Before Long – A Look Back at the Superior Hiking Trail

Two summers ago (2021) I went on a 260 mile journey by myself through Northern Minnesota. I say “by myself” because that is what it was 99% of the time, but I actually had a lot of help from a lot of people. As much as I want to say this was my journey, I would have never made it without the help from my friends and family.

I would also like to acknowledge the efforts of the Superior Hiking Trail Association. Without them, there wouldn’t be a trail to hike.

What is the Superior Hiking Trail?

The Superior Hiking Trail, SHT for short, is a 300 mile trail that runs from the border of Wisconsin to (almost) the border of Canada. The SHT is also a segment of a larger trail called the North Country Trail which runs from Vermont to North Dakota.

The SHT is a common destination for day hikers, trail runners, and multi-day backpackers. It offers rugged terrain and scenic views unique to the region. Along the trail there are designated campsites to stay overnight.

Multi-day hikes with the intent to hike the entire distance of a trail are called thru-hikes.

Preparation

I knew since three summers ago that I wanted to thru-hike the Superior Hiking Trail. The idea of going out into the wilderness with nothing except what you can carry on your back was too enticing to pass up. I prepped for months that following spring, planning and reading as much as I could about the trail. I planned out the hike by the day, down to the mile. I had a plan for exactly how many days it would take me. I had decided to do a traditional northbound thru-hike of the SHT, skipping the lower 40 miles between Duluth and the Southern Terminus. The reason for this is because there are not enough campsites on the lower section of the trail to allow for multi-day hiking.

A traditional thru-hike of the Superior Hiking Trail is the part of the trail between Martin Road Trailhead, near Duluth, and the Northern Terminus, near the Canadian border. This is 260 miles, as opposed to the total 300 miles of the official Superior Hiking Trail.

Most of the Superior Hiking Trail is near the shore of Lake Superior and goes through what is sometimes referred to as the Minnesota Sawtooth Mountains. The terrain here is mostly large rocky hills with rivers, small lakes, and bogs throughout. Some parts of the hiking trail are much flatter, sometimes ATV trails are used as connecting paths.

The Southern Terminus

Shakedown Day

About a month before the big hike, I had a warm up day. (Sometimes called a Shakedown Hike. This is common for backpackers when planning out extended trips. It helps test your abilities in the field, get your body in shape for backpacking, as well as teach you how many miles you can walk in a day.) I filled up my hiking pack as heavy as I could. I started at Jay Cooke State Park and walked 16 miles round trip to the Southern Terminus. This day was a good reminder exactly what I was in for. By the time I got back to my car at the end of the day, I was completely wiped. It hurt my legs to press the pedals in the car. I began to rethink my life choices.

I was able to calculate my pace after that and estimated the 260 miles would take me 19 days. I planned exactly which campsites I would end up at each day. I organized food drops for day 7 and day 12. I figured I could carry about six days worth of food. This type of planning put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure that I would make it to those destinations on time.

For food I had to accommodate certain dietary restrictions. Most importantly, no tree nuts or legumes. So 90% of the food that is ideal for backpacking was not an option for me. My diet on the trail consisted mostly of instant oatmeal, instant coffee, fruit leather, jerky, banana chips, granola, pita chips, and AlpineAire pre packaged pasta. For cooking, I had an MSR Windburner. I say cooking, but what I really mean is boiling water. I was not super fancy with my meals. Food was just fuel.

The summer was gearing up to be insanely dry. I had to consider water as an extremely valuable resource. I was not able to trust the map if it said there was a stream, it would likely be dried up. For filtration, I had a Platypus Quickdraw Microfilter System personal water filter. I had two liter-sized Smartwater bottles for storage. I think these are the all around best way to store water on the trail. They are lightweight, recyclable, skinny enough to fit in most pockets, and you can get them with a flip lid to make drinking easier.

When packing up my bag, I tried to mentally picture myself carrying it for 260 miles. I was never able to get an accurate base weight measurement for my pack, but it was heavier than I wanted it to be. When making considerations on what to bring and what to leave behind, I saw everything as weight. Any weight that could get left behind, got left behind. I didn’t look at a pair of pants and think, do I need these? Instead I would think, do I need the weight? Every ounce mattered.

I had to prepare myself, physically and mentally, that I was going to walk this trail alone. I had to be capable of carrying everything I needed on my back. No one else was going to carry it for me. And if it came to the point that I would want to quit, no one would be there to tell me to keep going. I would have to keep going and it would have to be motivation that came from within. If I’m on the trail and make an unsure decision, there would be no one there to double guess me. I had to be totally confident in myself that I could complete this.

