tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63962521066663681582024-03-04T23:16:56.555-08:00An Epic Ice Age Trail AdventureAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.comBlogger213125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-71205265627045098842018-11-05T13:30:00.002-08:002018-11-05T13:43:40.731-08:00Wisconsin NCT Day 5: Lake Owen Area to Drummond<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Aug. 26, 2018<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We heard lots of coyotes howling last night, and once a wolf. It was pretty cool. We set our alarm to wake us at 6 a.m. because we need to be back home in time to host a book club meeting tonight. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We had eaten, broke camp and were on the trail by 7:30 a.m. Because we'd gone so much farther than planned yesterday, today we had just 4.4 miles left to the Drummond trailhead. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The mosquitoes were out in full force once again, and it was muggy with no breeze. So not the most pleasant. We also ran in to several stretches with lots of wild raspberries that scratched us. Oh, well!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lots of hunting dogs were out; we think they might have been in training to hunt bears, which is controversial here. Passed Sally's Overlook, which appears to need some TLC, to say the least.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Reached the trailhead by 9:30 and are on the way home. When and where will we tackle the next stretch of the NCT?!</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe and Stubs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />Miles: 4.3</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">WI NCT Miles to Date: 80.0</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 271.9</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-83325804264523262162018-11-05T13:29:00.000-08:002018-11-05T13:40:29.710-08:00Wisconsin NCT Day 4: Marengo Shelter to Lake Owen Area<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Aug. 25, 2018<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today was beautiful! We got up and partially packed, then backtracked a little to check out the Swedish settlement. We saw the ruins of a barn, an intact springhouse and the spot where the root cellar had been. Interpretive plaques told about the family that lived there. It was interesting. What a hard life it must have been to settle this rocky land.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Back at the shelter, we packed up and bid Milkweed adieu. She was heading back east to her car. We were heading westward. After crossing Old Grade Road, we ran into a group of hikers. They were members of the Chequamegon chapter of the NCT! Marty Swank was even there, the former chair I'd been emailing before this trip. They told us we shouldn't camp at Two Lakes campground as we had planned, but should instead hike a little further to the adjacent peninsula, where there was a campsite-in-development right on the lake with a bench and little beach. They gave us easy directions on how to find it, then bid us farewell.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The spot we were standing at was an overlook, so we hiked up. It offered fantastic views -- maybe 180 degrees. Then it was back down and onward. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our big challenge today were the mosquitoes. After all of that rain, they were out in force. But we enjoyed the day, especially crossing some beaver dams. But then, as so often happens, a snag. In this case, a big one. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We reached the Two Lakes campground. I was ready for a snack, but we opted to wait until we reached the campsite. For some reason I thought it was less than a mile away. In reality, the start of the peninsula itself was a mile or so away, and the volunteer pointed to the beach site as down the peninsula, across the bottom and at the start of the way back up -- so maybe 2-3 miles away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We were told the campsite was past an old area where power lines once passed, and that it was a driveway with carsonite NCT posts on either side. The road was big, because it once led to a resort. It was also flagged since the NCT was going to create a campground there, and there was a bench at the site. How could we miss with all of that info? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our first surprise was hiking more than a mile and finding ourselves barely at the peninsula. It was clearly going to be farther than we thought. I again didn't eat anything even though I was quite hungry because, well, we were almost there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We found the area where the power lines had once been, but we never found a big road, much less one flagged and with carsonite posts on either side. We did spot a bench trailside, but it was on a cliff above the beach. Where was this place? And how could two people miss it if it was so easy to find? I have no clue, but we marched almost all the way up the other side of the peninsula before giving up and deciding we needed to find a spot in the woods and camp. It was already 7 p.m. and we were closing in on another 20-mile day. It was too late, and we'd gone too far, to try and re-hike everything looking for this spot -- which we might never find anyway. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Thank goodness we only hiked back about 10 minutes when I saw a pine forest that abutted the lake. It was easy to clear a flat space for our tent, and it was easy to wash up. There was even a nice knoll facing the lake to sit and eat our dinner. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But I had been hangry for the last few hours, and so it had been stressful trying to find the beach site. I may have said some naughty words. The takeaway? Always eat/drink when you need to, even if you think camp is only a few minutes away. Because it may actually be 2 hours away! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />Miles: =24.5</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">WI NCT Miles to Date: 75.7</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 267.6</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-76197734226729270382018-11-05T13:28:00.001-08:002018-11-05T13:39:00.855-08:00Wisconsin NCT Day 3: Mellen to Marengo Shelter<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Aug. 24, 2018</span><span style="font-family: , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />There's nothing like hiking in the rain! When I'd planned this little trip, the forecast called for nice weather. As our departure day drew close, it changed to rain for today. I laid out my rain gear, but forgot my coat. While it was supposed to be 65 degrees -- not that cold -- it was supposed to rain the entire day. I bought a poncho last night, then decided this morning (while it was pouring) that I needed more protection. So we stopped at the Wal-Mart in Ashland en route to our rendezvous with trail angels Bob and Jan Zeilenga and I got a raincoat. Good call!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Bob and Jan are lovely folks who shuttled us from the trailhead in Drummond -- where we'll end Sunday morning and dropped our car -- back to the trailhead on Kornstead Road. They live in Florida most of the year, but have a home near Lake Owen here and volunteer with the NCT because the trail passes so close to their home. How kind of them!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">It was raining pretty hard when they dropped us off. Oh well, at least it was warm out! As hikes in the rain go, this wasn't so bad because it was a warm rain. And it kept the mosquitoes away. Still, it's never great because you can't see much and can't enjoy any snack breaks or lunch. It was especially hard on this trail because there are no benches trailside anywhere, and there weren't even good rocks or tree stumps to sit down on or set our packs when we stopped -- and we didn't want to set them in the mud. Oh -- the other positive is that several bridges are out, necessitating wet-water crossings, but it didn't matter since our feet were wet anyway. </span><span style="font-family: "wingdings";">J</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">We had maybe a one-hour break from the rain about 4-5 p.m., but then it really began to pour again. Our original plan had been to camp at Beaver Lake campground, but it was raining hard when we reached that spot about 3, and we didn't want to set up camp in the rain, so we opted to push on another 5 miles to the Marengo Adirondack shelter, which is just past an old Swedish settlement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Various mileage signs we saw along the way contradicted our maps, so that was frustrating - how many miles did we have left?! Of course it was more than we thought/hoped, but eventually we reached the shelter at 7 p.m. Athena/Milkweed was there for the second night and graciously made room for us and let us use her clothesline and enjoy her fire. We shared some fresh veggies, cheese and coffee with her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The rain had stopped by the time we reached the shelter, but we got chilled quickly once we stopped moving. So I headed down to the river and washed up, then put on dry clothes. Our dinner tasted great after our long, difficult day. Tomorrow should be better!