It’s been a while since I have written
anything. All of my recent writings are about some new adventure I did and this
will be no different. At least I am consistent with the content and this has
morphed into a travel/life event platform for me. I see so many people posting
daily drivel on Facebook, does anyone really care that much what you are doing
at every moment? Short posts for short attention spans. Reading this is a
commitment. It might take you ten minutes. Ten minutes you will never get back,
but don’t say you weren’t warned.
A month and a half ago I realized I
was going to be up in Minnesota for work and thought, hey I should really try
to stretch a long weekend out of it and do a little hiking trip on the North
Shore. I booked the flights the rental cars and started planning the route.
Thursday into Sunday gave me over 3 full days to play with and time to extend
myself.
With a milestone birthday looming that
has been affecting my psyche more than any other, the route is about 47 miles.
Not quite 50 but to take it another trailhead or double back jut to get that
number seems a bit contrived. I know that there are side trails, looks outs and
trails to campsites that should get me to that milestone number without too
much effort.
The weeks leading up to this I begin
to have doubts. Not sure why, I’m in pretty good shape, running a few times a
week, but my neck has been flaring up more than I cared to admit.
A new work trip pops up, this one to
Seattle, the week before this Minnesota trip. That means I will be gone From
Wednesday to Friday, come home for the weekend and head back out Monday and not
be back home until Sunday night (Monday morning). It’s not ideal because I am
sure something will get missed now packing between trips but I make a few extra
lists. I love lists.
Seattle in the summertime is a very
nice place. I could and should do a separate write up on this trip alone.
Maybe.
Anyway, the next Monday I complete
packing my work bag and my backpack into checked luggage and off to Minnesota I
go.
Work goes quickly and at night I meet
with co workers for eats and drinks. I also have a few errands to run. Things
like Target for a few food items, REI for a gas cannister (can’t take them on a
plane), and then I realize I have no post trail shoes. My trail runners and my
dress shoes, that’s all I have. The last two times I did this trail, I (we) got
wet and muddy. I couldn’t wear wet muddy shoes through the airport or want to
drive home in them. I have been on the search for a pair of camp shoes since I
started doing this. Too heavy, no support, no foot protection, don’t stay on
well. I had gone back and forth on a pair of Crocs for the task for a long
time, but they are heavy and well, they are Crocs. I realize it’s time to
re-look at them. The Mall of America has a Croc store, they have a new lighter
version (25% lighter!) and they don’t look like Lego Dutch boy. All plusses. I
bite and take a pair home. I must be getting old, I just gave in to Crocs.
What’s next? Socks and Sandals? 4:30 early bird dinners? Winters in Florida? I
shudder at the thought.
The next morning, I swap rental cars
and start the 4-hour drive from Minneapolis to Schroeder Minnesota. It’s a boring,
uneventful drive to Duluth and once through Duluth do you start to get some
nice scenery. Highway 61 hugs the lakeshore all the way to Canada.
However, once you hit Two Harbors, you
know you are getting close. I started passing all the spots I had hiked in the
past. The state parks, the rivers, Split Rock Lighthouse. I pass the road where
I will get dropped off to start the trip. Its also the place I stopped last
time I was up here. Doing it this way I will have done a continuous section of
the trail, with no repeating.
Over 20 minutes go by and I still have
a way to go to get to my trailhead at Britton Peak. I really wonder if I over
estimated my abilities, a modicum of doubt creeps in.
I finally pull into the parking lot. It’s
a very nice trailhead, as it is shared with hikers and the mountain bike trails
that start here. I am quite a bit early for my pick up and that’s ok, I have
time to shakedown my gear and makes sure I don’t forget anything.
So far, the weather has been decent,
although they are calling for a 50 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms
tonight and for the next few days. It’s sunny now but will it last?
Finally, the shuttle service I
contracted with shows up and I load up. Larry and I shoot the breeze for the
ride and he’s impressed (or concerned?) with my ambitious mileage goals for the
next three and a half days. It doesn’t
do much for my confidence either way.
Like a hitchhiker at his stop, Larry
leaves me at the wayside of my choice. I flop the pack on the ground take a few
pictures take a few deep breaths and start the walk. My pack is loaded, but not
overly so. With food, water and camera gear it’s around 26 pounds. I have
learned since taking 40 pounds into the mountains of Arizona. With old age comes
experience and wisdom I guess.
Of course, the trail goes straight up
from the drop point to Section 13, a popular destination with rock and free climbers. There is also a ‘nuisance’ bear at the campsite
for this area. Maybe I will see a bear? Neat. I walk the next few miles, go through
a boardwalk in a bog, see a 15-foot-tall glacial erratic and the weather stays
good, low 70’s mostly sunny. Beats work anytime.
Now this first day is about 10 miles as
I didn’t want to get to camp too late since I didn’t get started until 2:00 PM
anyway. Other than a few climbs it’s not to strenuous, and my body seems ok
with a pack. It had been 5 months since I did this last.
