SHT: Day 1

Superior Hiking Trail: Day 1

8/16/2023

NCT MN/WI Trailhead - Highway 210

SHT miles: 12.9 mi

Bonus miles: 1.1 mi

Total miles hiked: 14.0

Elevation gained: 1,490 ft

Animals seen: suicide gnats, tweakers

Elevation chart created on AllTrails.com

---

The alarm went off at 4:30am but we still somehow missed our target of leaving by 5am. Anyone surprised? No? Me neither. Despite some very last minute unpacking and repacking we were on our way at 5:45am. So, honestly, it was pretty darn good for us considering our track record.

Jake was driving while Leinie and I snoozed in the backseat, no reason we all have to loose sleep. We made a pit stop at the McDonald’s in Cloquet for some solid pre-trail brek (egg mcmuffin meal). While pulling on my hiking boots I noticed a suspicious little hole on the side of my toe box of my left boot. I sent a silent plea to the hiking powers and laced them up.

A little bit of back history on Section 1 of the SHT, aka the Duluth Section. There are no backcountry campsites in this section. Only privately owned, reservation only, fee sites that are rather awkwardly spaced. One stretch being 20-ish miles. The nightmare of these logistics is the reason a solid half of thru hikers elect to skip this section. It even has a term for skipping this section, the traditional thru hike. The complete thru hike (which your heroes are completing) includes the Duluth section. We lucked out as Jake’s cousin Tim and his girlfriend Gabe live in Duluth and volunteered to host us in addition to shuttling us to and from trailheads. 

Due to this luck, we were “slackpacking” the Duluth section. For those not in the know like us pros, that means you take a light load, typically just some snacks and water. We made a pitstop at Tim & Gabe’s to drop gear we didn’t need yet and then made our way into the land of Cheese and Leinenkugel’s: Wisconsin. 

Yes, our hike began with bonus miles. We needed to hike 1.1 miles of the NCT (North Country Trail) to reach the southern terminus at the MN/WI border. We found the tiny parking lot and Deb took some token trailhead pictures. And off we were.

Except not even 20 yards down the road walk from the parking lot to the trail, we needed to stop for Leinie’s first trail poop. 

Ok, now we were actually on our way. The bonus mile plus went surprisingly quick and we arrived at the southern terminus and Minnesota border. Naturally, pictures were taken and we made an entry in the trail register to make it official. We were now hiking the SHT, the trail we took our first backpacking trip on, it felt like we were back home.

So bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, except Leinie who is thoroughly unamused with picture taking

Spirits were high and we commented on the ruggedness of the trail, roots and rocks kept our eyes focused on the trail. On the first of what would be many steep descents, Jake made a comment about how we needed to be especially careful to not hurt ourselves due to our health insurance being based in South Dakota. Ah, such naive Day One thru hikers, it’s almost endearing.

Then the suicidal gnats hit. Their specialty was the eyes. I received two, Jake one. He came up with a unique idea for dealing with them. Something about holding your hands above your head and clapping periodically. I struggled to be successful with this method so I used my shade hood as a way to block entry from the sides. They needed an accurate head-on attack to reach my eyeballs.

Gnat prevention pro level

We needed to do at least 9 miles today to make it to the trailhead that would be reasonable for Tim to pick us up. By mile 7 my hanger was getting the better of me since I had already devoured my snacks. While my feet were trained up for mileage, they weren’t used to the ruggedness of the trail and were sore from the rocks and roots. We made it across the swinging bridge in Jay Cooke State Park and were able to park ourselves on a bench by 1:30pm. Off came the boots and socks, out came lunch (spam, olives, caffeinated electrolyte mix with a desert of mexican street corn trail mix). 

Looking down at the converging rivers

Lunch with a view

Tim had finished work earlier than expected and wanted to join us for some miles. He arrived with his dog Toby and we set off for a goal of an additional 6 miles. The trail started flat, mellow and dare I say “cruiseable”. It jumped back and forth off a paved bike path for a bit and then crossed over a dam. For an area with a large amount of signage warning against swimming there was a surprising amount of footwear in the water.

Cruising along while Tim & Toby follow

Tree giving off “Last of Us'“ vibes

Then the real trail hit us like a brick wall. Ravines. Ravines to climb into, ravines to climb out of. I could venture to say that ravines are worse than mountains. With mountains, you start with the horrible ups. Ravines end with them. I looked at the gpx map at the bottom of one and slogged myself up only to find the blue marker had barely moved.

It’s hard to convey how truly steep it was

We came across a bench and collapsed on it. Looking at the gpx map, it showed one last steep descent before a road crossing, followed by a relatively flat section that led to our goal trailhead. We voted, it was unanimous, we were ending at road crossing instead, we were dusted.

Arriving at the road crossing, there was a small parking area with a car already there. Not our ride, just a couple with suspiciously blank expressions asking very odd questions about the trail. A storm was rolling in and they left as the rain was starting. We moved under tree cover in an attempt to stay relatively dry. Gabe came to our rescue and picked us all up. We picked up Tim’s truck and while driving to get some groceries for dinner the storm really hit. It was raining so hard, we had to pull over because visibility was zero and the street was flooding. 

The storm didn’t last too long and we were able to get groceries and make some spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner. Carb load for tomorrow, that’s what I am going with. 

---

See all Superior Hiking Trail posts

---