Just J.Faye

Hiking & Other Adventures

2019 Goals: the Pacific Crest Trail and the Colorado Trail

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Let’s talk a little about 2019 goals.

2019 goals: PCT & CT

I am not talking about resolutions or intentions or little things I want to change about myself. I am talking cold, hard goals. SMART goals. Things that I am going to do everything in my power to achieve.

My 2019 Goals

2019 goals: PCT & CT

Here they are:

  1. Hike the Pacific Crest Trail
  2. Hike the Colorado Trail

If everything goes correctly that would be over 3,100 miles of backpacking!

I get so excited just thinking about it.

The Pacific Crest Trail

2019 goals: PCT & CT

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), it is a long-distance hiking trail that travels 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon, and Washington.

Michael and I have a permit to start hiking on April 18, my 32nd birthday. We hope to finish the PCT in 120 days, estimating that we’ll probably take about 14 “zero” days (days that we don’t hike) and average 25 miles per day on the days that we do hike. It might be a little aggressive, but I think we can do it!

The Colorado Trail

2019 goals: PCT & CT

The Colorado Trail is another long-distance trail. This one starts at Waterton Canyon, southwest of Denver, and travel 486 miles to Durango, Colorado – a shorty compared to the PCT.

We will start this after we finish the PCT and get back to Colorado, probably around September 1. Right now we don’t have a specific time goal for the Colorado Trail, but it will probably take us 3-4 weeks.

Initially Michael just brought the Colorado Trail up as a joke, but the more we joked about it the more serious we became and soon realized that it was a great idea.

We’ll already have the time off of work. We’ll both be in really good hiking shape and have all the gear we need. Monsoon season will be over and we’ll get to hike through peak fall colors.

Sooo… give me a reason not to do it.

Training

2019 goals: PCT & CT

I am planning to post training updates here on Just J. Faye, not necessarily because I think you’ll be interested, but rather because I think posting my training will help hold myself accountable.

Ideally I would my weekly training would include a solid mix of running, hiking, other cardio (elliptical, rowing, stairmill, etc), strength training, and stretching.

Other Things

2019 goals: PCT & CT

Of course I do have some resolutions and intentions and small things that I want to change about myself too. Would it even be January if I didn’t?!

  • Stretch more and do yoga at least twice per month
  • Learn calligraphy
  • Journal on a more consistent basis
  • Do a better job at reaching out to / catching up with friends and family
  • Spend money smarter, AKA only on things that I actually need

Follow Along!

2019 goals: PCT & CT

I hope you follow along during the training, planning, and hiking! You can follow me on Instagram here and you can follow Michael here. His pictures are way better than mine.

We’ll also be posted periodic articles on The Trek. You can check out our latest about this 2-for-1 thru-hiking experience here.

What are your goals/resolutions/intentions for the year? Please share!

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Thursday Things 11.08.18

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Thursday Things 110818

It’s a little odd to come to this space and not write about a backpacking trip. The last few months were filled with adventures I will never forget. I was so lucky to be able to travel around and backpack in beautiful places with the one I love.

Now I just daydream about our adventures as I settle back into the real world. I recently started a new job – Project Management for a technology company. It’s not Supply Chain and it’s not a CPG company, so it’s a completely new world for me. I look forward to being challenged.

As the temperature continues to drop I find myself wanting to do all the crafts. I have a queue of cross stitch and crochet patterns lined up and can’t wait to complete them all. It’s dorky and cozy and I love it so much.

The picture above is from a hike Michael and I did yesterday afternoon. It was 12-mile loop in Centennial Cone Park. At 35 degrees it was quite chilly, but lovely evening nonetheless.

And here are some more lovely things:

  • How do you even decide what type of Thanksgiving pie to make? Right now I’m leaning towards a pumpkin cheesecake, but that may change.
  • Michael and I are loving these National Park candles from Good & Well Supply Co. Denali and Yellowstone are our favorites so far.
  • I wrote an article for The Trek about backpacking in Canyonlands National Park. If you haven’t been there, you need to go. It’ll blow your mind.
  • Oprah announced her annual favorite things. Anything look great to you?
  • I need to make this pizza.

Now I’m going to get back to my cross stitching.

Happy Thursday!

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Backpacking Salt Creek Canyon in Canyonlands National Park

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A recap of a 23-mile out-and-back backpacking trip through the beautiful Salt Creek Canyon in Canyonlands National Park.