The Hike

I started the hike on a Sunday. I did not want to leave my car at the trailhead, so my friend Jake dropped me off at the Martin Road Trailhead first thing in the morning. On the way there, I played the song “Society” by Eddie Vedder in the car. I thought it was fitting, given the song was originally written for the film adaptation of Into the Wild. If you are familiar with that story, you probably understand the mindset I was in. This was my great solo adventure of a lifetime.

Martin Road Trailhead - Duluth, MN

Day 1

I had Jake take a photo of me in case I went missing and then I was off. I still remember that first step of the trek. I paused at the start of the trail and took one big step forward. This was it.

Trying to remember the individual days of the trek is difficult. Most of them blend together.

The typical day was waking up and making oatmeal and coffee. I would pack down camp, look around to make sure I didn’t leave anything, and then I was off. I would try to be off on the trail at around 8, 9 at the latest, and would end up at my destination around 4-6 in the afternoon. After dinner, I would journal the mileage for the day, and would be in bed by 7. That sounds early, but after backpacking all day it always felt earned.

The initial trail went pretty much as expected. The first few days were an adjustment and then by day five or six I was really dialed in. I would occasionally run into other hikers who would give me some foresight into the upcoming water situations. People were mostly nice. I met a few other thru-hikers going southbound. Occasionally there would be a detour that was not in my guidebook and I would have to reroute. Sometimes I would take wrong turns and have to find my way back to the trail. Most nights were spent in empty campsites, sometimes I would have to share with other campers. I felt separated from the rest of the world. I would constantly think about all the food I would eat when I get home. For a short bit, this hike just felt like normal life. Like this is it. This is life. We are walking. Walking towards the end, but for right now we are just right where we need to be.

I remember what it was like to see Lake Superior for the first time on the trail on day five. It was like seeing it for the first time all over again. It was (sort of) like Lewis and Clark seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

First View of Lake Superior

I started to feel the isolation a bit more. Some days I never saw anyone, except for abstract human shapes moving on other parts of the trail. It was peaceful, walking alone in the woods for miles on end. I liked going through parts of the forest that were mostly flat where the trees were spaced out and the sun would shine through the leaves making the ambience feel like glowing green.

Some days I went through state parks and saw too many people. There I would be, looking like a 1930s vagabond walking through the busy state park visitor center to go buy Skittles from a vending machine. In those areas of the trail, it would feel like some people stare at me like I am part of the wildlife.

There were definitely some underwhelming parts of the trail. Like walking on the side of the highway sometimes or having to detour to the Gitchi Gami State Trail. But the rest of the trail made it all worth it. I had already been to some places like Bear and Bean Lake and knew what it was like, but there was some scenery on the trail that I never knew existed.

The areas of trail around Beaver Bay and Silver Bay were especially strenuous. There were a lot of ups and downs constantly. This was around days seven, eight, and nine. My method for conserving energy was taking it slow on the uphill and downhill and then cruising on level ground. But some of the days were constant ups and downs. Some days I had to push myself more on really steep climbs or else I would end up going too slow.

Mosquitoes would come in hoards in some areas. I think they would have carried me off if it wasn’t for the weight of the pack.

I think the best water I encountered on the trek was the Caribou river. It was so clear that I was tempted to try it without a filter, but regardless the flavor was immaculate compared to some of the dirtier stuff I was forced to drink on other parts of the trail. Like I said before, it was a dry summer. Water was not always easy to come by. Some days would have only one stop for good water. And that was a resource I needed constantly. It was one of the hottest summers I ever experienced.

The horizon was always hazy. Foliage was turning brown. If I remember correctly, there were wildfires in Canada where smoke had drifted down. Some evenings the sun looked like a dark red circle over the horizon. The air was not the best quality either.

The day before the food drops were always good, because my pack was lighter. Then I would refill and my pack would be heavier. It was a good time to see family and get some better food. McDonald’s McDoubles hit differently after seven days of pasta you add water to.

On day ten, the campsite I had planned on staying at was full. I walked three more miles to the next campsite.

On day eleven, I found a cooler left out on the trail with a note that said “For Hikers.” Finally, some trail magic. Grabbed a can of A&W for the road.

On day twelve, I had my second food drop off at Temperance River State Park. That day I also found a yellow hat on the ground that said Superior Charters on it. I clipped it into my bag and carried it with me. One person’s trail trash is another person’s trail treasure.

I started to slow down around day thirteen. My pace was worse and I really started to feel fatigued at the end of every day.

