From June 25 – July 2, 2018, I hiked a section of the Superior Hiking Trail solo. I put together a video series about how I prepped, practiced, and planned what gear/food to bring, the hike itself and a gear review. All of those videos can be found in this playlist. But I’ll post the hiking video right here. This post gives a brief description of the trail, each day of hike. Helpful links and my gear list for the hike are at the end.
THE HIKE – BY DAY
June 24, 2018 Shuttle from Pincushion Mtn Trailhead to Judge C.R. Magney State Park
Day-hiked roughly 3 miles – easy to moderate with a lot of stairs to/from Devil’s Kettle
I drove from Tofte Lake Center to the Pincushion Mountain Trailhead, where I met Harriet Quarles, who shuttled me to Judge C.R. Magney State Park, where I spent the night.
The park itself is really simple – just one big loop with probably 30 pads for trailers or tents. A parking lot for day-hikers. Compost toilets, and a shower facility. A ranger came by in the morning to check for my permit. That was my only human interaction.
The whole reason I started my hike there was to see Devil’s Kettle, so as soon as I pitched my tent, I grabbed my map and headed out. I had that trail and the overlook to myself – probably because it was so late in the day? I got there around 5:30 p.m. and stayed until sunset. It just blew me away – so beautiful.
Devil’s Kettle 
Devil’s Kettle 
Devil’s Kettle 
Falls below Devil’s Kettle 
Above Devil’s Kettle 
Brule River 
Brule River 
Brule River
I went back to camp and realized I left my dinner in Harriet’s car. Luckily I had eaten a pretty big lunch in Grand Marais and wasn’t really hungry. The and spent the next 15 hours in my tent, freezing. I had a pinhole in my sleep pad, so it slowly deflated every 15 minutes, which put my hip on the ground, which froze my hip and woke me up. So I’d reinflate and start again.
so so cold – pinhole in sleep pad
June 25 – Judge C.R. Magney State Park to Kadunce River Wayside Camp
Hiked roughly 10 miles (overshot Kadunce by about 25 minutes) – easy to moderate. Some elevation change. The lake walk is challenging – 1.5 miles on pebble beach.
I woke up and realized the hole must be through and through – it was, I patched it, ate breakfast. This was my first time to use my BRS stove (besides practicing in my backyard) and to try the Outdoor Herbivore food – success all around.
This was my first time to strike camp, jam it all in a backpack and just start walking at about 9:00 a.m. IT WAS THRILLING. I was out of my mind thrilled. Hilariously, I couldn’t figure out how to get out of Magney – I couldn’t find the trailhead. I walked the perimeter of the park twice until I saw something that seemed trail-ish and just took a chance. It took a while before I was sure I was right.
There were long stretches of just narrow footpath surrounded by thick brush, woods, or high grasses / wild flowers. I tripped constantly – if I looked away from the path while walking, I found whatever rock or tree root was in the path. The Brule River and Little Brule both continued to amaze for this first hike – rushing, little falls, gorgeous. But I spent the first four miles stopping to peel off clothes, to adjust my pack, to check my bearings, or tripping.
Magney to Kadunce footpath 
Little Brule, I think 
Little Brule, I think
I just couldn’t relax into it until I got down to the lake walk, which I just got spit out onto by surprise – it was how I knew I was on the right path, though. The lake walk was challenging enough to make me stop in the middle for lunch, which was lovely.
Lunch on Lake Superior shoreline
It was unnerving to have no blazes at any point – I had no idea what I was looking for to take me off the lake walk and back to the trail, until I saw it – a tiny little sign off near the road. Phew.
Right after the lake walk, there’s a state road walk that takes you through a couple of really pretty tree stands – I didn’t take pictures, just video. And then lots more shrubby grassy footpath from the lake to the Kadunce River – which is beautiful, rust colored boulders with water rushing over them… I saw it twice because I passed the campsite – by about 45 minutes, and had to double back. I got to Kadunce River Wayside camp around 4:30 p.m.
The campsite is just before you go down some stone steps to the river, so water is very accessible. The campsite was big – not beautiful, but spacious. There were 4 identifiable tent pads, and two of those were spacious enough to allow for a couple of tents each. I had it all to myself.
Kadunce River 
Kadunce River
I ate dinner and hung my bear bag for the first time (besides in my backyard), and did a terrible job of it. The trees out there are not made for the PCT hang, I learned. I think an ursack might be the better choice for the SHT. I wanted to just sit outside and be still and relish my very first night alone in the wilderness, but I was attacked by eye-biting midges, so I dove into my tent. And then it got dark, and frankly, creepy. Tons of black flies found their way between the tent wall and the fly, so it was really Amityville horror in there. I had to pee but I held it until about 6am, when it was finally light enough to go to the latrine without getting too creeped out.