Backpacking Canyonlands

Michael and I decided to fit in one more backpacking trip before we started real life (AKA get jobs) again. We decided on Canyonlands National Park, because fall is an excellent time to be in the desert.

Canyonlands is pretty busy in October, so the available backcountry permits were limited. It was a similar to the situation we found ourselves in back in April. However, we were able to get permits for dispersed camping in Salt Creek Canyon for two nights. Woo!

Backpacking Salt Creek Canyon Day 0

We drove to Moab from Denver on a rainy/snowy Monday. It was a gloomy drive, but the skies started to clear as we were getting into town. We camped with some friends, Hugh and Sarah, who are currently the campground hosts at William’s Bottom Campground. They took us on a hike to Corona Arch and then made us some delicious pizza. It was a fun night of catching up with friends we haven’t seen in a while.

canyonlands

Backpacking Salt Creek Canyon Day 1

Both Michael and I slept amazing in the tent! I love when this happens. We rolled out around 8:00 am and started to pack up our gear. Since we didn’t have a lot of miles planned for the day, we weren’t in a hurry to start backpacking. We took our time eating breakfast and chatting with Hugh and Sarah over some camp coffee.

We left William’s Bottom around 10:00 am and headed to the Canyonlands Visitors Center. The skies were pretty dark and there was rain in the forecast. We were a little nervous about being caught in a flash flood while hiking through a canyon. Fortunately, the ranger in the backcountry office helped ease our worries and mentioned that if we did run into some flash flooding we should “get to high ground and enjoy the show. Not many people get to witness that sight.”

We started hiking from the Squaw Flats Campground Loop A Trailhead just before 12:30 pm. The first 5ish miles of trail were on slick rock with views all over the park.

canyonlands

Some dark clouds were rolling through and it rained on us for a few minutes. It wasn’t hard rain, but it was enough to get everything wet and slightly slippery. Fortunately, neither of us fell.

After the rain it was bright blue skies for the rest of the day.

canyonlands

We descended into Salt Creek Canyon via a scary ladder.

canyonlands

Here it didn’t seem like we were in the desert at all! There were lush green trees and some streams of water. Fall hasn’t hit Canyonlands quite yet.

canyonlands

The trail in Salt Creek Canyon is a little difficult to follow at times, especially with the amount of rain that they have been getting. Some parts were a little washed out, but since we were walking through a canyon it’s not like we’re going to stray too far off trail (AKA, stay between the canyon walls). I don’t think it is a highly used trail, especially the northern side.

There were quite a bit of mountain lion prints in the trail. This freaked me out.

At about 4:45 pm we decided that we should start looking for places to camp, so that we could set up the tent and eat before the sun went down. It took us about 45 minutes to find something decent, where we were near water and elevated in case it happened to rain. We found a nice spot under an overhang.

canyonlands

It was very pretty, but dang it’s hard to set up a tent in the sand! Next time we go to the desert we may need to rent a free-standing one.

After setting up camp we made dinner and watched the sun set below the rocks. Then we crawled into the tent just before dark and called it a day.

canyonlands

Backpacking Salt Creek Canyon Day 2

It was a rough night of sleep. There were a couple of strong wind gusts that messed with our tent. Michael had to get up twice to fix it. Ugh. I think both of us got our best sleep 6:00-8:00 am.

We eventually got out of bed, made breakfast, and packed up our stuff. We started hiking just before 10:00 am, heading south on the Salt Creek Canyon Trail.

After getting an updated weather forecast on our Garmin inReach we decided to change our plans. Originally we were going to continue to explore Salt Creek Canyon and spend one more night; however, knowing that there were high chances of heavy rain the following morning we decided to hike out. Neither of us wanted to hike on slick rock during heavy rain. It’s difficult enough on a clear, dry day!

We turned around where we were and started hiking back to the car.

It was a beautiful morning with bright blue skies and white puffy clouds.

canyonlands

We started seeing more mountain lion prints, like a lot of them. These were pretty fresh. I was started to get a little freaked out again and Michael started to tease me. I didn’t actually think we’d get ambushed by a mountain lion, but you just never know!

canyonlands

It didn’t help that some stretches of the trail were quite jungle-y.

canyonlands

I felt a little more at ease one we were up and out of the canyon.

Since the weather was better and we had clearer skies on the way out we were able to catch a glimpse of the La Sal Mountains. You can just barely see them in the distance under the clouds in the picture below.

canyonlands

We continued hiking and made it to our car by 2:30 pm.