The campsite is North Egge Lake. I
have the place to myself. Obviously, being on a lake the water is easy to
access and it makes for a peaceful spot.
I set up camp and set about a few
chores, have my food bag to hang, make dinner, get water. I walk to the edge of
the lake and there is a pair of swans right in the middle of it! Very peaceful,
I think I am the only person on the lake today.
I take my water bag back to start
filtering. Except the filter is not working. I should be able to squeeze water
through and I am getting nothing. Are you kidding me? This is how my trip
starts and ends? I mean I can boil water, but there is not enough gas for my stove
to last, I could do it over a fire but my pot only holds 22 ounces a time
anyway, I will be here all day. I then remember I do have backup purification
tablets if I need to, but I don’t want to go there just yet. I keep trying, and
finally I start getting a slow drip. I hang the water bag and the catchment bag
on a tree and let it drip. Not the best but it’s something.
Back to dinner, the old favorite, Pack-it
Gourmet All American Hamburger. Only takes 4 ounces of water, perfect for my
low water situation. It’s also just tasty. Like taco meat that tastes like
grilled hamburger and all the fixins’ on a tortilla. Simple and satisfying. I
also had a snickers bar for dessert. The new espresso flavor. Not too bad.
By this time I have drip filtered about
1 liter of water. Still not great, but I drink it up because I am thirsty. This
time I have ditched the bladder and went with two bottles of water. I have about
16 ounces less water at any time but also less weight and bulk. Also, this area
trail is littered with good water sources. Just stop and filter…if your filter
works like it should.
I keep the filter to keep going and I
get ready for bed. Its almost 9 and its getting cloudy, perhaps some of those
overnight showers they predicted will come though soon.
By the way, I did get my shoes quite wet
and muddy in one spot today, otherwise the trail is in really good condition.
That said, my Crocs are wonderful, let me feet air out provide the cushion and
protection around camp, I am officially converted.
With the food bag hung as high as ever
and 2 liters of water filtered, I go to bed.
The next thing I know its 5:30 am. I
lay in ‘bed’ until almost 6:30 because I have all day. I am on vacation anyway.
When I do roll out, I am not sore anywhere, my neck is fine. Maybe I should sleep
in a hammock at home?
I make coffee (instant), oatmeal (cooked)
and peach protein smoothie (instant) for breakfast. It never rained last night
and everything is dry. It’s still very overcast but so far so good.
Eventually I break camp and hit the
trail before 9. Today is the longest day I have planned for the whole week. Over
16 miles to the East Caribou River Campsite. There are multiple bail out sites
along the way if I am not feeling it, but that then makes the remainder of my
days that much longer.
Today also has about 2500 feet of
elevation gain along with 3200 feet of elevation loss. As long as I take a
break when I feel the need I should be fine.
So far the weather has been good to me,
but eventually it does start to sprinkle. I take a break, put some foot glide
on and put my pack cover on to prep for the rain. Foot glide is just a fancy
name for a lanolin-based lotion that helps keep the friction down on your feet
(or other chafe-y bits) since my feet would be a bit wet with the rain I though
it best to do it now.
The rain was short lived.
Today being Friday I did run into a
few other hikers but honestly, I expected more.
Eventually I made it into George
Crosby State park. I do a little extra detour to find a nice picnic area on a
lake. I eat lunch, air my feet and shoes out and filter water. By this time the
filter is starting to work better, I can actually start to squeeze water out of
it and its more than a drip. This is a relief for sure. Not having adequate (clean)
water can be stressful.
I pack up and head back to the trail.
I have about 10 miles in with about 7 to go. The rain has stopped but its still
and muggy. Because of this I drink a lot of water, and I am almost out by the
time I get to the next source, but it’s not a great source and I end up skipping
it.
Finally, I reach East Caribou
campsite. A large YMCA youth group has it taken over. Luckily for me you are
required to share and it’s a multi group site. This means I have a secondary
site with fire ring and benches all to myself. I set up camp, change into my
camp clothes (clean and dry) as well as my Crocs. I go to the river and drink
it dry. Almost. Ok not even close but damn that was so good.
Working on dinner another group of
four guys come in and we share the secondary site for the night. They are all around
26-28 years old and sociable. They offer me some of the brats and food they
cook over the fire. They also have two dogs with them Ted and Bella. I stay up
way too late hanging out with them by the fire….
They next morning it’s more of the
same, lay in bed, eat, break camp and head out by around 9:00 AM. Again, no
rush and the miles will be less today, less than the previous day anyway.
As I head out the YMCA group is half
awake. Man, I wish I could sleep that late once in a while.
The day is overcast again, not sure if
it will rain I decide to leave the pack cover off. This next section has
several campsites along the way in which I can take a break, water up, have
lunch or if worse comes to worse stop for the day.
As expected, the trail starts straight
up, that’s the problem when you camp on these river spots. I eventually enter
some heavy overgrowth on the trail, ferns and other plants all decide to give
me their morning dew as I brush past. After a mile of this my pants are soaked,
mid-thigh down, by shoes are soaked as well. At least the sun starts to peak
out.