June 26 – Kadunce River Wayside Camp to Woods Creek Camp
Hiked roughly 9 miles – beautiful, lots of variety, lots of exposed tree root and rock for trail, one gradual climb, one steep climb
I woke up alone in the Kadunce campsite, thrilled to find my bear bag untouched, ate breakfast, struck camp and headed out for the next stop, Woods Creek., at about 9:30 a.m.
6 miles to end part 1
This hike was all about water too, following the Kadunce River and I just kept getting blown away by its beauty. There’s a bridge near the Crow Creek campsite that crosses the Kadunce River and sits in a canyon. I saw my first-ever beaver dam there too. This hike had everything – sunny footpaths, forest with a fern-covered floor, really dense dark tree stands, a gradual climb (with one steep challenging bit) that opens up to a wildflower-filled meadow overlooking Lake Superior (a beautiful view), and then goes right back into forest. I ran into about 6 hares in this one section – just darting all over the place.
By this point in the hike I had seen only two people. A sobo woman thru-hiker eating her lunch on the shore walk, and man and his dog (with duct tape on his paw) walking nobo. So… more hares than people. Dug that.
The trail itself from end to end is either covered in exposed tree root or slate rocks. I found it slow going and really pretty hard on my feet. I passed the Durfree campsite around 1pm and already my dogs were barking pretty loud.
After Durfree, it was just beautiful quiet footpath through high grasses and wildflowers with the occasional tree stand – another gradual climb up to an even more stunning hilltop meadow overlooking Lake Superior. The wildflowers were ridiculous – very Little House on the Prairie. I just wanted to stay there – camp there, live there. As I got closer to Woods Creek, the trail really stayed in a gorgeous forest and I could hear the creek below. I kept thinking how if I were a bear, that is where I would choose to live. You know, if people weren’t traipsing through all the damn time.
I made it to Woods Creek Campsite around 3:20pm. I didn’t really stop for lunch, but I did take a couple of 5-minute breaks along the way. I loved this campsite. The creek was easily accessible – filled with boulders and downed trees (blow downs? beaver spoils? dunno), so you could boulder hop around it to explore. Lots of space and tree cover. The latrine was up a pretty steep stair climb and across the trail. That’s where I ended up having to hang my bear bag – I just couldn’t find anything that would work anywhere else. It ended up being fine – I think the OpSak really is key – just locking in the smell. I had the campsite to myself, once again. I was not sad about that at all. Especially because I had started my period right before I arrived at camp and I was wholly unprepared for that. I had to clean my clothes and go to the latrine a bunch. Good times.
June 27 – Woods Creek Campsite to Pincushion Mtn parking lot at CCR53
Hiked about 5 miles – beautiful, challenging elevation change
I woke up cramping and exhausted, so I slept in a bit and didn’t make it out of camp until around 10:00 a.m. – just entirely unenthusiastic about the hike. I got over that about 20 minutes in because that hike was stunning. The trail follows Woods Creek for a while, with its pink canyon walls and tiny waterfalls, and there are a few dramatic changes, like, you turn a corner and you are in a gorgeous white pine and poplar stand – not dense but just kind of perfectly spaced, with a soft crunchy quiet trail covered in pine needles. This was my favorite part of the trail up to that point. And from here it just gets better and better.
You start climbing out of this stand until you reach a little bench at the top of a canyon – the Barrier Falls Overlook – I recommend you take a lunch there because the hike after is pretty much uphill until you summit Pincushion, and because the Overlook is really beautiful. At this section of the trail, up on the ridge, the tree roots are reaching up out of the ground and over the ridge – just barely hanging on – it’s extraordinary looking.
Barrier Falls Overlook 
Barrier Falls Overlook 
Barrier Falls Overlook
Once you pick your way past the overlook, you start your approach to Devil’s Track River, which you can hear long before you can see it. I just got ridiculously giddy hiking down this riverbank. It was dramatic, beautiful, raging, and a really fun part of the hike.
Devil Track River 
Devil Track River 
Devil Track River 
Devil Track River 
Devil Track River
And from there, you start your climb to summit Pincushion Mountain. It’s a weird little spur that takes you away from heading to the parking lot, but it’s very much worth doing if you have a clear day. If it’s at all cloudy, skip it.
Pincushion Mountain 
Pincushion Mountain
My plan was to drive from Pincushion Mountain to Cascade River State Park. I just had to be there by 4pm and I had plenty of time. However, I hadn’t counted on 1) starting my period 2) being so filthy 3) being so tired. So I decided to spend that first night off in a motel in Grand Marais.