Backpacking Salt Creek Canyon Thoughts

I always enjoy a trip to Moab. I’ve been in the winter and spring, but never in the fall. The weather was perfect at 50-60 degrees, but I was surprised by all the rain. I think the rain was an oddity and was driven by weird weather patterns from Hurricane Rosa.

The Canyonlands landscape continues to amaze me. It’s just so weird and beautiful! I love hiking there and taking in all the formations and layers.

canyonlands

I don’t think the Salt Creek Canyon gets a lot of traffic and oftentimes we lost the trail, but it never took us long to get back on track. Plus, it made us… me… feel more adventurous.

The downside of the desert is all the sand and the lack of water. Fortunately, since they have been seeing more rain than normal there was water present in Salt Creek Canyon and we only needed to carry 2 liters at a time. The sand was still difficult, especially when setting up the tent. I definitely recommend hiking with some dirty girl gaiters to keep the sand out of your shoes!

One of the many bonuses of hiking through Canyonlands is seeing petroglyphs.

canyonlands

Overall, it was a fun trip! Please, please, please go backpacking in Canyonlands! I promise you won’t regret it.

canyonlands

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Backpacking the Pawnee-Buchanan Pass Loop

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I highly, highly recommend backpacking the Pawnee-Buchanan Loop in Indian Peaks Wilderness. There were beautiful views, two mountain passes, and gorgeous fall colors.

Backpacking the Pawnee-Buchanan Pass Loop

After finishing the Superior Hiking Trail and laying pretty low in Minnesota and Denver the last two weeks, Michael and I were ready for some backpacking. I, unfortunately, came down with a cold, so we had to push it out a a few days, but we still made it!

We were looking for a one or two night backpacking loop less than a 2-hour drive from Denver. We landed on the Pawnee-Buchanan Loop, also lovingly known as the Double Bypass Loop since you hike over two mountain passes.

Michael and I decided to do the Pawnee-Buchanan Loop as an overnight trip with the plan to hike counter-clockwise and camp at Crater Lake. It’s a 27-mile loop with an additional 2.8 miles to and from Crater Lake.

Pawnee-Buchanan Loop Day 1

We left Denver at 6:00 am and reached the Mitchell Lake Trailhead by 7:30 am. It was cloudy and chilly. I was wearing shorts. A cold front had just come through the night before and the weather was colder than I anticipated it would be.

I crossed my fingers that I would warm up as I hiked and that hopefully the sun would come out. If not, I had a hoodie and leggings in my pack to put on if I got desperate.

The trail started with an uphill to the Beaver Creek/Mount Audubon junction. We continued on the Beaver Creek trail, which dropped us down into the trees, slightly shaded from the wind, to the Cooney Flats Trailhead.

From there it was time to start making our way up to Buchanan Pass. It was a very gentle grade, which is a big help when hiking above 10,000 feet.

It was still cloudy and the wind was blowing. Fortunately, the clouds seemed to be moving pretty fast and we could see some patches of blue sky.

I begged the sun to come out and guess what?! It did! Kind of. There were still lots of clouds, but there was also way more blue patches of sky than before.

It definitely helped warm me up, but since we were getting ready to go over the pass I threw on my rain jacket. It’s always windy on mountain passes.

Michael and I headed up the pass with a slow and steady pace. We kept turning back to take in the view and noticed some clouds coming up just south of us.

As we got closer to the Continental Divide, the clouds got closer to us. We started to feel some graupel, which is like a snow/hail mix. Luckily, we were almost at the top!

However, our pace was nothing compared to the pace of the weather. By the time we were just about to crest we were getting pummeled by graupel. It was cold and it hurt! Not to mention the wind was insane. And again, I was wearing shorts!

There was a giant rock pyramid right at the top. We beelined to it and hid behind it hoping that the wind and graupel would die down a bit.

What an adventure. I guess that’s what happens when you hike across the Divide!

Once things calmed down a bit we started walking down the backside of Buchanan.

I say things calmed down, but the wind was still howling. I couldn’t feel my legs, but dang the views were gorgeous.

And what do you know, the sun came back out!

Once we got down into the trees we stopped to take a break at a campsite and I put on my leggings. It almost looked as if the graupel bruised my legs! Little purplish dots everywhere.

Afterwards, we continued to hike down, where we went through a forested area. The fall colors were outstanding.

We even saw a moose!