Eventually I decide to stop at Dyers Creek
camp. I drop my pack, convert my pants to shorts, take off my shoes and socks, take
off my shirt all to dry in the sun while I enjoy some snacks. I sun myself for
about 20 minutes before a couple come in with the same idea, to stop for lunch.
I gather up some of my gear as I am spread out all over the benches at this camp.
They get to marvel in my pasty-white-farmer-tan having upper body, because I am
not getting dressed until I am ready.
About 15 minutes later and after some
conversation with them I finally head back out. Refreshed, dried out and ready
for the next camp. They tell me Falls Camp is really nice, that’s where they
were the night before. I take it under consideration although it is almost two
miles short of my planned camp.
The sun is out in full now and it
warms up. The trails has a few open spots as I do a sort of ridge walk and I
pause to take in any breezes I can get.
Eventually the trail parallels the
Cross River. I get to Falls Camp, hike up the hill. Take my pack off and scout
around. Yeah, it’s ok but its only 3:30 in the afternoon and I could make
tomorrow just that much shorter if I keep going. That’s it. I re-shoulder my
pack and head back to the trail.
It’s almost 2 more miles until I get
to the South Cross River camp, and there is a group of three already set up. No
worries I ask if I could join them off to the side and set up camp.
Once that was done, I went to get
water from the river and realized there was another camp right there on the
river! I didn’t have to share anything and didn’t have to impose on the other
hikers. What should I do? tear it all down and move? It turns out that I am
extremely lazy at this point and say screw it. I will stay right where I am.
Made dinner of pasta Bolognese and
another snicker bar. This time a hazelnut one. It’s ok, I would stick with
normal or the espresso ones given a choice.
We are in a little canyon so the sun
isn’t long in the campsite. I lounge in my hammock and pull out my Kindle. Yes,
I have dragged this thing for 40 plus miles for 3 days now and this is the first
time I even cracked it open. I read for an hour, then decide to move from sitting
to laying down. I read for a little more as another hiker comes into the site
and sets up. She talks with the others and doesn’t say anything to me. I don’t
care I didn’t make myself too available anyway eating and reading in the
hammock. As when at home the Kindle emits some form of sleeping gas and I fall
asleep.
Sunday morning. I get up make coffee,
eat, break camp and get ready to go to church. My church. The one with the
trees and rivers and sunny skies. Every one but one person is still sleeping by
the time I leave.
Today is the shortest mileage day of
the trip at around 8 miles. I still like to start early as I have to get back
to the airport which is as you know, is a 4-hour drive away. I also had my mind
set on some lunch and a beer on the way home.
The morning walk is easy and eventually
I make my way to the Temperance River. I follow this down to the state park
with the same name. It’s a showy river with lots of falls, cauldrons and
rushing water. I stop quite often to take pictures and shoot a little video.
Because it’s a weekend and there is easy
access there are plenty of day hikers out today. I turn out of the park and
head right back up the other bank as the trail turns north almost at the exact
same place it came out from the south.
With the river behind me, I head to
the next and last challenge of my trip. Up from the river at an elevation of
900 feet to the top of Carlton Peak at around 1600 feet. All within about a
mile and a half.
Eventually Carlton peak is in my
sights, it looks like a little mountain with granite showing at the top. I
slowly make my way up the trail. I reach the split in the trail where one goes
on and one goes to the summit. I head for the summit. Why would I come this far
and not finish going another 150 feet up to get to the top? On the way I pass a
family coming down. A little girl tells me I will love the view.
A few more minutes and she’s right. It’s
a wonderful view. It’s also nice and breezy. I relax, take it in. I can see Silver
Bay from up here as well as quite a ways into Lake Superior and surrounding
area. There are also the remains of footings for what was once a fire tower. Eventually
some other people come up and break my solitude. Time to finish the trip.
The rest of the way is all down hill
and once down, all board walk to the parking lot. I can see why this has a lot of
people, it’s an easy 4-mile round trip from the parking lot to the peak.
I cross the road and see my car in the
parking lot. That’s it, I did it. Any doubts I had on my ability were for nothing.
All told I did 50.3 miles. Milestone met.
I freshened up best as I could and changed
into some clean clothes, when Larry the shuttle driver pulls up to let some
others off. I laugh wave and yell “Hey Larry! Longtime no see.”
He smiles and said “seems like only yesterday!”
I finish going through my stuff and
prep for the drive, in my Crocs.
I get to Two Harbors and stop at Blackwoods
restaurant. Mike and I ate here and the food was good. It’s still good. I
wolfed down a firehouse burger (Bacon, Pepper Jack Cheese, Onion strings, Jalapeños)
and fries. I then head a few blocks down to Castle Danger Brewing for well-deserved
end of trail beer on their very nice and very new deck. I savor the sun and the
cool north shore temps.
As I start the remaining drive back I can’t
help but think what’s next?