</span><span style="font-family: , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe and Stubs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />Miles: =19</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">WI NCT Miles to Date: 51.2</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 243.1</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-28464094687785316592018-11-05T13:22:00.001-08:002018-11-05T13:37:50.153-08:00Wisconsin NCT Day 2: Hwy. 169 to Mellen<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Aug. 23, 2018</span><span style="font-family: , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />What a glorious day on the trail! Trail angel Bethany met Stubs and me in downtown Mellen, then shuttled us to Vogues Road, where I'd left off last November. It was sunny and cool and we enjoyed walking about three miles along Hwy. 169, which was devoid of traffic and lined with trees.</span><span style="font-family: , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The paper maps I have said this connecting road route was +6 miles, but Bethany showed us a new trail and trailhead/parking lot about 3.5 miles down the road that shaves 2-3 miles from the total. I'm glad she pointed that out because while we would have noticed the parking lot, the trail's start across the road wasn't marked well and was difficult to see (a mowed path in the grass) if you weren't looking at it just right.</span><span style="font-family: , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">But we got on the path, which winds several miles before merging with the trails in Copper Falls State Park. I'd always wanted to see this park, which is noted for its waterfalls. They were lovely, but on the small side. I'm guessing it's because we've had such a dry summer. </span><span style="font-family: , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">From there, the trail led through a prairie that was in full bloom with goldenrod and was gorgeous. The trail got pretty gnarly as it flowed into Mellen, and we may have missed one-quarter of a mile or so because the trail sort of ended in impassable scrub, so we got up on the road and walked into town.</span><span style="font-family: , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Our plan had been to end the day here, but since that new pathway shortened our day by a few miles, we decided to add on the next connecting road route, which was just 2.3 miles.</span><span style="font-family: , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Since Stubs isn't trying to section-hike the whole NCT, he moved our car up to the trailhead at Kornstead Road and hiked back toward me. He lucked out -- the trail from Mellen goes straight uphill for most of those 2.3 miles. It wasn't so bad at first, when the road was blacktopped, but it turned into gravel eventually, and that was hard on the feet after hiking 18 miles already. But we made it!</span><span style="font-family: , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe and Stubs</span><span style="font-family: , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">WI NCT Miles to Date: 32.2</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 224.1</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-86870903532472845632018-08-22T19:36:00.002-07:002018-11-05T13:19:00.591-08:00Wisconsin NCT Day 1: Iron County Forest (Hwy. 122 to 169)<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Nov. 11, 2017</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'd planned to hike about 25 miles of the North Country Trail today, from the U.P.-Wisconsin border near Ironwood, Michigan, to the Copper Falls area. My friend, Doug, was going to join me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Yesterday, we hiked about 14 miles of the Ice Age Trail (Harrison Hills) for an article I was writing for Backpacker Magazine. Well, instead of hiking in typical November weather -- about mid-40s for Wisconsin -- it was 2 degrees yesterday morning and it had snowed!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By the time we got on the trail it had warmed up to 23, but that was still far colder than we were prepared for. Not to mention we didn't have good boots for the snow. We soldiered on and completed our hike, but Doug decided he did not want to hike 25 miles today. It wasn't as cold, but there was lots of snow on the trail. Fair enough. I'm the big hiker, not him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We decided to ax the 12-mile road walk from the border and start in on the trail portion. Trail angel Bethany shuttled us on, and we were off. Sigh. Almost right away we missed an unmarked turn and went a fair way out of our way -- uphill, of course. But we got back on track and actually enjoyed a lovely day in the snow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Yes, our feet got pretty wet. But the woods were gorgeous in the snow. In the afternoon, the sun came out -- just in time for our arrival at a scenic waterfall, Wren Falls. When we reached the car, I decided to hike the extra 5.1 miles down to Hwy.169 to knock off a few more miles. Since Doug isn't trying to hike the NCT, he took the car into town and got some coffee to warm up while I was hiking.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One thing Doug did gain on this hike was a trail name: Burr. I gave it to him because when he hiked with me on the Ice Age Trail in the summer, he ended up with so many burrs on him that he threw away his clothing rather than pick them off. Then, on the NCT, it was so cold he was shivering -- Brrr! So it's a fun little pun.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: 12.2</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">WI NCT Miles to Date: 12.2</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 204.1</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-893919279881165952018-08-16T18:25:00.002-07:002018-11-05T14:06:58.572-08:00Day 20: Jackson Creek Campsite to Northern Terminus (270-Degree Overlook)<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 21, 2018</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I had a lovely breakfast at my campsite this morning, then packed up for the final day. I had less than 10 miles to cover, and the guidebook promised a nice ending. It said I'd initially climb to the top of Rosebush Ridge, the high point on the trail, then descend down to a nice, flat meadow that would take me to the Otter Road Trailhead.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It was once again buggy and hot, and wearing that bug jacket made things hotter and more humid. The hike up to the ridge was intense and a difficult way to start the day. There was no view from the ridge (the guidebook mentioned that, but I was hoping I could sort of see something -- nope). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was so excited to get to the meadow! But -- oh no! -- it was very overgrown, potholed and difficult to walk on. So being flat really wasn't much of a help. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The one bright spot was seeing the Andy Lake campsite. I had originally hoped to make it there last night, and was disappointed to have to stay at Jackson Creek. Well, Jackson Creek was a nice campsite and Andy Lake looked TERRIBLE. It was totally overgrown, there was barely a creek let alone a lake, and the benches at the campsite were all dilapidated. If I had pressed on and hiked until 8 p.m. just to get here, I would have been so mad.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When I was nearing the end of the trail, I popped out on another logging road (or some kind of dirt road). There was one blue blaze, but then the road split and there were no markings. You could continue straight or turn right.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At this intersection, a mama grouse rushed at me. It startled me, but I knew what was going on after my run-in with a mother grouse earlier in the hike. Luckily, this time I was on a very wide road versus the narrow, rocky trail I was on before, so it was easy to dart around her.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I turned at the intersection because I did see a pink ribbon hanging from a tree, and I assumed that must be the marker. But after hiking for quite a while and seeing nothing, I was afraid I'd made a mistake. Maybe the pink ribbon was for the loggers. Maybe I missed seeing a blue blaze while trying to dart around the grouse. Just when I was thinking of backtracking, even though I'd probably gone a half-mile, I saw a blaze! It was the only one on that long stretch of road. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Soon I was at a trailhead. I knew from dropping my car two days ago that I needed to turn left to get to the Otter Lake trailhead. In minutes I was there, where Brian was waiting. We hiked in together to the spur trail to the overlook. Earlier in our trip, he had said this overlook wasn't that inspiring, but I thought it was awesome.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He took lots of photos and sent the drone up, and then I signed the trail register and took a little peek at the Border Route Trail, which heads east about 60+ miles from the spur trail -- picking up where the SHT ends -- and goes through the Boundary Waters area. It looked pretty rough, and Brian said people often get lost on that trail and the next one that hooks in -- the Kekekabic -- because there aren't many volunteers to maintain them. Yikes! I'll have to hike both someday to finish the North Country National Scenic Trail, which piggybacks on all of these trails.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I do know one thing -- I will be hiking those trails in the fall, when the mosquitoes are dead!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So that's my journey. Oh, one more thing. When I got back to my car and started putting away my gear, I found a tick on my sock. I am happy to say I merely flicked it off without a scream or any flailing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">HIKE ON!