Eventually we made it to the Cascade Creek Trail junction, the lowest part of the trail, and started ascending again. By this time in the afternoon it felt quite warm – a nice change from the chilly morning! Warm enough to change back into my shorts.

The mileage on my GPS watch told me that we should have been to camp already, but we still had a few miles to go. This messes with my mental game and makes me feel more tired/slow than I actually should be. It’s frustrating. I think I’ll stop wearing a GPS watch. I didn’t use one at all on the Superior Hiking Trail and it was refreshing.

We finally made it to the spur trail to Crater Lake. Woohoo! From there it was only a little over a mile to campsites.

I couldn’t believe the view of Lone Eagle Peak over the lake. As Michael said, “this is so damn pretty.”

It took more time than I’d like to find the designated campsites. It was like a scavenger hunt with minimal clues. We eventually settled down at campsite 5, a little spot near Mirror Lake.

We immediately threw on our Melanzana hoodies. It got chilly again! Then we set up the tent, filtered water, and made dinner. That Mountain House lasagna tasted so good!

After dinner we enjoyed some whiskey by the lake.

Side note: How great is this flask?! I’m a Woodchuck USA ambassador. They make custom wood products from phone cases to journals to key chains. Bonus – they plant one tree for every product posted! Check them out and use my discount code – JennaD – to get 15% off!

It was starting to get dark, so we climbed into the tent to finish the whiskey, eat some chocolate, and hang out. I’m pretty sure eating chocolate before bed helps keep you warm. Let’s hope that’s true! It’s going to be a chilly one!

Pawnee-Buchanan Loop Day 2

We wanted to get an early start, so that we wouldn’t get home too late. I had my alarm set for 6:30 am, but when it went off it was still dark and so cold that we couldn’t get out of the tent yet. We snoozed for another 20 minutes and had to force ourselves to start moving.

Eventually we made it out of the tent and packed things up quickly. I’m glad we had a warm breakfast of Mountain House skillets wrapped in tortillas. My toes were already starting to get numb.

Before we started hiking we had to stop and take in the views from Mirror Lake for just a little bit longer. Absolutely incredible.

We started hiking back towards the Pawnee Pass trail and Michael spotted a black bear! I only saw his big, fluffy butt as he was running away from us.

On the Pawnee Pass Trail we started hiking up. Similar to yesterday, it was a gentle grade. The sun wasn’t quite up over the mountains. There was a crisp chill to the air and a thin layer of frost covering the valley.

Eventually the trail led us to an area where we were surrounded by mountains. It was gorgeous, but daunting at the same time. I knew we where going to have to hike up and over one of them.

We continued on the trail and took a quick snack and water break. We had the worst view…

Then the fun started. We began climbing up gradual, rocky switchbacks to the top of Pawnee Pass. There have definitely been some rockslides over time that have covered parts of the trail, but none of them were too bad until we got to about the last 100 feet to the top of the pass. It was like the trail was completely washed out and all that was left were loose rocks to scramble up. Or we just lost track of the real trail and made things much harder for ourselves. We’ll never know.

The view from the top of Pawnee Pass wasn’t as stunning as the one from Buchanan. The top was a little more rounded so you couldn’t see down into the valley from which we just hiked. I wish I would have snapped a pic from further down, but my fingers were pretty numb and I was just concentrating on hiking to the top.

Still beautiful despite my frozen rectangle smile. There is also a nice view of Granby Lake in the distance.

The opposite side of Pawnee Pass was bright, sunny, and warm with views of a few lakes in the distance. Fortunately, the switchbacks weren’t as rocky on this side of the divide. It was still pretty gradual.

After a few miles the trail leveled out to a flat, wide trail. We had seen very few people up until this point, but then there were a lot of people out hiking on a beautiful Friday afternoon.

A short road walk from the Long Lake Trailhead we were back to our car at Mitchell Lake Trailhead.

Pawnee-Buchanan Loop Thoughts

Michael and I both loved backpacking the Pawnee-Buchanan Loop! We’d both even do it again, which is saying a lot.

The loop has beautiful scenery throughout the hike. The fall colors were stunning, but I bet it’s gorgeous during wildflower season as well.

We both thought that it was prettier than the Four Pass Loop, which is also saying a lot. The fall colors and minimal people on trail could have played a part in this.

The Pawnee-Buchanan Loop was challenging with the two passes, but not extreme enough for it to be too uncomfortable. It wasn’t at all boring.

