Superior Hiking Trail Thru Hike 2016

Category: Superior Hiking Trail Thru Hike 2016

Afterword

As I walked away from the future southern terminus of the Superior Hiking Trail, the Wisconsin border, finally done with the entire trail, I felt like the walking dead. My feet hurt bad, really bad. My shoes felt so uncomfortable, like walking on concrete slabs. My backpack was drenched in sweat and grime, and I […]

Day 9: Friday, September 9: Bagley Campground to Wisconsin Border

Garmin Data: When my alarm went off at 3am, I hit the snooze button. Onto my very last day, but yet I still wanted to eek out that last little bit of sleep. I may have slipped back into REM sleep. Upon the next alarm, though, I started getting my things together. Pants on, […]

Day 8: Thursday, September 8: Big Bend to Bagley Campsite

Water is coming in. Not good, not good, not good. Oh, no!!! It was around midnight on my seventh night, and I hadn’t slept much. For three hours, I closed my eyes, drifting in and out of light sleep, nervous of the impending thunderstorm. In a half hour, it went from light rain, to thunder, […]

Day 7: Wednesday, September 7: Crow Creek to Big Bend

Garmin Data: I woke up to my alarm early in the morning, but snoozed for an additional 10 minutes. I seemed to drift off again, even in the short period of time. Tim, the guy two feet away from me, was snoring still, sleeping flat on the ground, sleeping pad twisted beneath him and his sleeping […]

Day 6: Tuesday, September 6: Penn Creek to Crow Creek

Garmin Data: In between swatting mosquitoes, I drifted off to sleep in the early morning hours of my fifth night camping. An infuriating buzz in my ear canal would cause me to stir, but what completely woke me up was another round of thunder. The only precipitation I heard was left-over rain falling from the […]

Day 5: Monday, September 5: East Branch Baptism River to Penn Creek

Garmin data: I woke up to rain in the middle of the night. By this fourth night, I found that an unobstructed night of sleep is not really realistic out in the woods. Each night, something stirring or a wind gust through the trees or a rock or root in my back would wake me up. […]

Day 4: Sunday, September 4: Springdale Creek to East Branch Baptism River

Garmin Data: My alarm went off early, and I was on the trail in no time. With rain coming on the crux day, I wanted to get out early, and I was the first camper of perhaps 10 at the Springdale Creek campsite to depart. It was barely light out. I ate my four breakfast […]

Day 3: Saturday, September 3: North Cascade River to Springdale Creek

Garmin Data: I woke up from my second night to sprinkles. I looked from under my tarp and saw sun, so was confused. It was a damp morning, and I truly noticed that when I arose and saw dew literally dripping off of the leaves and branches above me. There were clouds of morning mist! […]

Day 2: Friday, September 2: South Little Brule River to North Cascade River

Garmin Data: I woke up from the first night on the trail feeling refreshed and ready to rock. My tarp was unfortunately sopping wet with dew, but I tried to shake it all off and stuffed it away wet. I was dawdling around trying to depart, even booted up my phone, 95% battery, and took […]

Day 1: Thursday, September 1: 270 Degree Overlook to South Little Brule River

Garmin Data: The big trip started with an early wakeup call before 6am. I was sleeping in my dad’s travel trailer at Cascade River State Park. We both got up quickly and were on the road within minutes. We drove north to Grand Marais and I ate as much food as I could at a […]

Preamble

One task. It’s simple: walk on the Superior Hiking Trail from end to end. North to South. Walk, eat and sleep. Simple! The ultimate challenge is completing this task as fast as possible. My life focus in 2016 is to train my body, accumulate gear and experience, and execute a fast through-hike of the entire Superior Hiking […]

Grand Marais

Hike Date: August 12-15, 2016 Trail: Superior Hiking Trail Trip Plan: 4 days, 3 nights, and to hit goal pace of 35 miles per day, 140 miles total Day 1 – Hike north from the side of Gunflint Trail to Hazel Campsite (34.5 miles) Day 2 – Hike north from Hazel to Arrowhead Trail parking […]

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