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Miles: =9.4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 320.7</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 320.7</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 592.4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-32435537039075973512018-08-16T18:24:00.004-07:002018-11-05T14:06:19.368-08:00Day 19: Camp 20 Road to Jackson Creek Campsite<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 20, 2018</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Two days from the end. The plan today was for Harriet to lead me to the Otter Lake trailhead -- I knew I could find it myself, but she insisted on meeting me and leading me there -- to drop my car. This is the trailhead where you can take the spur trail to the terminus at the 270 Degree Overlook. After dropping my car, she was going to take me to Camp 20 Road and drop me off for my last two days, which would involve a final night camping.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Well, on the drive there I suddenly started getting really emotional and started to cry a little. It was weird, because I'm ready to stop hiking. The trail has been wonderful, don't get me wrong, but it's also been hard. And sometimes you're just ready to stop. But as always, long-distance hiking is very therapeutic for me, so it's always sad to end. I guess that's what was happening.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Harriet brought me almost to the Camp 20 trailhead. She had told me the previous day that the road there was terrible, and she wasn't kidding. It's only the final 1/4-mile that's bad, but when I dropped my car there yesterday I was afraid I'd pop all of my tires -- the road is filled with enormous potholes. So I had her drop me off before that last stretch. We parted ways and off I went.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As soon as I hit the trailhead/parking area, I knew what I was in for from last night: MOSQUITOES! They were all over the parking area, and worse when I stepped onto the trail. I wasn't hiking long before a met a young man coming the other way. He also had a big bug jacket on like me, and barely stopped to talk because of the mosquitoes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There were some scenic spots today, namely the Hellacious Overlook. But a couple of nasty areas, too. At one point, after making it through scruffy vegetation and onto a logging road, I knew I had about a mile to hike before heading back into the woods. Nice, because fewer mosquitoes. After hiking not quite a mile, I suddenly saw a blaze to my left. The trail! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I followed it in but the trail seemed to end almost right away, so I went back out. Maybe it was the old path and they never painted over those initial blazes. But moving forward, I saw a lot of water in the logging road ahead and no blazes. Back into the woods I went. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I tried hiking farther, and found another blaze or two, but the trail was really overgrown and at one point there really was nowhere to go. Back out onto the logging road again. I finally looked at my guidebook and it said that if the road was flooded, you could take a side trail around the flooded area. OK, so that route to my left was the detour for the flooded road -- except it DIDN'T GO ANYWHERE! I'm guessing it hasn't been maintained in quite a few years.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Luckily, as I prepared to splash through the flooded road, once I got up close you could just walk on the tall grass on the side and get around it just fine. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Later in the day, when I was closing in on my campsite, I hit a logging area. There was a blaze on a post right as you got out of the forest and onto the logging road, but it was tilted such that it looked like it was pointing you back into the forest, or possibly up the road. Neither option seemed right, but I walked up and down the logging road and then tried some bushwhacking. Nothing. Finally I spied the path -- it just crossed the logging road and continued on. Sheesh! People need to take more care setting those posts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When I got to Jackson Creek I was excited to set up my tent. Oops! As I was shaking it out of the bag I realized I'd never dried it out after the last time we used it, which was back in Gooseberry Falls and in the rain. The tent dumped out with a great splash of water.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I wiped most of the tent up with my towel and then spread the rain tarp out over a small tree, and everything dried by bedtime. Yay! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Unfortunately, the mosquitoes made dinner and washing up in the creek unpleasant. So I hurried into my tent on the early side and got a good jump on writing one of my Star Tribune SHT pieces. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Oh -- there are some really cool, huge, glacial erratics right outside my campsite.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Miles: =15.5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 311.3</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 311.3</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 583</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-39111176117703121812018-08-16T18:24:00.002-07:002018-11-05T14:05:31.546-08:00Day 18: Kadunce/Hwy. 61 to Camp 20 Road<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 19, 2018</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This was a wistful day. It started out with the famous "lake walk." Most of this trail leads you past Lake Superior from the ridge line, so from up on high. You only walk along the lakeshore twice -- in Duluth a few days into a northbound thru-hike, and then again here, at the end. I felt like the trail was saying good-bye to me. In Duluth, there were huge crowds on the lakeshore, and the feeling was quite festive -- like the trail was welcoming me onto her. Here, you walk along a desolate, pristine section of the lake, which felt like the trail was quietly telling me it was time to get ready to go home.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">BTW, Harriet told me a lot of hikers skip the lake walk because the beach is all stones. It isn't easy hiking, but it's not a big deal, either, because it's only a mile or two. People who skip this don't know what they're missing! It's lovely. The water is crystal clear here, and of course the view is endless.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After the lake walk, the trail shoves you back into the woods and heading toward Canada. I quickly passed the North Little Brule River campsite, where I had originally planned to camp last night. It was nice, and I'm sorry I missed it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'd had to reconfigure my plans when I shortened my days, plus I took out one or two camping nights that fell on days when we had a lot of rain. I'm starting to enjoy camping, despite the mosquitoes that are so bad come evening that I have to jump into my hammock or tent immediately after washing and eating dinner. But if I have to start camping in rain, too, I might never progress into a hardier camper, which is what I need to be if I truly hike all 11 National Scenic Trails, which is my plan.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anyway, the route took me into Judge Magney State Park, which was just lovely with more waterfalls. There have been so many on this trail! After that was a section called the Devil's Kettle (1,700 feet), also gorgeous, then another meadow with wildflowers. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm ready to go home, because the trail has been hard on my feet with all the rocks, roots and mud. But I'm a little sad, too.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: =14</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 295.8</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 295.8</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 567.5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-88553602277995037552018-08-12T10:28:00.002-07:002018-11-05T14:04:30.518-08:00Day 17: Grand Marais/Pincushion to Kadunce/Hwy. 61<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 18, 2018</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This was a pretty incredible day. Harriet couldn't shuttle me until the evening, so I parked at the Pincushion/Grand Marais trailhead and headed out. The trail is part of a system of ski trails, so it was pretty easy hiking up to Pincushion, a little over one mile away.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The view from Pincushion, a rocky outcrop, is amazing! You can see the lake, shore and inland. I wished I had gone up there at sunrise, or had my breakfast on top. Brian did some photography here, including using the drone. It was just spectacular. (My photos do not do it justice at all.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">From there, the path was pretty pleasant for several hours. Then it got rather overgrown, plus sported lots of downed trees, for at least an hour. The reward? Around lunchtime I emerged on another mountaintop, this time with a meadow bursting with spring wildflowers. I was also treated to expansive views of Lake Superior. It was so beautiful, and I was happy to sit down and have lunch amid such beauty. (Again, photos do not do it justice.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The afternoon got a little hairier. My phone was dying, and for some reason my 18-month-old battery wasn't working. It wasn't the patch cord; that was brand new. But I couldn't communicate with Harriet about my projected pick-up time and spot, nor with Brian, who needed to find me for our daily photo shoots. But what can you do except keep hiking?