I can’t believe that I hadn’t done any hiking in the Indian Peaks Wilderness before this point. It is so pretty and so close (90 minutes) to Denver! I’m already excited to go back for more hiking and backpacking in the future.

I highly recommend backpacking the Pawnee-Buchanan Loop if you get the chance!

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Food & Water on the Superior Hiking Trail

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I received a few questions about what Michael and I did for food and water on the Superior Hiking Trail, so I decided to do a quick post about it.

Water

Michael and I, for the most part, each carried only two liters of water at time. I carried two Smartwater or Lifewtr bottles, while Michael carried two Powerade or Gatorade bottles. All bottles are about one liter. The tall, slim bottles worked better in my backpack, while the opposite worked better in Michael’s.

We each carried the Sawyer Squeeze filter and one 2-liter pouch. It’s fast, light, reliable, and easy to use. Most of the hikers that we met along the trail were using Sawyer as well.

We would drink our two liters as we needed them throughout the day and filter water when we were getting low and came across a good water source. Typically we would filter water once in the afternoon and then again at camp – most Superior Hiking Trail campsites were placed next to a water source. In the northern sections of the trail the water sources were primarily beaver ponds and low streams. The sources got better as we hiked south and as we continued to get more rain.

Our first day we had to filter water at a beaver pond. Michael filled up the pouches while trying to avoid the scum and leaches. The water was pretty brown and tasted like dirt. Thank you Sawyer for being a great system and not giving us giardia!

We would add things like nuun tablets, mio, or crystal light to enhance the flavor a bit. I usually carried a liter of plain water and a liter of flavored water. The nuun with electrolytes were great to have, but once we ran out of our initial supply we couldn’t find them anywhere in the towns we went through.

One tip: Cut off the bottom of a Powerade bottle and keep it in your pack to use as a scoop. Sometime filling up the pouches can be difficult, especially when you’re at a small stream with a trickle of water. Scooping can also help you avoid getting sediment and dirt in the pouch, which can clog the filter.

I have this weird fear of running out of water, so I always, always leave about one-third of a liter of water in my bottle until we sit down to filter more. You just never know what is going to happen!

Overall, we always had enough water throughout the day on trail. There were some days where we had to fill up at sources we didn’t want to (AKA, beaver pond) or slow down our drinking until we got to the next source, but we never ran the risk of dehydration.

Food

As you can imagine, food is a pretty big deal on the trail.

We started the trail with a bunch of leftover dehydrated meals that we had gathered over the summer. Here’s what our initial food supply looked like:

A little fancy.

Once we had to start re-supplying in towns we were limited to what we could buy. We were stopping in smaller towns, so sometimes our only re-supply option was a Holiday Stationstore (a convenience store/gas station) or a small market. Then our food changed a little bit.

A little less fancy, but not bad!

I typically tend to carry more food than I need to. Like with water, I’m scared of running out and don’t mind carrying the extra weight.

For each day of hiking I would plan for a breakfast, a dinner, and three bars, plus a bag of trail mix (or something similar) to snack on across multiple days.

If I had 3 days between re-supplies I would need 3 breakfasts, 3 dinners, 9 bars, and 1 bag of trail mix; however, I would usually throw in an extra couple of bars and another bag of trail mix/nuts/jerky just so my food supply didn’t get too low.

Here’s what a day of eating on the Superior Hiking Trail may look like:

  • 8:00 am: breakfast consisting of 2 or 3 instant oatmeal packets with instant coffee – both usually made with cold water
  • 10:30 am: an EPIC meat bar and a KIND pressed bar
  • 12:30 pm: a protein cookie with a handful of trail mix
  • 2:30 pm: a Clif bar with a handful of trail mix
  • 4:00 pm: a packet of sour gummis, split with Michael
  • 7:00 pm: dinner consisting of ramen, usually 1.5 packet’s worth

As you can see I typically try to eat every 2 hours. Sometimes this depended on the section of the trail – the intensity, the weather, stuff like that.

Some days I felt suuuper hungry and other days I barely had an appetite (during which I’d force myself to eat plenty of snacks anyways), but Michael and I both always had enough food.

Then we’d get into a town and have a beer and a feast!

Food and water is different for everyone on the trail. The above is what I did for this trail, my strategy for the next one may be a bit different. We shall see!

Reach out if you have any questions!

