Superior Hiking Trail (#2)

The following morning we head out for the 2 1/2 hour drive back to Grand Marais. We decided to try around a 10 mile hike and picked the Cook County Road 58 to Kadunce River Wayside section of the trail which indicated 9.2 miles. This is our first time on a trail with elevation changes and uneven surfaces for any length. We have done 15 milers on flat surfaces and thought we could maintain a minimum 2 miles per hour pace. It took us a little over eight hours! While Michelle experienced little problem, I had great difficulty.

We met our shuttle at the trailhead at CC Road 58. To our amazement the driver is Jack who is the owner of Stone Harbor. He picked us up and drove us to the trail head at the Kanduce River Wayside. We planned to hike back to our car from there.

We got our packs on, equipment adjusted and headed out on the trail.

Off we went!

 

The trail wound southward to the east of Route 61. The country is stunning and soon we could not hear the traffic on the highway, a real wilderness feeling. The trail was full of tree roots, rocks and the air full of mosquitos (we had sprayed liberally so not a great problem).

 

Over time the unevenness of the trail started to take a toll on my knees and right foot. We certainly were not keeping to a pace of 2 miles per hour. I was surprised the difference from a trail with even ground to this type of trail. Yet hiking like this was what we want to do and there was only one way to go: southbound to the car.

About four hours in we stopped at a trail camping area. Every few miles on the trail are small campsites for those doing overnights or thru hiking. At this point the energy was still high and felt good to stop and eat. We did get lost at one point, the trail came down to a foot bridge heading to the right and the trail keep going straight. We went straight which lead us to another campsite and had to back track several times to the bridge and get back on the right direction. Personally I thought the trail should have had more blazes, but that was the only time we felt unsure of our direction. The vistas were incredible looking out over the lake from the hill. 



 

We meet very few fellow hikers. Our first was a couple just out for short hike looking for mushrooms. I am not sure where they got on the trail as they has no packs and only carrying water bottles. They passed us shortly heading back the way they had come, she saying the humidity was to much. Coming northbound was a man who said he and his family were hiking for a week. He said a group of kids were heading our way. He told us to look for blueberry patches that we would come to shortly. A group of young folk passed doing a healthy pace with loaded packs - to be young and strong! The blueberries were delicious!!

 

 

 

By the time we reach this meadow I was not doing well. This about 7 1/2 miles in. Everything hurt particularly my knees. I was cranky the trail heading upwards as I thought the trail map put us closer to the last two miles.

The last two miles was a steep downhill back to our car. By this point just stepping down was very painful. Thank goodness for the hiking poles. I felt like a near invalid at this point and just wanted the hike over. Every step was painful and slow.

Of course we made it back to the car. Our usual post hike treat are McDonald's milkshake, but no McDonald's exists in Grand Marais! Dairy Queen did the trick along with dinner. We headed back to the campsite, another 2 1/2 hours driving but now in the dark. We finally made it back after 10pm, exhausted from both hiking and driving with lots of lessons to ponder......



Superior Hiking Trail (#1)

Our week long vacation took us north to Lake Superior, the Superior National Forest and The Superior Hiking Trail (SHT). We left on Sunday, August 17 and headed to my daughter's home outside Madison, WI for my grandson's first birthday party. She and her husband Nate live on a large, rural piece of land with their house and a large shed (where we store our pop-up camper during the winter). We stayed overnight after the party and left northward the following morning.

We stayed the next night on a friend's lake front property on the shore of Lake Superior just east of Duluth in Wisconsin. I have heard many tails of "The Cabin" from my step children and was great to finally have the chance to visit. We had the place to ourselves on a rainy, stormy and misty afternoon and night.

The waves were constantly crashing against the shore and the mist stayed most of the night. Sleeping in our camper on what seemed the edge of the world was exciting and spooky at the same time. Thanks to our friends for having us stay over the one night on the way north.

Here is a view looking west. On a clear day you could see Superior, WI in the distance. As you can see, our friends have a small cabin, shed and outhouse behind that. What a spectacular area!








The next morning we headed north. Our first stop was the at the Superior Hiking Trail Association office in Two Harbor, MN about an hour north on Highway 61 from Duluth. The office is a small house on the highway with a great store. The folks in the office were friendly and answered our questions. We bought a map for the area we planned hiking and again headed north.

Our destination was to Grand Marias, MN where we planned to hike. Grand Marais is about 45 miles from the Canadian border and our first stop was to Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply. I had some emails with the store about shuttling us for our hike the next day. The folks there were so helpful and kind as we purchased some gear and arranged the shuttle. They did not expect any remuneration (I tried) and arranged to meet us at the trailhead off route 58 north of town at 10am the next morning.

I discovered after making our camping reservation the Fall Lake Campground is 2 1/2 hours from Grand Marais. Most of the road is through forest lands which are beautiful but a daunting drive.
We arrived in Ely a small and now touristy town, got some supplies and headed the few miles out of town to our campsite.

Since we arrived on a Sunday there were not many campers. We both agreed the bath house was the cleanest, well maintained in any of our recent campgrounds. The hordes of mosquitos proved daunting and we put up the screen house for sitting outside. We highly recommend his campground and a big salute to the US Forest Service.