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Finishing the last section of the SHT with Lil Bit: it had been a question mark resting on the calendar for a year, and as summer turned fall we discovered there was one week in October that would work for both of us to tackle the unfinished hike. In 2021, Lil Bit and I had set out to thruhike the 310 mile Superior Hiking Trail along Minnesota's North Shore. Two-thirds the way through, Lil Bit had to prematurely get off trail, wisely calling it quits due to injury. I had continued on to finish the last stretch by myself, but I was determined to return to finish it with her.
We made the long drive up to Split Rock Trailhead and restarted our Southbound thruhike-turned section hike. It was already afternoon when we set foot to trail under cloudy skies. We didn't plan for a big day so we crushed three miles rather easily, hiking together until we made it to the campground.
Ranger, who I had met on the CDT, wanted to assist our section hike as a support crew. He was following us with the car and assisting where possible, hiking out to meet us and conveniently place the car at road crossings as a place of refuge and snacks. We found him cooking at the campground when we arrived. It had started to rain gently so we set up our tents as quickly as we could. I was cold and wet; an unfortunate combo. The car was parked just a couple hundred feet off the trail at a road crossing, so we all agreed to forgo a miserable dinner and carried our steaming food, dodging puddles, out to the vehicle. We cranked the heat for a minute to warm our hands and feet and then had a delightful dinner in the safety of the car. Even though it was dark, it was still rather early, and with little else to do we put on a movie. We reclined as best we could in my Honda as the images flickered on the tiny phone screen. This certainly wasn't what you would expect out of a backpacking trip, but it was luxury.
I woke up refreshed at 7:30 and found Lil Bit just heading out. I packed up behind her and passed time in the warm car until she had a good head start. I had mathed that I had about an hour of resting for every six miles we covered for our paces to match, so I made some tea and chatted with Ranger as time ticked away.
I wasn't happy to emerge into the cold wetness, but with plastic bags over my socks I started up the trail. It was gentle terrain and I hiked swiftly to try to make up miles on Lil Bit. She was going pretty quickly, for I didn't catch her until seven or eight miles in. I hiked with her as we continued on, down the steep rock of Castle Danger. I was surprised at how many hikers and backpackers we encountered; it was the weekend but the weather was terrible.
Ranger was in the overflowing parking lot, waiting with a spread of food. Lil Bit didn't want to spend too much time sitting and so she took off again rather quickly. I allowed myself another half hour before I followed. It was only four miles to the next road crossing where we would meet Ranger again. I hoped we would be able to stop there to find camp but I had a feeling that wouldn't happen. A lot of the trail went through private property and there were strict rules and signs that prohibited camping and begged hikers to stay on trail. There were no designated campsites for a long way.
Sure enough, there was nowhere to stay for the night when we reconvened at the next road crossing. We had already hiked 15 miles, and though I wanted to start slow to avoid injury, it was still early and we wanted to get out of the tangle of road crossings. So we decided to let the car carry our packs as we hiked two miles further to the next road crossing in order to set ourselves up for a quicker morning, on the bet that we could find a spot to camp there.
The ground was still wet and muddy and the skies tempted sunshine at one point, but to no avail. My mom dashed down the trail burdenless for the last two miles and made it to the parking lot before me. There was still no camping in the area, and as the trail continued on the road for a few miles, we decided to drive the trail and find a place nearby we could camp. Studying the maps, it looked like we could access one of the SHT campsites if we drove up an old dirt road. We slowly ventured down, bouncing through potholes and smearing occasional raindrops off the windshield. I had to hop out to inspect numerous puddles to make sure the car could make it through. Dirty and wet, we pulled up to the campsite and hiked in to inspect the offerings. There was flat ground enough for three tents and begged a fire in a artfully crafted fire pit, but we decided to eat dinner at the car because of the cold and rain. The wind knocked drops off the trees and sprinkled fresh drops as we crawled into our tents for the night.