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Superior Hiking Trail Part 5: Two Harbors to MN/WI Border

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Michael and I are hiking the Superior Hiking Trail, a 306-mile trail along Lake Superior in Minnesota.

This is part 5 (the final part!!) from Two Harbors to the end of the trail at the Minnesota/Wisconsin border. Make sure to check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 as well!

Superior Hiking Trail Day 15

Two Harbors to Fox Farm Pond – 25.6 mi – 10 hours, 10 minutes

Michael and I are on the final stretch of the Superior Hiking Trail! Woohoo!

Our goal is to stay at the last Superior Hiking Trail campsite – there are no SHT campsites through the Duluth area – tomorrow night, which means we need to cover 42.5 miles over the next two days. Because of where the campsites are placed – there is no dispersed camping – we planned to do 25.6 miles today and 16.9 miles tomorrow.

25.6 miles was an aggressive goal, but it was either that or only 18.2 miles. The weather looked perfect and the terrain seemed to be pretty flat, so we believed we could do it. Plus, tomorrow’s forecast is calling for rain, so we saved the shorter miles for the icky weather day.

Neither of us wanted to repeat the 6.3-mile road walk from yesterday, so we called Jeff from Cadillac Cabs last night to see if he could give us a ride to the trailhead. He said he could pick us up at 9:30 am. It was a little bit later than we wanted to start, especially since we had big miles planned, but it still worked. As a bonus, we got to sleep in a little bit. Our bodies appreciated the extra rest!

We woke up, showered, packed, ate breakfast in the lobby, and then got picked up by Jeff.

We started from the Reeves Road trailhead right at 10:00 am.

Most of the day was spent hiking through trees – a typical day on the Superior Hiking Trail. As we figured, the weather was great and the trail was flat. There wasn’t even a lot of rocks or nasty roots! We were able to hike quickly with ease.

The first 22 miles weren’t very scenic. We didn’t get any views from ridges or glimpses of Lake Superior. We did hike by some swamps and this mushroom was really cool.

We stopped at a couple different campsites for breaks – one to use the benches to sit and filter water and another to use the latrine. During both stops we met thru-hikers. The couple at the first stop had a few days left of their adventure and the guy at the second stop was just starting his. We wished them all luck. We have only met a few other thru-hikers, so it was fun to meet and talk to more!

By mid-afternoon we knew we were going to be able to reach our goal campsite for the night, since we were averaging 2.5 miles/hour. To get to Fox Farm Pond by sunset we just had to stay focused and move quickly. It was a race against time!

The last few miles of the trail were rolling hills alternating between thick forests and young, open forests. The sun was starting to set, the temperature was cool, and everything looked so pretty. The scenery was a good distraction. I was starting to get tired.

We got to camp shortly after 8:00 pm and about 15 minutes after sunset. It was getting dark fast!

It was completely dark by the time we set up our tent. Then it was headlamp dinner time – a tortilla wrapped around instant mashed potatoes. It sounds absolutely ridiculous, but it was actually quite satisfying.

And now it’s bedtime. I’m excited that I hit my first 25-mile day on the trail! I can tell that my body is getting stronger. I’m not sure I would’ve been able to do 25 miles as easily 10 days ago. It’s a great feeling!

Superior Hiking Trail Day 16

Fox Farm Pond to Bald Eagle – 16.9 miles – 7 hours, 45 minutes

Michael and I woke up to rain at 4:00 am. We knew it would come, but hoped that it wouldn’t. We fell back asleep until about 7:30 am. Once we decided that the drops falling on the tent were from the trees above us, we started to pack up.

We were happy it wasn’t actively raining, but it stills sucks to pack up a soaking wet tent.

Since we only had 16.9 miles to hike we took our time in the morning. We had one more Mountain House breakfast skillet, so we cooked that up to make breakfast burritos and heated up water for coffee. It was nice to have a leisurely morning!

We left the campsite at about 9:30 am with our rain pants and jackets on. We figured the trail would be pretty wet and that it would rain most of the day.

First view of the day? This swamp.

An hour into the hike Michael and I had enough of our rain jackets. It was so humid! We ditched them and kept moving.

Sucker River was the first stop of the day. We needed to filter water.

The trail was similar to how it ended last night – rolling hills through thick and young forests.

I was starting to get way too hot and decided to ditch the rain pants. I was drenched in sweat and it felt so freeing to walk in shorts and a t-shirt.

As my dad always says, “it’s not so much the heat, it’s the gosh darn humidity.”

