SHT: Day 26
Superior Hiking Trail: Day 26
9/10/2023
County Road 70 Trailhead - Jackson Creek Camp
SHT miles: 14.0 mi
No spur/bonus miles
Elevation gained: 1,804 ft
Animals seen: moose poop, wolf poop
Elevation chart created on AllTrails.com
We woke at our normal time of 6:30am but there was no slow start to the day. With having spent the night at the trailhead, Jake wanted us packed up and moving on trail asap. Breakfast, be damned.
Those who know me, know I am not a morning person. While I understand the logic of Jake’s thinking, I was in a very salty mood. The soaking wet boots, now open to the environment made not a few choice words spill out of my mouth. The trail was overgrown and with the rain during the night became a car wash. I let Jake and Leinie take lead and gave them space so I could stew in peace some paces behind.
The sun wanted to peak out, but the overcast clouds were winning the battle. We made it to the camp we had originally planned on making it to yesterday. It was on a hill with a good breeze so Jake hung up our bear line to hang dry our gear. I attempted to dry my soaking wet feet while shoveling my oatmeal and coffee down my throat.
Leinie finding what little sun he could
Another couple was at the campsite, still packing up for the day (it was around noon, mind you). They owned the super “sick” vanlife van a few trailheads before. We chatted with them for a good while. They have been to all but two of the lower 48 states in their van for the past three years. They have hiked some of the AT but are slow hikers, sloooowww hikers. They said that six miles was the most they usually hike in a day.
It took about an hour for our gear to dry in the wind. I had repacked Yoda without the bear keg. Jake took it since it fits better in his larger pack. Without the hard keg pushing against my back, I felt insanely more comfortable while hiking even despite the weight remaining the same. We had made a new goal of Jackson Creek for the day and had a little over ten miles yet to go. Rain was once again in our forecast, so we decided to campsite jump since they were now a few miles apart and would decide when to stop for the night when needed.
Sun is coming out
We were making a much better pace. I was seriously debating the likelihood of the boundary waters attempt with the situation we were now in. Jake was definitely ending at the northern terminus. While I would prefer he join, it wasn’t a deal breaker for me to do it solo. If we made it to the northern terminus tomorrow, I would be within my permit entry. However, my boots were split open and that meant another 100 miles of hiking in failing footwear. Lastly, the forecast. At this point I had nothing to prove. I wasn’t going to actively choose misery. I have no desire to hike and camp in the rain. It’s one thing to be rained on in environments like Colorado which is almost always followed by sun to dry out in. Here there was no such guarantee. The forecast showed a massive storm for the middle of next week when I would be resupplying. There was a lot to weigh.
We quickly made the next campsite and didn’t pause too long. We didn’t need water and it was a beautiful day now that the sun had some clearance. We continued on and made the ridgeline. Out of nowhere it rapidly became dark and the wind picked up. Within the course of 15-20 minutes it went from a beautiful day to rain. Again, it was early. This weather app sucks.
I busted out the poncho, Jake his rain jacket. This was a decent rain with definite soaking power. After yesterday, Leinie was over it. He crawled under a bush and wanted nothing to do with it. Since staying put on the ridgeline wasn’t an option, I gave Jake my trekking poles and carried Leinie under my poncho to help keep him warm and sort of dry. He seemed to enjoy poking his head out under my chin.
This lasted a quarter mile. A huge tree had fallen down taking it’s massive root system with it and most of the trail that had been on top. I attempted to navigate over and around with Leinie in my arms and ended up slipping and almost falling into this huge hole. Jake and I switched, me taking the poles and Jake taking Leinie. Again, it lasted a short while. Leinie didn’t like the confines of Jake’s jacket so we let him walk. The rain had mellowed a bit and Leinie was allowed off leash for a bit. He had a blast. He listened very well and waited for us when he got ahead.
We passed the next campsite, one short of our goal for the day and ended up continuing. At this point we were saturated, we wouldn’t get drier and at best the rain may stop so we wouldn’t have to set up in the rain. We started passing a bunch of sobo thru’s. One was from Canada, two guys who were both originally from Wisconsin but one had moved to Iowa, and a bunch more. My boots and socks were at this point never going to dry. I had no desire to continue for another week without dry, intact gear so I called off the Border Route and Kek.
As we closed in on Jackson Creek, we had some super slick boardwalks to traverse. It was akin to ice skating. I was kept amused for a solid couple minutes when my trekking pole continued to poof up a mist cloud every time I set it down. Upon closer inspection a powderpuff mushroom had gotten stuck and was puffing out a spore cloud with each step.
We made it to Jackson Creek Camp to find it busy. Some tool (Toolshed 2.0) was hammock camping at the fire ring with his stuff sprawled everywhere around camp. We found a small, flat-ish area tucked under three pine trees and set up. I strung up my two wet pairs of socks in the hopes of drying them. One pair had been drying most of the day so I crossed my fingers that it would be only semi-demi damp tomorrow.
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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…