I was out and about around 7:30 and was surprised find that Lil Bit was not awake yet. I woke her up, as we all had to leave at the same time to head back to trail where we left off. We met at the car and drove to the spot where the SHT departed from the roadwalk we had eagerly skipped. We walked two miles packless to the meetup point, but Ranger wasn't at the parking lot. The trail followed a dirt road so we continued on for an additional mile. I was starting to get nervous that maybe we had misunderstood a meeting spot but found him pulled into a cove with the chairs set out and the oatmeal ready. We packed our lunch and a breakfast for the next day, as we wouldn’t be seeing the car for a while. I gave Lil bit an hour’s head start and then hiked hard to try to catch up. I had waited too long, for though I felt like I had been sprinting down the trail it took 10 miles to catch her. I had overestimated our pace differences; she was feeling great and in good shape and I was recovering from the CDT so I had to recalculate.
We hiked together for a mile or so into camp and found it empty. Ranger was supposed to hike in from nearby trailhead to meet us with dinner. Rather than worrying about starving to death if he didn’t show, I operated on the assumption that he was just late, as he had planned on stopping in town. It was only 3:00, so we set up our tents and got a fire going, the birch bark igniting immediately though wet. The cold and rainy weather made the fire extra delightful. Ranger walked in as I was dragging another tree from the woods. The time passed surprisingly quickly. Another thruhiker joined us around the fire for a little while as we ate dinner so we had someone new to talk to. Despite the hot meal and fire, Lil Bit was too cold for bed, so we boiled some water and spiked it with EmergenC to warm her up and built up the fire to a rage. After some dedicated jumping jacks we were warm enough to get into sleeping bags. All evening the smoke had constantly whipped around and I couldn't escape it. My nose and throat soon were irritated and I went to bed with a headache.
It had snowed overnight, and although it was less than an inch, it had frozen to things in clumps which made packing up difficult. Numb fingers and frozen gear prolonged breaking camp. Lil Bit headed out and I followed after, heading southbound while Ranger went north back to the car. We would meet him 9 miles later. Hiking in the cold wasn't too bad once I got moving but it took a little longer for my toes to warm up. My feet had receded to numbness by the time we got to the car so I ripped off my shoes and socks to put on my warm slippers. I pulled out my tent to dry in the partly emerging sun and ate some snacks for lunch. I relaxed in the warm vehicle, all too grateful for the uncommon resources provided on this hike. I had surrendered to the idea that I didn't need to deal with misery when I didn't have to. When Lil Bit headed out I told her not to expect me to catch up. I still had to wait for my tent to dry, pack my lunch, and warm up my feet. When I finally left an hour later, I took off at a slower pace. I wasn't feeling too well; my throat was still burning from the smoke and I had a little bit of a cough. I didn't try to rush so the six miles along small, gentle hills seemed to take forever.
When I finally got to the campsite both Ranger and Lil Bit were already there. Ranger had parked at a trailhead and hiked in another three miles to bring dinner and camp with us. I slumped next to the fire, exhausted, sore, and miserable. Ranger cooked up some spaghetti and handed us hot steaming bowls of the nontraditional hiking dinner. I didn't feel like eating; swallowing hurt my throat, as did talking and drinking, but I found the hot food and drink started to soothe it after a while. We enjoyed the evening around the fire. It was a nice, open campsite with plenty of wood so the fire burned hot and bright. I looked at the stars, bright and cluttered across the sky. The fire sent excited sparks into the air, trying to reach the stars. It was such a perfect picture, and I was in it.
I woke up, chilled despite a 20° sleeping bag combined with a wool liner and fluffy foot box. I tossed and turned a couple times. I lay awake until Lil Bit got up and started packing, then I followed suit. It was a 5-mile stretch in the cold morning until we reached the car. In the frosty air it took 3 miles or so for my feet to warm back up. My hands were shoved deep into my pockets but never regained circulation. Temperature regulation was challenging. Hiking under the sun allowed for a good temperature, but the second I moved into shade I got cold again. The trail was relatively flat and smooth and I caught up with Lil Bit just as she reached the car. Ranger had tea ready for us and I sat in the sun-warmed car and we gratefully drank the hot liquid.