It’s so true!

On top of the 90% humidity there were also tons of mosquitoes. It’s hard to keep the Deet on when you can’t stop sweating!

At about 1:00 pm the sun came out. We were both pretty shocked, but glad that we could lay out the tent and sleeping quilts to dry.

We were so excited to have a dry tent and crossed our fingers that we wouldn’t have to set it up in the rain.

The majority of the last 8 miles were spent on snowmobiles trails. We got our feet soaked by a flooded beaver pond, walked through cobwebs and overgrown grass, and got attacked by mosquitoes. Not the most fun hiking conditions. Fortunately, the trail was mostly flat and went by fast.

We got to our campsite, Bald Eagle, the last southbound campsite on the Superior Hiking Trail, at 5:15 pm. This was the earliest we’ve ever gotten to camp.

Bonus, it wasn’t raining yet!

We got everything set up and started making dinner. Another night of mashed potato burritos. I’m a fan.

We crawled into the tent early and waited for the storm to come.

Michael was watching the radar closely. Reading the warnings – 90 mph winds! Golf ball hail! Mobile homes will be destroyed! – made me very nervous. I distracted myself by reading The Pursuit of Endurance by Jennifer Pharr Davis (highly recommend) and crossed my fingers that hail wouldn’t ruin our tent and the winds wouldn’t knock down a nearby tree.

The first thunderstorm cell went through. There was a lot of rain and lightning, but wasn’t too terrible. The next one went through about 45 minutes later and was much worse. There was blinding lightning, booming thunder, and howling winds, also rain and hail. It was pretty scary laying in the tent. Fortunately, it passed without any damage to us or the tent. Whew.

Quite the experience for our last night in a tent!

Superior Hiking Trail Day 17

Bald Eagle to Haines SHTA Trailhead – 20.8 miles – 10 hours

We woke up shortly after 7:00 am. After the night of storms neither of us slept well. It was hard to get moving, especially when we knew everything was soaked.

Eventually we stirred up enough motivation to get moving. We shook out the tent and let it sit in the sun for a few minutes before folding it up. Since we didn’t have anymore camping we weren’t super concerned about it fully drying.

We hit the trail by 8:45 am. We spent about a mile on the trail and then switched over to our last stretch of snowmobile trails. We were so excited to be done with these.

After 3 miles of snowmobile trails and a short road walk we were at Martin Road.

Most thru-hikers that we’ve met on the trail started/ended here and skipped the Duluth section. Had we known this going into the hike we probably would’ve stopped at Martin Road too, but we committed to hiking the whole thing and both of us are too stubborn to cut it short.

With that said, we made it to the final map!

It was back on a trail for the Superior Hiking Trail. We walked along rolling hills through the trees and the occasional neighborhood. We walked through the Hartley Nature Center, where we could stop to use the bathroom and fill up our water bottles.

It was nice to be on trails again and we got a nice view of Lake Superior.

From here we walked through parts of the University of Minnesota and Duluth and then down to the Rose Garden. It was steep downhills on sidewalks that were a little rough on my feet and shins.

Afterwards we walked right along Lake Superior on the Duluth Lakewalk. It was sunny day and beautiful views, but since it was the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend it was pretty crowded. Everyone was out enjoying their last summer weekend and we were walking by smelling like sweat and garbage. It was uncomfortable, but also very pretty.

Then we decided to go into Fitger’s Brewhouse for a beer and burger break. It was a good idea. If we have to hike through a city we might as well make the most of it!

We finished up the lake walk, which meant we got to start walking on trails again. Unfortunately, the trail on initial ascent up to Enger Park was pretty gross. There was broken glass everywhere, empty bottles, discarded clothes, and an old tent. It wasn’t a nice area to walk through.

Once we were further up and away from that area we took a break.

This was my lowest point of the trail. Michael and I were so disappointed that we spent the last day hiking on snowmobile trails, then on pavement through a city where finding blazes was like a scavenger hunt, and then a sketchy area. Morale was low. I was upset with myself for not loving the experience and for having a bad attitude.

After the break we continued to hike and the trail opened up to a beautiful park, Enger Park. It was exactly what we needed. Finally a beautiful, open space in nature! It even had bathrooms and a water fountain with cold water.

We walked out of the park with refreshed attitudes.

The trail continued to a big climb up Piedmont Knob, where there was a beautiful view of Duluth. I’m so glad we got to end our day on a positive note.

