Wabash Trace Trail / Imogene to Shenandoah

Section Hiking the Wabash Trace Trail | Imogene to Shenandoah | January 2022

In January, we were able to continue our walk on the Wabash Trace on two different weekends, completing the section between Imogene and Shenandoah. We had low expectations for how much we would be able to do this winter, expecting to deal with snowy and icy county roads or freezing temperatures and wind-chill. However, both of these weekends were comfortable enough temperature wise, and we only had one snow day in the middle of the month. In fact, the last weekend in January had highs close in the 50’s, so it was perfect weather to be out enjoying the Iowa countryside.

The first section that we hiked was 8 miles round-trip from Imogene to 150th Ave. That day was cloudy and in the 30s, but as long as we were moving we stayed warm enough. Since the trail is mostly lined with trees on either side, we had a barrier from any cold winds. The scenery was significantly less colorful than the last time we were here in October, and there was a thin, patchy layer of snow that lay only on the trail. Because of that, we were able to see more tracks on the ground than we have before, which told us that while we were alone today, the trail had seen plenty of traffic recently…mostly from birds with very large feet. We were certain they were from turkeys. The most eventful part of the morning came when we spotted two turkeys just off the trail that took off flying, then I looked ahead and saw an owl take off from the branch it was perched on and swooped right at me before dodging up and towards another tree.

On the last weekend of January, we went out for a second walk, a little longer and a lot warmer than the first. We drove to Shenandoah and parked near the trail in Sportsmans Park off of IA-48, then walked North on the trail until we reached the point where we had left off a few weeks before. We saw one other jogger on the trail that morning, and about a dozen deer on our way back. Along the way, Curtis wandered off the trail often looking for deer antlers or telegraph insulators, thinking they’d make for fun ‘souvenirs’ from our trek. He wasn’t successful today, but we still have plenty of miles ahead of us to keep looking. Another interesting part of today was actually seeing train tracks next to the trail in Sportsmans Park. The entire trail may be a rail trail, and we may have seen plenty of abandoned train cars littered along the way, but this was the first time we had seen any tracks.

This hike turned out to be two miles longer than we had thought, so we ended up walking 10 miles that day. My feet were pretty sore after (it’s been a while since we’ve hiked 10 miles in a day!) and Charlotte seemed pretty stiff the next morning, but we had to complete that section at some point and that day had been perfect for it weather-wise.

It was on that day that I learned from a mural along the trail that the Wabash Trace Trail is actually the longest trail in Iowa. Clearly that’s not the only reason we’re hiking it — it only has to do with proximity to our home in Omaha — but I guess that will be fun to say once we finish it. We also realized that once we finish the trail, we’ll technically be able to say we’ve hiked it twice, since all our walks are out-and-back. But the part that I’m most excited about is just the fact that we’ve now been able to enjoy it in all four seasons!