The parking lot was familiar and I reminisced at the last time we were there. Lil Bit and I had slept in the car there with a portrait of a dude staring at us all night long. It had been rainy that night, but the sun was bright and warm now. We downed some food and then headed out at our own pace. The trail followed old snowmobile tracks as we neared Duluth.
Seven miles in the trail continued on along a road. Free of the obstruction of trees, I could get a glimpse of Lil Bit up ahead but she wasn't on the trail. The trail veered away from the road and paralleled it along the treeline to get away from the dangerous traffic. I doubted she preferred road walking over walking on the worn path, and assumed she had missed the marker to get off the road. Remembering this section from last year, I knew there was a turn coming up that would be easily missed from the road. I my pace to try to catch up, but she walked swiftly on roads. Eventually I broke out into a run to try to catch up before the trail cut sharply behind someone's house. I stopped at the turn and shouted for her; thankfully she was close enough to hear. I pointed down the trail and she turned around, confused from the lack of direction. We hiked together, navigating through a backyard until the trail again followed snowmobile tracks that led us to the trailhead.
It was the end of a long day and I was ready to be done, but Lil Bit seemed all right. Although she said she was tired she was buzzing with energy. We had come 19 miles that day and had finished what was known as a “traditional thruhike.” Because there was no SHT camping for the remaining miles, some will finish their thruhike there in the parking lot. But the trail continued through Duluth’s parks and roads, passing through a state park to the Wisconsin border for a "total thruhike". We had a car, so we could access camping options much easier than if we were on foot. We settled on camping at the University of Minnesota Duluth camp spot, the only affordable accommodations in town. Parking was confusing but I left a note on the dash, hoping it wouldn't be ticketed, towed, or broken into. It was $25 for a night to camp next to the college campus in an open field with a fire pit and a picnic table. We had the whole area to ourselves after the day hikers and joggers left. Soon we had a big fire going and dinner cooking, our tents set up in a semicircle around the picnic table. It was another cold night, and it felt a little odd to be camping in a small park amidst a big city.
It was a late morning. I hadn't heard anyone stir so I enjoyed a lazy morning in my tent. By 8:00 I decided to pack up and go wait in the warm car, but when I emerged into the cold morning I saw the door of Lil Bit's tend hanging loosely open. She must have been really quiet getting up. I packed up and headed toward the car to find her sitting on a rock in the sunshine, wrapped up in a sleeping bag.
We all got packed up quickly but I wasn't quite ready to start hiking for the day. Taking advantage of town and cars, we took a hopeful detour to a nice little café and got coffee and pastries.
We hit the trail at 10am. It was a 3 mile stretch to the Nature Center and Lil Bit and I quickly covered the ground. We paused at Harley Nature Center to look at the statues of dead animals and a few live ones too, and then continued on along their well-groomed trails to downtown Duluth where we were spit out at the Lake. We met Ranger with the car and had a delicious veggie wrap lunch before starting off through another part of town. The "trail" was a boardwalk along the lakefront diving Lake Superior from the touristy development competing for prime real estate. It was lovely though, and we got to learn a little bit about the history of the town. We headed over and under the interstate road system and climbed up a big hill to the forests on the edge of town. Having navigated through a maze of bike trails, we reached the car and decided to head out for one last stretch to complete a 19 miles day.
At the end of the day we reconvened and faced the problem I had been avoiding: we weren't sure where to camp that night. I assumed if we didn't have a support car, Lil Bit and I would just stealth camp, but because we had a vehicle we had to find a place to stay. Most campsites were $30-$40 which seemed ridiculous for a place to park with a bathroom, and hotels were well over $150. With one last unsuccessful search on the google, I decided it was time for plan B. I suggested we could head to the last trailhead on the SHT where Lil Bit and I had slept a few times in the car. It was in national forest, and the road led to a dead-end clearing that (if I remembered correctly) would hold a few tents. We decided to check it out and started the 20 minute drive south. When we arrived we found that the road had been blocked for winter. “Snowmobiles and atvs only,” the sign proclaimed. That was frustrating. We weren’t supposed to camp at the trailhead, so we scoped out the area against the sunset and found a few places we could pitch tents. To keep things simple, Ranger and I pitched tents on a clump of dirt near the gated road and Lil Bit slept in the car. The night was the warmest thus far, and sleeping outside was rather tolerable.