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The path wasn't great in many spots. There were lots of roots to walk around, plus some spots with a lot of shale. Ugh. At some point, the battery kicked in and recharged my phone, so I was able to communicate with Harriet. Technology!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At the Kadunce River spur, I opted to continue on the trail instead of going to the Kadunce parking lot. The trail crosses Hwy. 61 about 2 miles after the spur at a rather nondescript spot. When I hit 61, I waited for Harriet. Within minutes, she was there. She is really something!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: =15.5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 281.8</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 281.8</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 553.5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-39998863182530290262018-08-12T10:15:00.003-07:002018-11-05T14:01:22.399-08:00Day 16: Cascade River to Grand Marais/Pincushion<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 17, 2018</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today is my mom's 85th birthday and Father's Day. It's a hard time to be away from home, especially when the cell service is sketchy. But the trail continues to unspool before me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Harriet didn't want to shuttle me at 8 a.m., so I pushed back the time to 9 a.m. By the time I got on the trail is was 9:40. I'd wanted to start earlier to avoid the rain forecast for the afternoon -- or at least get in as much hiking in the dry weather as possible. Oh well. You take what you get.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The day started off gray with a trail that featured scruffy and overgrown vegetation. There were no views, even though we apparently hit one of the highest points on the trail. After about an hour the sun peeked out and the humidity soared. Ugh. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Things got better as noon neared. The sun went away and things cooled a tad. The trail started to pass through pretty stands of birch and other woods; the overgrown vegetation fell away. There were a few steep climbs and descents, but mostly lovely walking.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Midway through the day I met a young couple going SOBO. The husband had lost a tooth on the second day eating his wife's too-hard granola, so she called him Toothless. She didn't have a trail name yet, but I'm going to text her and suggest it be Granola. They had two dogs with them, Ursula and Cruella. They must be Disney fans!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It began raining lightly shortly before we met; it actually felt refreshing. The rain stopped by the time I ran into another mostly-thru-hiker, Backtrack, a young woman from Madison! I heard her before I saw her; she was singing a lovely song out loud as she hiked. I asked her about it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Well, she said she was singing because a while back she'd glimpsed a large, furry animal in the middle of the trail, likely a bear! It did not race off into the woods as bears normally do because it didn't see her. Or hear or smell her, apparently. So she began singing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was headed the way of the bear. While I'm not normally afraid of them, as they tend to run away from people, this is cub season and THAT makes me very nervous. So after she left I began singing out loud in the woods. I couldn't think of that many songs, though, so I began practicing my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ThousandMiler/">Thousand-Miler</a> book talk out loud for the next 45 minutes or so.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The trail turned onto an ATV path for 2.5 miles, and things began to get unpleasant re: mosquitoes. I've been so lucky this hike, as I haven't had to break out the full bug suit yet, and have only worn the head net on and off. Well, at one point it was horrendous, and I was longing for the bug suit. Mosquitoes were chomping me everywhere, even if I'd just sprayed DEET on myself! Luckily it began to rain again, and that drove away the pests. The rain kept up until I got off the trail. Phew!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So today was an average day scenery-wise. Just a lovely walk in the woods. But that's O.K. Those days are good, too.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: =13.3</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 266.3</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 266.3</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 538</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-75898061767025391032018-08-12T10:08:00.001-07:002018-11-05T14:02:37.998-08:00Day 15: Caribou Road to Hwy. 45<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 16, 2018</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I saw Blueberry at the AmericInn breakfast buffet, and that was a little sad because I knew it was probably the last time I'd see him. I told him rain was coming, and to get out there and set up camp in time. I'm such the mom! But he is young enough to be my son.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That little sadness aside, I headed out to drop my car at Hwy. 45, my end spot. Harriet picked me up. It's her birthday today, and she and her lady friends celebrate for three days. That's my style! As she shuttled me back to my start at Caribou Road, she told me how she and her friends celebrated last night along the Gunflint Trail. Tonight is another fete.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My weather app, which I'm beginning to hate, said no rain until about 4 p.m. Well, after about 90 minutes of hiking it began to rain heavily. Luckily the trees protected me from much of it, but I still got pretty soaked. However, I was able to enjoy some views.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The trail wound up the west side of the Cascade River. I tried to take a spur trail to view the cascade falls, but it was too narrow, rooty and treacherous. I'd already slipped in the mud twice and didn't want to take anymore chances, so I turned around. Rats. Oh well, that's nature.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I ended the hike around 4 p.m., then drove to Grand Marais. I had reservations at the Best Western, and first picked up some groceries. I was so cold and wet, I knew that once I showered I wouldn't want to go out to a restaurant for dinner.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Imagine my surprise to find this Best Western a pretty swanky place. It has a bar and small restaurant, plus the rooms are awesome. I was actually looking forward to camping again, but now I'm not sure! I could stay here for a while.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I tucked in tonight and caught up on a lot of emails and other things. Looking forward to tomorrow, even though more rain is in the forecast.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: =13.3</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 253</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 253</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 524.7</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-91091846994712338962018-08-12T09:54:00.003-07:002018-11-05T14:02:13.174-08:00Day 14: Oberg Mountain to Caribou Road<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 15, 2018</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Wow. What a difference. I started today with such a great mindset, knowing I'd be hiking fewer miles and not be out on the trail until 7 or 8. It was also fun to know that Blueberry and Green Tortuga were taking a zero day today, and that they were staying at the same place -- the AmericInn in Tofte. In fact, last night I discovered we were right next door to one another!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So while they slept in and resupplied, I headed out to hike 13-ish miles of the trail. Harriet Quarles shuttled me. She turns 74 tomorrow and is quite the colorful character! She is the main shuttle operator for hikers in the northern half of the trail, while another guy handles the southern half.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The trail started out sopping wet, due to heavy rains in the early morning. But I had all of my rain gear on, so it wasn't too bad. Despite the gray skies all day and sodden vegetation, there were some great vistas -- a hallmark of this trail. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One guy came upon me from behind and hiked past without a glance or grunt -- weird. I didn't see anyone else all day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The best part of the hike came in the late afternoon, when I reached Agnes Lake. It was gorgeous, plus there were plenty of beavers (and beaver dams) on the lake. I got a great video of one beaver swimming around really close to where I was standing; after a bit he made a huge splash with his tail as he went underwater. It was so cool!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Back at the AmericInn, Blueberry, GT, Brian and I went out to dinner. This was my FIRST real dinner since I started the trail, as Ed and I typically made instant mashed potatoes or some such thing in our motel room -- we'd always be too tired to go out to eat, plus it was always late by the time we got to the motel and finished showering. And on the trail, of course, you're eating trail food. I pigged out on a huge hamburger and fries, plus some wine. I also ordered deep-fried cheese curds so the guys could taste them (they're from the South and Pacific Northwest). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The guys are slowing their hiking pace, too, so it looks like we won't cross paths again. Boo! But we will always have this experience on the SHT.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: 11.8</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 239.7</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 239.7</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 511.4</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-42671160188388716302018-08-11T20:08:00.002-07:002018-11-05T14:08:49.272-08:00Day 13: Fredenberg Creek Camp to Oberg Mountain<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 14, 2018</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I thought last night would be a warm one in my hammock. When I first tucked in around 8 p.m., it was stuffy. But after a few hours it cooled down, then got cold. I put on my p</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">uffy coat and slid on my rain pants over my long underwear. I had my rain poncho as a blanket, but it didn't cover my entire body. My legs got so cold I couldn't sleep. I finally realized the plastic sheet I used to set my belongings on was actually a large trash bag; I fished it out from underneath my backpack and other belongings, then slid into it. This was kind of gross, as it was pretty dirty, being a ground cloth and all. But I was cold! And it did the trick. It warmed me so that I could fall asleep.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Despite all of the above, it was nice falling asleep in camp. I could hear various animals coming to the creek to drink. By the loudness of their splashing, I could imagine whether it was a deer, fox, raccoon, etc. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The morning was lovely. I had my coffee and breakfast, then broke camp and hiked out. The trail was very scenic along the Temperance River. As is common along this trail, there were plenty of killer waterfalls to observe. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because the Temperance River area is a state park, the trails were pretty well groomed, which was great. I dropped a lot of my heavy camping gear with Brian when I saw him in the park.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And then, the groundhog. Sigh. I was hiking up the other side of the river, making great time, when I spotted a groundhog in the middle of the trail. At first I was excited; I was able to photograph it before it fled.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But then the problem: it DIDN'T flee. Most wild animals will. This guy kept clicking its long front teeth at me. I wasn't sure if it was a mama protecting babies or a rabid animal. I assumed the former initially, but the animal would not move whether I yelled at it, jabbed my trekking poles toward it, backed off for a while, threw sticks at it, etc. When I tried to detour around it in the scrub, it really started clicking its teeth in earnest, and puffed out its fur.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Finally, I had no choice. I pulled out this little vial of mace Ed had given me three years ago and pushed the button. It was old and wet from many soakings through my backpack, but it worked. As soon as the red liquid hit the groundhog, it ran away. I then sprinted down the path for about 100 yards.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Unfortunately, that wrecked my day. It was warm anyway, and from the groundhog it was a hard slog up to Carlton Peak. The signage was poor, and by the time I reached the peak I was irritable and didn't care about the view.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I headed down the peak, knowing I had another trail segment of nearly six miles ahead of me. Luckily those miles were easy, and I made good time back to my car at the Oberg Mountain trailhead.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But I learned an important lesson. I can't keep hiking at this pace. Physically, I can. But mentally, I can't. I don't like rolling into camp (or my motel) at 7 or 8 p.m. It doesn't leave enough time to do anything other than wash up, eat quickly and go to bed. It makes me feel negatively toward the trail, and that's not fair.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So tonight I made a decision. I'm slowing down my hike, even though I'm almost finished. I will end on a positive note, not a sour one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: 16</span></div>
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 227.9</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 227.9</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 499.6</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-1719388355622407862018-08-11T20:07:00.002-07:002018-11-05T14:08:40.551-08:00Day 12: Crosby Manitou to Fredenberg Creek Camp<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">J</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">une 13, 2018</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Last night got pretty cold. I had my hammock again and put on everything I had, but it wasn't quite enough. I must check the underquilt I got when I get back home. I'm not sure if I didn't get a warm enough one (it's rated to 40 degrees, but it wasn't quite that cold out) or if you're also supposed to have a down blanket as well. Luckily Brian had a down jacket he didn't need; I used it to cover my legs, and then I was fine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This morning we had a nice breakfast, broke camp and headed our separate ways. The hike out of Crosby Manitou takes you down to the creek, and then steeply uphill. Really steeply uphill. I have the stats somewhere, but it's several hundred feet up over just a few hundred feet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When I caught my breath and started going down the other side, I came upon another thru-hiker and his dog, George. The guy was heading southbound and had never done anything like this before. He was so excited to be bathing in waterfalls at night, camping, etc. It was fun to see his enthusiasm and excitement for doing something new to him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Blueberry caught up to me partway through the afternoon and we hiked together for several hours, then enjoyed a snack break at a pond. He got off the trail at his campsite for the night -- I'm blanking on the name, but it was the one before Fredenberg Creek, where I was headed. Green Tortuga was somewhere behind us. He takes a lot of pictures for his website, <a href="http://www.hike4fun.com/">Hike4Fun</a>, which lets you log your steps on one of several trails, then shows you how far you'd be if you were actually hiking that trail.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I popped out on a road and had two miles left to get to my camp. I'd cheated and had Brian drop a gallon of water for me since today was a long day and I didn't want to have to filter a lot of water among the mosquitoes. Well, it took me a while to find it because there were two parking lots -- which I didn't realize at first -- so I kept wandering around the first one. But I found it and hiked two miles with that gallon. It was heavy!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The camp was cute and quiet. Fredenberg Creek wasn't that deep, but I was able to wash up fine. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: =17.5</span></div>
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 211.9</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 211.9</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 483.6</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-55180055411582915952018-07-26T19:43:00.000-07:002018-11-05T14:08:32.804-08:00Day 11: Lake County Road 6 to G. Crosby Manitou State Park<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 12, 2018</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ed left for home today after dropping me off at the trailhead. The forecast was a 30% chance of rain in the morning. It did drizzle on and off, but nothing that got me too wet, so that was nice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Unfortunately, I did something with my backpack -- leaned it over too far, I think -- and a bunch of water leaked into the bottom of the pack and then dripped all over my shorts. So they got soaked. I stopped and took a microfiber cloth and sopped up as much water from my shorts as I could, then applied Body Glide to my inner thighs to avoid chafing. But I didn't unpack my loaded bag -- too much work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The terrain in the morning was easy and lovely. I crossed a 440-foot boardwalk at one point; Brian took drone shots of that. I passed a 20-foot erratic, which was very cool. That might be the biggest one I've ever seen. I met two nice, young men packing up camp and interviewed them for the series, then texted Brian to meet them and take photos/videos.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then things turned sour. In the afternoon the trail devolved into this rooty, muddy, rocky mess. The roots were so tightly entangled you had to walk on top of them, which chewed up the bottoms of your feet. It was slow going and nasty. I could barely enjoy the scenery because I had to look down and watch every single step. The only nice part was a detour off to Lilly's Island, a cute, tiny island linked to the mainland by a short boardwalk. There was a trail register on the island, which I signed; BlueBerry had already gotten there!