SHT: Day 20
Superior Hiking Trail: Day 20
9/4/2023
Camp Creek Camp - Cascade River Wayside
SHT miles: 2.0 mi
Spur miles: 0.5 mi
Total miles hiked: 2.5 mi
Elevation gained: 190 ft
Animals seen: too many Labor Day-ers
Elevation chart created on AllTrails.com
Awake again at 6:30am, but this morning I stayed in “bed”. I just didn’t see the point of getting up so early with only a few miles to do and then sit waiting at the trailhead for hours. I waited until everyone was up and moving before I emerged from my cocoon of a sleeping bag. It was a super slow morning. We took our time taking down camp and eating breakfast. We were the last ones left at camp.
We were almost done loading our packs when we noticed smoke from the fire pit. The family with full kitchen had started a fire to cook breakfast this morning and apparently left it still lit. Either a special type of stupid or so entitled they felt someone else could take care of it? Either way, super dumb and super, super dangerous. As Philly D says, “Don’t be stupid, stupid.”
After dousing the fire, we made our way toward the trailhead. First, we needed to summit Lookout Mountain. It was a surprisingly mild summit approach and the view was excellent.
Another long descent, this one was not as steep as previous ones but you still needed to pay attention to prevent slipping and tripping to a near certain injury. Due to lack of clear signage and trail marking we went down and then back up the 96 stairs. Yes, there were 96, I counted.
We bounced along the Cascade River and took the obligatory group pic.
Tramily
We made it to the trailhead and had a half hour to burn. Leinie and I ate leftover food. Tim and Jake waded through the water. Gabe and Toby lounged. Deb picked us up and we drove back to Tim and Gabe’s car with the windows down so she wouldn’t suffocate from our stench. We collected our bear keg of extra food and the whole group went to lunch at a cafe close by before waving goodbye to Tim, Gabe and Toby.
Deb, Jake, Leinie and I drove to Grand Marais and checked into the rental cabin Deb found. It was super adorable, and more importantly had steaming hot water in the shower.
Hashtag totes adorbs
Deb made spaghetti while Jake and I showered and changed into clean, truly clean clothes for the first time in almost three weeks. Then we feasted. We ate what I am sure was our weight in spaghetti. After stuffing ourselves silly in true hiker trash fashion, Jake, Leinie and I passed out, hard. We emerged from our food comas to eat more before crawling back into our beds for the night.
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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…