But I didn't sleep much, for a car had dropped off someone at the trailhead in the early in the morning. Thankfully nobody disturbed us, and I cinched the sleeping bag around my face as it cooled down in the pre-dawn hours. I uncloaked my head to find that it was bright outside. 8:30. We had told Lil Bit we would be to the car around 7:30-8am and she had waited patiently as both of us had been knocked out. I packed as quickly as I could and we drove to where we left off.
The day was broken down into a series of 5ish mile stints between car meet-ups. I hiked with Lil Bit most of the first 3 mile stretch. The next one was five, where I took a shortcut and ended up ahead of Lil Bit. I waited for her at a confusing junction and we finished the miles out together. I ran the third stint after lunch. The trail was still hilly and much of it was too rocky or rooty to have sure footing and so I broke into a swift walk. I found Lil Bit a mile or two out and hiked with her for a short amount of time until I took off again for the last little bit at a jog. I wanted to have time to rest my feet before the last five mile stretch and Lil Bit was as steady and strong as ever. She arrived not too long after me and paused only to shove a headlamp in her pack and refill water, headed out straight away. "Your mom is a badass," Ranger told me after she had left without a break. I lay slumped in the car, my feet throbbing and my back and pain while she didn't seem affected by the miles. I didn't give her much of a head start, for I knew she was going to be walking quickly the last stretch. Hiking would bring us into darkness if we had any delay. The trail continued to be hilly but at least it was sure footing, and I walked as quickly as I could in the fading light. I was led into the State Park and the final stretch of the trail. The sunset was an intense orange that faded into a soft pink. Beautiful.
I was reminded of the mad dash to beat the darkness in that same chunk of trail last year. I had walked into the campground just as darkness fell, and here I was racing to a nearby parking lot, fighting that same threat of night.
I didn't catch Lil Bit. I found her in the parking lot, waiting. She had been moving quick and I no longer had any speed over her. She had been chilling for almost half an hour. We drove to the campground and Ranger again cooked dinner while Lil Bit and I pitched tents. I was delighted be the one to sleep in the car that night. Kids shouted in play across the road. Fire crackled as we ate tacos on the last night. It was familiar. The last night. It had all been so fast.
Sleeping in my car felt like home. I slept the best I had all trail. It was still dark at 7:15am so I slept a bit more til I saw Lil Bit stirring. After oatmeal we drove to the trail and started off. We followed the lovely path as it started to level out a bit more, following the river and ridge. We met Ranger in a parking lot, grabbed a snack, then headed out for another 6 miles-- across the bridge with excited water jumping and bouncing around the rocks. The trail was crowded on a weekend. It was perfect weather.
We found Ranger in the final meeting spot with the chairs all set up for lounging. We sank into them, Lil Bit exclaiming she was a bit tired, and had a good break. With only two miles to go, we took off. It went quick. We passed where Lil Bit had joined me on crutches for the finish a year prior. A mile to go. And then we were in Wisconsin. Through many unexpected twists and turns, joys and sorrows, tears and laughter, we had completed the Superior Hiking Trail.
Last year we had started this journey with no idea what challenges and adventures the trail would bring. After Lil Bit's devastating injury, neither of us were certain we would have the opportunity to get back to Minnesota and complete the last stretch together. It had been a whirlwind of days backpacking and hiking, full of untraditional luxuries for a backcountry trip, yet also overflowing with great conversation and connection. I was deeply grateful for the opportunity to spend some more time with my mom and to get back out there to finish what we started.
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