once. Nor were they neatly located together. Instead, donations and small purchases have resulted in the Trust’s protection over a variety of locations found throughout the county.

By collecting these small parcels of land, over time, the trust has been able to protect so many different areas within the county (over twenty-seven miles of hiking trails alone). All of the land owned by the Trust is open to the public. You can grab their hiking map and head out along any of the trails. 

“It’s so fun to see all of these different patches of land,” my friend told me, “sometimes, it’s just a square mile that’s tucked into a neighborhood, this beautiful place within all of this developed land.

A treasure saved—and worth saving.

Why Run Every Mile of Door County Land Trust trails?

As I mentioned in the intro to this post, my friend is an runner… like an actual runner… like she runs races that extend beyond marathons… by the time I wake up in the morning, she’s usually already put in ten miles. 

Because of this, she’s used to challenging terrain, long distances, and lots of hills. 

So what does this have to do with The Door County Land Trust?

Well, if you’re running in Wisconsin, and specifically Door County, you’ll find that the landscape is rather… flat. No mountains to leave you breathless and force you to push through fatigued lungs.

Unlike me (someone whose mind is occupied just with trying to survive any jog) this was a bit of a letdown for my friend. As someone who runs almost every day—and who’s been exploring so many different trails and states over the past two years—she needs those discrepancies and obstacles to keep her interested. Running the same flat road for two months simply wasn’t going to do it for her.

BUT rather than succumb to boredom and disinterest, my friend decided to get creative and set a different type of challenge for herself. She couldn’t change the terrain around her, but she could set up a new goal to give herself something interesting to strive for.

That’s the #SheGOlive attitude in action!

She decided that she’d run every mile of trail maintained by the Door County Land Trust before she left Wisconsin.

Not only would this give her a goal she could focus on achieving, but it would also allow her to explore areas that she might not have gone to otherwise. 

How has this challenge been going?

The truth is, most of the running has been easy. In fact, she’s run many of the trails in each parcel of land more than once. 

The real trick has been figuring out the logistics. Because the trust isn’t one big plot of land, she’s had to schedule time and transportation around the county to the 14 distinct preserves that the trails are spread between. Whether that’s a bike ride or a ferry ride (or both), the unexpected (and fun) part of this challenge has been plotting out how to get to every trail.

“There’s a bunch of trails on this little island,” she explained to me over the phone, “the ferry only runs at certain times so we timed it one day so that I could knock all of those trails out at once.”

Her favorite part?

So far, her favorite part has been Kangaroo Lake. Not only was she able to run through this scenic preserve, but she was able to learn all about the wildlife, geology, fossil remains, and more that can be found there.

Another unexpected benefit of this challenge has been the discovery of the different geology, history, and ecology that each area offers. This makes heading to each new location exciting and gives her something additional to look forward to.

So what’s next?

She thinks the next half of trails will take around three to four days to accomplish. 

After that, she has a few things on her calendar, but most exciting is Peru next year. She’s headed there for two weeks of mountaineering because, well, she GO! 

I’ll be sure to catch up wither her after that and hopefully she’ll let me share a bit about that adventure as well.
Your Turn:

• Have you ever visited a Door Lake County Land Trust preserve? If so, let us know what you thought.

• What types of challenges have you created for yourself?