SHT: Day 8
Superior Hiking Trail: Day 8
8/23/2023
Stewart River Camp - Two Harbors
SHT miles: 6.0 mi
Bonus miles: 6.0 mi
Total miles hiked: 12.0 mi
Elevation gained: 545 ft
Animals seen: townies
Elevation chart created on AllTrails.com
We only pressed the snooze twice this morning. Why? Town day!
Camp was still muddy and damp, but noticeably less muddy and damp than yesterday. We didn’t need to rush so we took time enjoying coffee and oatmeal. While packing I read through the trail register at the campsite and found we were one day behind another NOBO (northbound) thru hiker, Ellie.
Despite taking our time, we were hiking by 8am. We were riding an impending town day high and our morning conversation continued to circle around the idea of positivity.
Cruisin’ speed
Shocking, I know. It must’ve paid off. Self-fulfilling prophecy or something of that sort. We were enjoying ourselves and had a good pace. We had a quick snack and latrine break at the last campsite before the Reeves Road trailhead. By the time we arrived at the trailhead and looked at the clock, I was shocked, we did 6 miles in under 3 hours!
Celebrations were short lived, we had a little over a 5 mile road walk into the town of Two Harbors. Jake attempted to look for a taxi or shuttle service but no luck. My solution, hitchhike. Jake was thoroughly embarrassed, but after the first mile he joined in and stuck his thumb out as well. Shortly past the halfway mark, we got lucky when Don pulled over and picked us up.
Leinie is unsure about hitchhiking
Don dropped us off at the main road in town and we walked to the city campground. With hotel rooms so expensive, motels either booked or not pet friendly, we were stuck with the city campground. They had a spot available for our tent despite being so busy. We were able to string up the bear line and hang our gear to dry. Most importantly, there were showers. We were clean, our gear was mostly dry (except for my boots), but we still had a few town chores. We set off to clean Leinie (Jake dubbed him our little poison ivy bomb), do laundry and find non-dehydrated food.
The campsite was amazing, right on the shores of Lake Superior. It was busy with RV’s and I could see why.
The Yellow Sub would fit right in
We found ourselves at Castle Danger Brewery with two very large beers and a piping hot pizza from the pizza joint down the street. We inhaled that pizza and polished off two rounds of very tall, delicious beers.
Cheers!
Leinie was over the rain
And then, I shit you not, it started to rain. It was a very light rain and short lived, but my eye still twitched a bit. Jake was over being sober on trail (his words, not mine) so we stopped at the liquor store en route back to the campground. Since dogs are not allowed in liquor stores, I stayed outside with Leinie. We met a local named Miles who used to be a trapper but is now in construction. He was very impressed with Leinie, which would be a recurring theme on trail as we would soon find out.
Back at the campsite, we tucked Leinie into bed (read: Leinie jumped in the tent and refused to budge). Jake had purchased some tall boys from the liquor store in addition to his trail SoCo so we enjoyed another beer while walking along the beach.
Glorious, glorious town day.
See all Superior Hiking Trail posts
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…