From the viewpoint we headed down to the Haines Trailhead and decided to call it a day.

We got an Uber to the hotel. Then showered, did laundry, ordered Pizza Luce (oh, how I’ve missed Pizza Luce!), and called it a night.

Superior Hiking Trail Day 18

Haines SHTA Trailhead to Grand Portage Trailhead – 20 miles – 8 hours, 40 minutes

The second-to-last day on the trail and neither of us wanted to get out of bed. It didn’t help when we realized a storm would be rolling through mid-morning. Is it not possible to have nice weather two days in a row?!

We got ready and ate breakfast in the hotel lobby. The best part about the no-camping-in-Duluth thing is that we could “slack pack” today, meaning we didn’t have to pack our sleeping quilts, sleeping bags, electronics, etc. We essentially just brought our rain gear, toiletries, food for the day, and water. My pack is already pretty light, but today it probably weighed about 5 pounds. So nice.

We contacted an Uber to pick us up from the hotel and bring us to the trailhead. As we got in the driver ask, “You know it’s supposed to storm soon, right?”

Yes, we knew. We didn’t need the reminder. We also couldn’t wait to start hiking until noon.

We hit the trail at 8:50 am. It was raining within 20 minutes. Luckily the storm broke up a bit and we only got rain for about 40 minutes.

At about noon we were walking through the Spirit Mountain area. We were feeling pretty beat by the humidity and came across the chalet. We joked about getting a beer. Then decided to go in a get one. Might as well make the most of the experience!

It was a nice break.

From there it turned out to be a pretty good day! The scenery was beautiful and the trail was well maintained. There were a lot of up and downs, but it actually felt like a nice challenge after hiking a few flat days. It was so much better than yesterday!

We finished the day at the Grand Portage Trailhead. My phone had very unreliable signal. Fortunately Michael had enough to get an Uber. We crossed our fingers that the Uber would arrive before his phone died, since he only had 5% battery life left. It did!

Then we when back to the hotel and immediately got into our leftover Pizza Luce. So delicious.

Now we’ll rest up and get ready for our last day on the Superior Hiking Trail!

Superior Hiking Trail Day 19

Grand Portage Trailhead to Minnesota/Wisconsin Border – 16.3 mi (including 1.9-mi spur trail) – 6 hours, 30 minutes

Last day on the Superior Hiking Trail! What a crazy feeling.

We wanted to get an earlier start, so that we could finish by early afternoon. I told my parents to meet us at the trailhead for the southern terminus around 2:00 pm. We woke up at 6:30 am, got ready, ate breakfast, and got an Uber to the trailhead.

Michael and I started hiking at 8:15 am. The trail started out with a walk along the St. Louis River.

There were a couple of steep uphills and downhills and before we knew it we were at the Jay Cooke State Park Visitor’s Center. It was cool to see a sign saying that we hiked 298.2 miles and only had 7.8 miles to go!

We made it there in good time, so we took a nice long break ate a lot of snacks.

Side note: The best part about a hike like this is that you can pretty much eat all the snacks you want. The worst part is that you get so sick of eating the same snacks over and over again. Variety is the spice of life!

Afterwards we walked along the swinging bridge and admired the beautiful river.

We continued to hike on various trails through Jay Cooke State Park. The trails were nice and wide; it was refreshing to hike side-by-side and chat through this section.

After a couple more uphills and downhills we were at the final trailhead of the trail. Woohoo! It was just 1.9 miles to the southern terminus of the Superior Hiking Trail.

And then… we were there! We were at the end of the trail!!

We celebrated with a hug and kiss, then took our finisher pictures.

The southern terminus itself is a little disappointing with a trail register and a simple sign on a tree, but… whatcha going to do.

After we took as many pictures as we could we hiked the 1.9 miles back to the trailhead. It was perfect timing, because my parents had just pulled up a few minutes prior.

There were hugs, clean clothes, sandals, and more pictures. Shortly afterwards there were burgers and beers.

I’m so excited to have finished this trail and to have completed this goal! It’s even better that I was able to do it alongside Michael (and that we still get along and love each other).

I’ll do an overall recap post soon!

SUPERIOR HIKING TRAIL MILEAGE TOTALS

Part 5 miles: 97.7 Superior Hiking Trail miles + 1.9 additional miles = 99.6 total miles

Total miles: 304.4 Superior Hiking Trail miles + 16.2 additional miles = 320.6 total miles

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