SHT: Day 14
Superior Hiking Trail: Day 14
8/29/2023
East Palisade Camp - Section 13 Camp
Miles hiked: 14.5 mi
No bonus/spur miles
Elevation gained: 2,890 ft
Animals seen: dead rodents
Elevation chart created on AllTrails.com
An alarm and two snoozes later we were deflating sleeping pads and breaking down a saturated camp. Jake tried to get us to hurry our breakfast routine, but that’s basically impossible with his two coffees and my full mug of water following my carnation following my coffee which inevitably leads to a latrine break. We were on trail around 8am and I am taking that as a win.
Mt. Trudee was situated just past our campsite. While it was a decently tough climb for first thing in the morning, it was worth it. It reminded me why I choose to continue hiking/backpack/be outside.
Mt. Trudee
We had plans to shower at Tettegouche State Park less than five miles from our campsite, but those miles seemed to take longer than anticipated. The trail wasn’t more difficult or rugged that it had been. We did have to step over an alarming number of dead rodents. I don’t know if they were voles or shrews but it was rather creepy and foreboding. The forest was also rather dark to all the tree coverage so it had very creepy “Ritual” vibes going for it.
Close to the spur trail to the campground, there is a section of trail that is very, very, very steep and full of trail debris (branches, rocks, other things that get washed downhill in rain and snow) dubbed “the drainpipe”. Spoiler, we survived but it was rather hairy.
We made it to the campground showers intact and not part of any weird sacrifice. We took turns scrubbing ourselves clean in the hot water and watching Leinie. We attempted to dry our soaking rain fly, but it was overcast and lacking wind.
We didn’t want to backtrack to the SHT since the bridge was out (again) over the Baptism River and would have to reroute or ford it. Jake looked at the map and thought we could cross the river near the campground and rejoin the SHT on the other side. So we followed another trail to the river. It was busy with campers and dayhikers and had some rapids. We changed out of our boots and into our camp sandals and forded across. While the water was flowing pretty fast, the current was decent and the water never got above our ankles.
We rejoined the SHT and continued on our way. It had cruisey sections that were interrupted with punchy ups and downs. While we were making decent time, the feet were growing sore by the time we stopped at Sawmill Dome for an overlook break.
Sawmill Dome
We took a water filter break at the creek just past the next trailhead. Our goal was to make it to Section 13 Camp, which does not have a water source. We sat on the bridge snacking while we filled our nalgenes. Then it was a lot of ups. Up and up and up. At times it felt more like bouldering than hiking. The views at the top were worth it.
Section 13
Section 13 is a popular spot for rock climbers with the sheer rock face and has a reputation for being busy. We saw the evidence of that with a lot of old fire pits and two unofficial campsites. We made it to the designated campsite around 7pm and Jake got busy starting a fire to dry our tent. This campsite had a backrest to the bench next to the fire ring. Most are just a flat board with no backrest. It was very convenient for draping our wet tent.
Once the footprint and tent were dry I quickly worked at setting it up while the rain fly dried. I was in the midst of inflating a sleeping pad when I heard an “Oh Sh!t” from Jake’s direction. An ember caught by the wind hit our very flammable rain fly and created a hole. Oops.
Well, we carry gear tape for a reason, right? Jake and I doctored the rain fly to the best of our abilities. Thankfully it wasn’t a big hole, roughly the size of a quarter. Time will tell whether our patch holds.
We enjoyed dinner in the dimming light and then packed up the bear bag and keg. At this time I noticed that our bear bag was missing a pin that holds half of the clip in place. What?! It is such an awkward piece to lose. So we macgyvered the bear bag to close, worst case it opens and our stuff gets wet but at least it won’t fall off the line.
One of our longest days yet, coupled with long ascents led to both Jake and me being very sore and tired. We both popped some nsaids before crawling into our sleeping bags in the hopes it would help us sleep.
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Our band of heroes is drying out from the sogginess that was the SHT. They ponder their experience on trail, the people the met, what their hiking future looks like…