About

Kris Van Handel lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her partner, Jared, and their dog, Maisy. Kris has section hiked the entire Ice Age Trail four times and is currently working on her fifth completion. Besides hiking, Kris also enjoys volunteering with the Ice Age Trail Alliance. When Kris isn’t hiking, she works with children with autism as a behavior analyst.

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Kris' trail name is Hair Tie. Many hikers on long distance trails receive trail names from other hikers. Kris received her name because she has 10-20 pony holders in her backpack at all times. Some people consider that an unnecessary amount, especially if you're trying to reduce the weight of your pack. Kris feels that you can never have too many pony holders and they can be used in many ways.

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Penny crossed the Rainbow Bridge in March 2022. She hiked over 1000 miles on the Ice Age Trail and loved every minute. Penny preferred hiking in the winter and always had a prance in her step.

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Kris and Jared adopted Maisy in August 2023. She also enjoys hiking and is working on her first completion of the Ice Age Trail. Maisy's trail name is Mouser because she loves to catch mice.