Trailblazer

By P.J. GLISSON

[email protected]

UPSON, Wis. - Late in March, directly next to Wisconsin's Uller Trails, all the makings of a winter paradise were set up to honor one of the people who has made the paths possible for decades.

Charles Zinsmaster of Pence - known commonly as "Charlie" - was surrounded by family, friends, neighbors, former workmates, fellow volunteers, and romping dogs in various colors and sizes.

A bonfire burned while meat sizzled on grills, and lunch was spread out on a simple, folding table next to a tiny trail cabin.

The commemoration was for Zinsmaster's 50 years as a volunteer on the trails that he also helped to create.

Although now 70, he made one point perfectly clear: "I'm not retiring, This is a milestone."

After getting his college education at Miami University in Akron, Ohio, Zinsmaster and his wife, Carol, took the experience they'd gained so far at other hills to Whitecap Mountains Resort in Upson, Wisconsin.

"We both worked at Whitecap," said Carol, who explained that her husband groomed the hills while she was stationed in the retail shop and did housekeeping.

As he put it, they lived as "ski bums" in their early youth.

"I came here in 1973," said Charlie, who has a degree in freshwater biology, which he kids is "basically fly fishing."

After Whitecap, he spent a few years running the Youth Conservation Corps for the Iron County Forestry and Parks Department.

"He was great," said Tara Krall, who said he hired her there. She is now that department's office manager and trail coordinator.

Charlie then joined the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in about 1980, first as a wildlife technician until about 1988 and then as a forester until he retired in 2018.

"He's done a lot of good work for the area and the trails," said Shane Wyzlic, who also used to work with Charlie. "He's very dedicated."

Right from the start, Charlie said it was clear already at Whitecap that "something else was out there," so he and fellow adventurers began creating Uller Trails in the same year that he moved here.

They began by digging out the trails by hand. "A lot of those kids are 50 years old now," he said of the people who worked with him.

"Back in the day, we used to set trails by ski," said Charlie. Snowmobiles then were used before more sophisticated machinery gradually helped to pave the way.

The trails became a passion to which Charlie dedicated time in the evening after his job and on his weekends even as he and his wife also raised two children.

"I did it for me," he said. "I did it for Carol. I did it for the kids."

But the trails also opened up new worlds for other people in the region and for tourists.

"The trail gives them access to all four seasons up here," said Charlie, who said they have mixed interests, with some of them liking the region so much that they result in buying property and fixing up homes.

Charlie also explained that, after working on the trails for several years, he and other volunteers also organized a ski club, the Penokee Rangers and began raising money.

"We raised funds whatever way we could - mostly donations," he said, adding that they used to hold fundraisers.

In addition, he noted of another source of trail funds, "We used to do aspen maintenance. You'd bid for it and the county would get the money from the state and the club would do the work."

In recent times, he said they've grown to work "in really close cooperation" with Iron County.

"The county always condoned what we did," he said, but as of 2010, he said the county's Forestry Department "started spending serious money out here."

That was welcome, as he said a county bulldozer could do in a day what previously took volunteers five weekends to accomplish.

Today, the Penokee Rangers Club reports on its website that the Uller system includes 29K of trails, offering classic cross country skiing, snowshoeing and walking near Weber Lake and Iron Belt. Montreal Ski Trails offers an additional 11K of trails in Montreal and Pence.

In Charlie's words, what he loves about the trails is "just these woods, this timber up here and the fact that you're skiing in real up-north timber - that and the snow."

He speaks of the outdoors very nearly as though it is in his blood.

"This is what I've been doing since I was 7 years old," he said. "My mom was a jumper. My mom ski-jumped. It's been a part of me like breathing."

When he's not on the trails, Charlie said he also enjoys other activities.

"I read, carve. I like to fish in the summer and I like to bike. I love to bike," he said, explaining that he mostly road bikes but also has a mountain bike.

"I commuted to work for years on a bike," he said.

Now that he's one of the older trail volunteers, he said, "These young guys are pushing me out of my comfort zone."

Charlie's son, Karl Zinsmaster, runs St. Maud's, a public workshop in Pence. But he also hopes to continue his father's legacy. One of his dreams is to purchase groomers powered only by electricity.

Charlie's daughter, Kristin Zinsmaster, also was at the March 26 commemoration with her baby Gabriel, 4 months, who stared at his grandfather in awe. Kristin works as a lawyer in Minneapolis, where she lives with her husband, James Narr, and their second son, Emanuel, 2.

"Hopefully, this new generation will take us beyond this next level," concluded Charlie. "We've done our first half century. Hopefully, we've got another 50 years coming."

Penokee members likely will be inspired by the club's motto of "semper opus," which translates from Latin as "always hard working."

When Karl was asked the inspiration for the motto, he chuckled and said, "That's just Charlie."