I kept going, telling myself that I did not need any zero days. A day with zero miles. Some days really felt exhausting to say the least. But before long I would get to the end of the trail. And before long I would be back home. And before long I would be back at work. And before long I would be dead. So the moments on the trail reminded me that I was exactly where I needed to be. There were times I would lay my pack up against a tree and take a break from walking. I would sit and stare at the beams of light coming in between the trees and listen to the birds talk to each other. Sometimes a bug would crawl on me and I would just watch it. It was the most in tune with nature I ever felt.

The third week of the trek is where things really fell apart.

By day sixteen my pace was halved. The bones in my feet felt like glass about to crack. Every misstep onto a sharp rock or root was excruciating. I was able to make it to a campsite, but it was not the one I needed to get to. The one I needed to get to was another 8 miles. And I was basically limping to get to where I was at. After thinking it out and weighing out my options, I decided I needed to get off the trail. But I would need a ride.

Found at a Trail Sign

I hobbled down to the wayside hoping for phone service, but there was none. I asked some people there if they had service and the result was the same. I started walking down the shore of Lake Superior looking for phone service. This was in the small town of Covill and there happened to be a motel. There was no vacancy, but at least I was able to get the Wi-Fi password from the clerk. I tried contacting my friends, but everyone was out of town. Eventually, I was able to make plans with my brother to pick me up at 5:30 the following morning. That meant I had to hobble back to the campsite and stay the night.

I woke up at 4:00 to take down camp and get down to the wayside. It was not the way I wanted the trail to end, but it was what it was at the time. I got two RedBulls from the gas station and three hours later I was back home and sleeping.

My feet were tenderized and I could not move. I hobbled around my house and soaked my feet in epsom salt for hours. I wanted to get better so I could get back on the trail. I only had so many days left before I went back to work.

My friends were glad to see that I was alive, but I did not like just sitting around. It was actually a huge reality check. I needed zero days. Even on those half a year hikes like the Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest, hikers usually only go for a couple weeks before taking a quick break.

Some of my friends told me that it was still impressive that I started the trek to begin with. I surprised some friends by saying that I had been out there alone, they thought I had been with a group of people or something. Still. I felt like I let myself down and I felt defeated.

I had to finish the trail.

I made a new plan to finish the hike and start at Judge CR Magney State Park. It would be two more nights and then I would be done.

Superior HIKING TRAIL

I took a sharpie to the Superior Charters hat so I could wear it for the final stretch.

I drove up separately from another vehicle and dropped my car off at the trailhead for the Northern Terminus. This was so I could drive home at the end without needing to be picked up. After dropping my car off, I got dropped off at the Devil’s Kettle and was back on the trail again.

Back on the trail, it felt like I never left. It also felt like it had been a very long time. The more north I went, the deeper into the wilderness it felt. I think this is why I wanted to do a northbound hike. I wanted to walk away from the familiar, not towards it.

Ironically, the first campsite had perfect phone service.

On the second day back, I remember being bitten or stung by some insect. I was walking along and it felt like a nail had been shoved through the back of my leg. I turned around to see a swarm of black flies coming out of the ground. I did not know what those were, but I did not want to stick around and find out. I booked it out of there and was left with a tiny welt on the back of my leg.

I was really hoping to see a moose on this section of the trail. It was really remote and the landscapes were really beautiful. There were very few people.

Finishing the trail was really underwhelming. I got to the end at the 270 degree overlook and there was a group of people eating lunch at the top of the overlook. I stood by the wooden sign, reading it, “Northern Terminus of the Superior Hiking Trail.” I guess that was it. I guess it was over. I guess it was time to finally go back to normal life with some closure. I guess this was the end. I stood at the overlook. There was a river in the distance. On the other side was a different country. I remember how green everything looked.

I finished the trail July 31st 2021. In total, it amounted to 21 days between Martin Road Trailhead and the Northern Terminus. 19 walking days and two zero days. I averaged about 13 miles a day. The most I walked was 17 miles on day eight.

After taking in the final view, I headed back to my car and discovered that my phone adjusted to a new time when I got phone service again. It dawned on me that there was a strong possibility that there may have been some days on the trail without service where the time on my phone could have been inaccurate.

I drove to Hungry Hippie Tacos in Grand Marais and had the best tacos in my entire life. I then went home, ordered Toppers and had the best pizza I had in my entire life. I was a little sick of banana chips.

My time on the Superior Hiking Trail was some of the best days of my life. Also some of the worst. Would I do it again? Absolutely not. Once was enough. The experience was humbling, but I don’t spend any time thinking about what could have been different. Sure, it did not go as planned per say, but I really would not want it any other way.

I am grateful for the support of my friends and family who supported me through every step of the journey. I would not have completed the trail without them.

And now life continues the same way it did on the trail. Day by day. Mile by mile. And before long there will be another great adventure to be had.