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Late in the day I passed BlueBerry and Green Tortuga, who had set up camp at a spot called Aspen Knob. I didn't even let myself stop and chat because I just wanted to get to my camp at Crosby Manitou, and it was just ahead. GT termed the terrain we'd just come through "brutal."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My misery wasn't quite over. I thought once I got to Crosby Manitou, the campsites were just off the parking lot. So I ambled into camp, all happy that I was almost there, then took the Middle Trail, which led to my campsite #4. Brian had dropped a jug of water (9 pounds), which I decided to carry in to save time filtering.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Well, after hiking about .5 miles down the trail and seeing nothing resembling a campsite, nor hearing any water (the site was riverside), I decided I'd taken the wrong trail. So I backtracked only to discover I WAS on the right trail. Some guys drove up in a truck then, with a campground map in hand, and I learned I had about a mile's hike to my site.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So back down the trail I went (for the third time), toting that gallon of water. I finally reached the river, passed campsite #3, and then was not seeing #4. The terrain got bad again -- rocky and rooty -- and I thought I'd passed #4 while looking down. I finally found it, and Brian was there, and then I just started crying.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was exhausted, hungry, dehydrated and mentally shot. I finally calmed down once I drank some water and took off that heavy pack. Brian helped me set up my hammock and boiled water for my dinner while I washed up. He also gave me his down jacket in case it got cold at night. It did, and thank goodness he gave me that jacket, as I used it as a blanket.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The campsite was quite lovely. I wish I had arrived there earlier, and under better circumstances, so I could have fully enjoyed it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: =22 (definitely more with my backtracking)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 194.4</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 194.4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 466.1</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-41844426724442680732018-07-26T19:23:00.001-07:002018-11-05T14:08:24.350-08:00Day 10: Penn Road to Lake County Road 6<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 11, 2018</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today we had a hike of about 19 miles ahead of us. That's a lot! The day began wonderfully. We hiked up to Bear and Bean Lakes, a very popular destination with locals and those that know the North Shore. The views were spectacular!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After the twin lakes, we hiked up to Mount Trudee, another mountain offering impressive views, then slid down the Drainpipe. O.K., we didn't slide. The Drainpipe is a narrow, rocky chute that you have to walk down. There's a wooden railing along part of it, but the railing is about shoulder high, and leaning, so it's rather ineffective. Most of the Drainpipe you have to navigate on your own.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once out of the Drainpipe, you enter Tettegouche State Park. Sounds great, but unfortunately the trails here were confusing and sparsely marked. We got lost a few times and probably hiked an extra half-mile or so. That might not sound like much, but it is when you're hiking 20 miles and in tough terrain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When we got out of the park, we had a 6.8-mile stretch left. It was nearing the end of the day, so we knew we'd be hiking until 7:30. Oh well, at least it was light. We just focused on putting one foot in front of the other. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This stretch of trail (around Wolf Rock) was actually pretty magnificent. But we were tired and couldn't enjoy it as much as we should have. The route featured many sweeping views of Lake Superior and other spots. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">About one mile before we reached the parking lot, we saw our car on the road far below. The trail led us past the car, so we knew we'd have to switch back at some point after descending from the mountain. We eventually did, but -- as Ed said -- it was a cruel move because we had to climb a bit before the final descent.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: 17.7</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 172.4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 172.4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 444.1</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-35366691053005534752018-07-20T18:27:00.001-07:002018-11-05T14:08:13.589-08:00Day 9: Split Rock River State Park to Silver Bay<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 10, 2018</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">An awesome sauce day! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ed dropped me off at the spur trail leading back to the SHT where I had gotten off last night. He then parked the car and planned to meet me up the trail a bit. It only took him an hour or two, which was pretty amazing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But more amazing was the route today. This is finally the Superior Hiking Trail I envisioned. We climbed a lot to great rocky outcrops with expansive views of the lake. It was just incredible and indescribable. The lake was everywhere you looked. I know it's enormous, but this was just crazy cool.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We have another two nights in the motel, so we were hiking with day packs, which was a nice change of pace. We ran into one other couple about our age who were hiking for three days. There was some mud, but nothing like some of the earlier days.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My big toe hurt a fair amount, which wasn't fun. But the scenery made up for it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Brian met us twice and took some virtual reality shots plus used the drone. We passed more beautiful waterfalls.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Oh -- one interesting encounter was with a mama grouse. She rushed out of the bushes and was squawking and flapping her wings and rushing at us. We then saw one chick duck into the undergrowth. Ah! She was protecting her babies. But she was right on the trail, and every time we tried to advance she'd rush at us. We didn't want to get bitten.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Eventually Ed took the lead and we slowly advanced. Mama rushed once or twice more, then changed tactics and folded in her wings and scurried down the path in front of us, leading us away from her nest. Fine with us! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We're back in the motel, clean and fed and in need of a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is supposed to be a long, difficult day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: =16</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 154.5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 154.5</span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 426.4</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-63275869104246756822018-07-20T18:21:00.000-07:002018-11-05T14:08:04.733-08:00Day 8: East Gooseberry Falls to Split Rock River State Park<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 9, 2018</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Well, shoot! Today was supposed to be sunny. Instead, shortly after we woke up it started to rain. My phone said the rain would last until 9 or 10. Our clothes and gear were already full of mud, and this was making things much worse. We didn't want to start the day off getting soaked, so we bided our time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ed, the champ, got out of the tent and made us coffee. I huddled inside and packed up our pads, sleeping quilts and everything I could. Finally we could wait no longer and struck out around 9:30 a.m. Luckily the rain stopped shortly after. But it was cool and windy. We didn't want to risk hypothermia again, and were fed up with the mud and rain, so we decided to bag our last night's camping and booked a room at the AmericInn in Silver Bay. That made the day easier to take!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because of our change in plans, Ed had to reconnoiter with Brian and Bob. So he stayed with them while I hiked on. After finishing Gooseberry Falls State Park, which was lovely, the trail has a temporary reroute: it runs along the Gitchee-Gami State Trail for 2.1 miles, then goes up Blueberry Hill Road for a mile before getting back on the real trail.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At the start of the reroute, I ran into two other thru-hikers: BlueBerry and Green Tortuga. Nice guys. We chatted a bit, then went our separate ways. A minute later I was looking at my map and did something -- who knows what -- and ended up falling down and wrenching the big toe on my right foot. Wonderful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I gimped down the path and missed the turn onto Blueberry Hill Road, adding another .8 miles to my day. Then I somehow lost my hat without even realizing it. Luckily some trail runners practicing for Voyageur found it and, as they were doing an out-and-back, delivered it back to me. How sweet!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At that point I had reconnected with BlueBerry and Green Tortuga. I said the hat return was trail magic, but Green Tortuga said that kind of incident is actually called trail mail. Love it! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The trail wound through Split Rock State Park, which was absolutely gorgeous. The path goes up one side of the Split Rock River and down the other. I hung out with Green Tortuga for most of the way, chatting about our hiking adventures and lives. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He has a website, Walk4Fun, which lets you log your steps (if you track them) and then see where your daily mileage would get you on a famous long-distance trail like the AT or PCT. He will add the SHT to the options!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At one point in the hike, the bridge crossing the river was out. We knew this; it was posted all over. Supposedly the crossing is easy to do on rocks, assuming there hasn't been a lot of rain. The latest intel said the crossing was fine. Um, no.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When we got there, the bridge was out but there was no obvious spot to cross safely. Everyone was doing their own thing. I'm not great on crossing rushing rivers, nor hopping on stones that are far apart. BlueBerry -- a young man -- was able to nimbly hop across. I asked him to wait and make sure I got across walking through the water. Two other women hikers helped direct me as well. I made it across, but I'm not sure if I would have done it if there weren't others around.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once on the other side of the river, I saw the campsite we had planned to stay at tonight. It was absolutely lovely. Possibly the best I've seen, based on the flat tent pads, easy access to water, lack of mud, etc. Oh well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ed hiked in to meet me, and as nice as that campsite was, I almost wept for joy checking into the AmericInn. There is nothing like a shower and comfy bed after four days of hiking through mud, rain, rocks and roots.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: =16</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 138.5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 138.5</span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 410.4</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-68135626239471119902018-07-20T18:08:00.001-07:002018-11-05T14:07:55.351-08:00Day 7: Reeves Falls Camp to East Gooseberry Falls Camp<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 8, 2018</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bob and Brian made us French press coffee this morning -- yum! Then it was time to hit the trail.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The first few hours of hiking took us through a lot of wet grass, water and mud. Ugh. But then we began climbing, and got our first few views of Lake Superior! I know it's the largest freshwater lake in the world by volume. I know how massive all of the Great Lakes are. But it is still so impressive to see her from the trail -- she is so enormous!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We also enjoyed hearing more grouse drumming and a woodpecker busily pecking away (but couldn't spot him); there were also lots of little wood frogs hopping around. We also heard a deer make this interesting whistle/snort, which I'm guessing was to scare us away from a baby.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Despite the thrill of seeing Lake Superior, this day was hard. The trail was often rocky and rooty, especially at one spot where there had been a rock slide and you had to maneuver along a narrow trail covered in slippery shale. I got a bunch of blisters today. The bottoms of my feet are killing me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But I did enjoy crossing the Encampment River (some wading involved) and climbing Wolf Rock, a pretty outcrop.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We had planned to camp at Middle Gooseberry Falls. There are several Gooseberry campsites in a row. When we got to Middle, one couple was already there and the remaining site was poor. Ditto with East Gooseberry Falls. We did find this outlier site near East Gooseberry and decided to take it. No place to hang my hammock so it was another night in the tent with Ed. Not that I don't love my hubby, but I find hammocks more comfortable than tents.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Since we weren't at an actual campsite, there was no fire ring or bench. The mosquitoes were bad. So after dinner, we went into the tent for an early night.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: =20</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 122.5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 122.5</span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 394.4</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-69386994414839181322018-07-20T17:57:00.001-07:002018-11-05T14:07:47.537-08:00Day 6: Big Bend Camp to Reeves Falls Camp<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 8, 2018</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I finally fell asleep at about 5 a.m., only to be awoken around 7:15 by Ed packing up camp, specifically his squeaky sleeping pad. It was annoying, but of course we did need to get moving. It took us until 9:30 a.m. to break up camp, eat breakfast and get going. Clearly, we are novices at camping!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The day was pretty nice weather-wise, sunny and not too hot. The day's hike was all in "the green tunnel" (Bill Bryson's term for the AT and trails that are all in the woods) -- none of the famous Lake Superior views yet for us. But that's O.K. It builds the anticipation. The mosquitoes were bad on and off, and there were some rocky spots that hurt our feet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We ran into a nice mother-son duo. They have been section-hiking the SHT for a few years as practice for the mom, who hopes to hike the AT and PCT some day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We also met a couple celebrating their 10-year anniversary by hiking 15 miles on the SHT. We'd actually run into the guy on our second day on the trail; he was doing some trail running to practice for Voyageur, a famous ultramarathon in these parts. But they are section hiking the SHT as a couple, which is a great goal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The only bad part of the day came at the end. We were tired and really wanted to get to camp. Well, the sign for the camp was obscured by vegetation, so we passed it by and probably hiked an extra mile out and back. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Reeves Falls wasn't the greatest camp. The access path was very rocky, rooty and muddy. Ditto with the path to the water. Our tent pad had a lot of grass, and we had to pitch our tent on a slant. There wasn't much room for my hammock, so we tented together. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I did get to wash up in the (tiny) waterfall, which was wonderful. Another bonus: Bob Timmons and Brian Peterson from the Strib were camping nearby; they made us a wonderful dinner of rice, zucchini and Spam, plus beer! They also made a fire at night. All in all, a good day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: =17</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 102.5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 102.5</span></div>
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 374.4</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-73104711390766141702018-07-19T19:32:00.004-07:002018-11-05T14:07:37.432-08:00Day 5: Normanna Road to Big Bend Camp<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 6, 2018</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today was the first of four nights camping. But it was raining in the morning -- not in the forecast -- so we decided to wait it out before starting. Why start out and get soaked?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We got on the trail at 11 a.m. The day's hike was O.K. There were a fair number of mosquitoes, but luckily we had bug nets. There was still a lot of mud on the trail, but a lot of the time you could walk around the worst spots. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of the best parts of the day was walking alongside a HUGE beaver dam and seeing the resulting lake. Oh, and hearing grouse drumming. I wish we could see them, but hearing them is nice, too. We also hear two specific bird calls a lot. I wish I knew what they were!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We met one section hiker today: Leah, a lovely young lady who had just graduated from St. Olaf and wanted to do some hiking before heading back home to Connecticut. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our campsite tonight was great (Big Bend). Ed set up the tent and I set up my hammock. Water was just a few paces away in the river. The mosquitoes were still out, though, so we had to wear our bug nets for dinner.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ed found two ticks on his legs while hiking, then found one on my butt during our evening tick-check. YUCK! He tried to pretend it was just a mosquito so I wouldn't freak out, but I could tell by his voice what it was. (And yes, I freaked out.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At least he saw it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One bad thing happened when I went to get into my hammock. I have a new underquilt that is the same color as the hammock. As it was dusk, I couldn't see well and sat in the quilt, not the hammock, to get in. I promptly crashed to the ground and hit my tailbone on a tree root. OUCH! I think I bruised my tailbone pretty badly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To make matters worse, it got down to the low 40s so I froze in my hammock, despite the underquilt. I guess I should have had a blanket and warmer clothes. Oh well, live and learn. But I only got about two hours of sleep last night. :(</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: =17</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 85.5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 85.5</span></div>
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 357.4</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-90910597796503142262018-07-13T13:43:00.000-07:002018-11-05T14:07:27.555-08:00Day 4: Hartley Nature Center to Normanna Road<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 5, 2018</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today was an up-and-down day. Not the terrain, but how we felt about the trail. We started off from the Hartley Nature Center on some city streets, and then dipped into the woods. This was pleasant, and there was one very nice overlook.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But then the trail piggybacked on the North Shore Trail, a multiuse path. This wasn't fun. The trail is wide and relatively flat, but the grass was shaggy and there were TONS of spots with water and mud. Sometimes you could hop around it, but most of the time you could not. So our shoes got filled with water and mud. And every time they dried out, we'd reach spots where they got soaked again. :(</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Yet there were some fun parts to the day. We saw a pair of Mallards swimming around in a puddle and a funny fish sign by a creek. We saw more wildflowers. Sometimes there were awesome reflections in the puddles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And there were no bugs. At least until the last 15 minutes or so. That's when some mosquitoes arrived. We've been waiting for them to come out in full force and be horrendous, but so far we've been lucky. Knock on wood.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Tomorrow we leave our nice motel and will be hiking five days and camping four nights. Rain is forecast for three of the four days. Wish us luck!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: 16.9</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 68.5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 68.5</span></div>
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 340.4</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-47749018805595607672018-07-13T13:36:00.000-07:002018-11-05T13:46:41.498-08:00Day 3: Kingsbury Creek to Hartley Nature Center<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 4, 2018</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Yessss! An awesome day. The sun finally came out on Day 3 of this adventure. Not only did we have sun, but the temps were perfect -- low 70s for the high -- and there was a breeze. The breeze cooled us off, plus plugged away at drying all of the mud.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Superior Hiking Trail boasts a gazillion waterfalls, and we saw so many today. I have to research more about where all of this water is coming from, but one sign said this particular creek was part of the Lake Superior watershed. All I know is we crossed loads of creeks, and many were flowing fiercely and there were lots of waterfalls.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Early in the day we climbed up high above the city and stayed up there for the most part, enjoying glorious views of Duluth, Lake Superior and its tributaries. In the afternoon we descended into Duluth and had a lovely walk past its famous aerial lift bridge and along a boardwalk rimming the lake. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Around 5 p.m. Brian, the Strib photographer, and Ed and I enjoyed an ice cream cone lakeside. There's nothing like ice cream after a long day's hike! But we weren't finished.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We had another 5 miles or so until the end. It was a lovely hike through various parks and around the University of Minnesota-Duluth, but it was a long day. And these last 5 miles featured a TON of uphill.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Oh, one fun thing. When we were dropping one car this morning at the Hartley Nature Center, our end point for the day, we saw a deer nibbling on the vegetation as we drove in. It didn't seem shy at all about being so close to people or cars. At the end of the day, as we hiked into Hartley, the deer was still there, only greeting us on the back end. :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: 18.9</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 51.6</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 51.6</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 323.5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-42761316612978038232018-07-13T13:14:00.001-07:002018-11-05T13:45:48.775-08:00Day 2: Jay Cooke State Park/Grand Portage to Kingsbury Creek<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 3, 2018</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Well, piffle. I thought we were going to have a warm day, if gray, and no rain. Instead, it rained until shortly before we started. This meant the trails stayed super water-logged and muddy. Not only that, but on this, Day 2, the big climbs and descents started. So we slipped and slid all day long.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Still, there was a lot that was enjoyable. We saw a lot of beautiful wildflowers once again. There were a lot of quaint creek-crossings on boardwalks, although some of the "creeks" seemed like raging rivers and featured waterfalls. Since it was a Sunday, we ran into several trail runners and others on outings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The highlight today was climbing to the top of Ely's Peak. The views were pretty cool -- almost 360 degrees -- even though it was gray and cloudy out. The winds kicked up about the time we arrived, though (15-20 mph), so it was rather cold.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I have to remember to eat more while I'm hiking. Normally I'm pretty good at gauging what I need, but I must be expending more energy on both the mountains and the slip-sliding on the mud. I keep having little mini crashes where I can barely move, and all it takes is eating a few nibbles of food and I'm good to go again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As the day was winding down, the sun suddenly popped out. We caught a few awesome glimpses of downtown Duluth and Lake Superior's St. Louis Bay, I believe. I can't wait to see the views tomorrow, with all of the sunshine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: 16.4</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 32.7</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 32.7</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 304.6</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6396252106666368158.post-41100554058333454982018-07-13T13:06:00.001-07:002018-11-05T13:44:46.556-08:00Day 1: Southern Terminus to Jay Cooke State Park/Grand Portage<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 2, 2018</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Wow, what a crazy first day on the trail! The Superior Hiking Trail (SHT) starts in the south in the middle of the woods on the border with Wisconsin. Since the parking area is 2 miles away, you have to hike in to the terminus, then hike back out and continue on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ed (Stubs) and I were set to start hiking around 9 or 9:30 -- a bit late, as we were driving up from Eau Claire this morning. The forecast was for highs around 45 and rain starting around noon. Not the greatest. Well, it began POURING shortly before we were to start. Since this is a project with the Star Tribune, Brian Peterson (photographer/videographer) is going to take pix and video every day. He was waiting for us at the trailhead, and when we got there we all sat in our cars, waiting for the deluge to stop.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It finally slowed a little and Brian shot some video and then we began. The 3.8-mile out-and-back wasn't that bad. The rain slowed and we saw some beautiful trillium along the trail. We were able to lunch at a campsite, so we had a place to set our packs off the soggy ground.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But the rest of the day was tough. The rain never stopped. It just kept changing from a downpour to a drizzle. We were either walking through puddles or through grass that soaked our feet worse than puddles, actually. Although I was dressed in layers, several rain garments, gloves, etc., you eventually just get waterlogged. Worse, you don't want to drink or eat because 1) it's a hassle to dig out from under your poncho, backpack cover, etc. to get at things and 2) you get colder and wetter when you stop. But if you don't eat and drink enough, you lose energy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There was also the risk of hypothermia. Not so much for me; I was dressed well. But Stubs just had on shorts and a not-so-great raincoat. I did manage to get a few photos, and in the afternoon we saw lovely yellow lady's slippers, but we are REALLY looking forward to tomorrow, when it should be about 20 degrees warmer and DRY.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Snowshoe</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miles: 16.3</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">MN NCT Miles to Date: 16.3</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SHT Miles to Date: 16.3</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total NCT Miles to Date: 288.2</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09183319502570736432noreply@blogger.com0