June 27 (2nd half) & June 28 – Grand Marais at the Spruce Glenn Inn
I did absolutely nothing but eat food, shower, do laundry and watch shamefully bad cable television.
sleep 
eat 
to do in grand marais 
what i did in grand marais 
only injury did not happen on trail 
the hotel next door had a sauna, hot tub and pool!
June 29 – Cascade River State Park to Spruce Creek campsite
Probably 6 miles – day hiking Cascade, plus hike to Spruce Creek. Took about 4 hours to get there. Moderate – lots of climbing.
This day was bananas. I woke up to drive to Oberg Mountain trail parking lot to meet my shuttle, which would take me back to Cascade River SP to begin my hike. However, halfway to Oberg from Grand Marais, a pretty intense thunderstorm started. I stopped at a coffee shop and called the shuttle driver who met me there to drink coffee and talk it out. I decided to do a day hike at Cascade River SP to see if I wanted to go on with the hike in the rain. The weather report said it was going to be awful pretty much through the end of my stay.
Cascade River State Park 
Cascade River State Park
Cascade River SP is beautiful. I kind of screwed up on the trail I picked and ended up looping back to the big bridge sooner than I wanted to, but that was enough to convince me to just do the section hike, weather be damned. I drove to Oberg, and shuttled back to Cascade and gave it a go. It was about 2pm by the time I started. Such a good decision. The weather was beautiful the rest of that day and night.
The trail took me immediately up to Lookout Mountain, and then through really lush thick beautiful forest, which would then open up into a field of ferns, and back to dense overgrown trail, then forest… rinse, repeat. I loved Indian Camp Creek. I decided to push on past there to Spruce Creek campsite and the hike from there was pretty steadily uphill and until the approach to Spruce Creek. That whole hike was pretty magical – and often really overgrown, very soggy. I loved the ridge walk toward the end – the drop-off offered beautiful views the whole time, the trail was covered in pine needles, the forest was silent. It was just me.
Lookout Mountain 
Jerry Evgen’s Overlook (totally obscured) 
I rolled into Spruce Creek kind of late (I took some time on all the overlooks), and I was shocked to encounter people there. Everyone was really nice – two women and their two teenage nephews, and a dad/daughter team.
I had enough daylight left to pitch my tent and take a nice walk up and down the creek, and cook/eat dinner. Spruce Creek is right on the water, beautiful, spacious and really secluded feeling. The trip to the latrine is pretty treacherous – super steep, up rocks – but it’s very private. Once again the bear bag hanging was a challenge. It was a (very small) comfort to see my fellow campers were having as hard a time as I was finding a good branch. The dad/daughter used a bear canister, which they had some trouble finding the next morning.
June 30 – Spruce Creek campsite to Poplar River campsite
around 9 miles – lots of elevation change – the most beautiful section
I hopped up and ate a quick breakfast and had to dive back into my tent to wait out some rain. I finally decided to go and the sweet people helped me pack up my tent in the rain – was really trying to avoid getting the inside wet. I was a little over-anxious about it, I see now.
I loved this hike. It rained lightly for the first part – until around noon. The very first stretch was a dark, dense, spooky stretch of forest. There was no sun, so it really was dark and I have to admit, I was keeping an eye out for something to jump out at me.
Once you head up to the ridge out of Spruce Creek, it just gets crazy dense and overgrown and moves regularly from dense overgrown super verdant fern-riddled sections to dark mystical dead silent tree stands. It was like being on an amusement park ride. After a while the trail pretty much disappeared and I had to really fight my way through. The weather cleared up and got warm. I made it to an overlook that had benches (and a fire pit, oddly) so I was able to take my tent and dry it a little while watching a bunch of summer camper kids playing in the lake below.
The trail just kept changing, taking me past the beautiful Agnes Lake, and its amazing overlook, through someone’s private property, I think, because they were building a road, and to a really really boggy section that was a huge challenge. Next time I will just commit to getting my feet covered in water and mud – it’s so much safer/easier than trying to hop around avoiding it.
And after moving through the sloggy boggy section, I landed in the absolutely most beautiful forest I’d seen so far. If I were a bear, it’s where I would live – you know, if I could kick all the people out. Stunning – it was so beautiful I didn’t even bother taking a picture of it. Once I moved through that, the trail started getting very wet again and became pretty punishing with the slick and exposed tree roots covering it. After a while I realized I was walking alongside the incredibly quiet and very slow-moving Poplar River.
Poplar River 
Poplar River
The Poplar River campsite was right on the water. My tent was just a few feet from the river bank. I had the campsite to myself, aside from a very large hare and one b-o loving butterfly who pretty much fell asleep on my clothes.
The only thing I didn’t love about that site was wading into the river for water. I came out with a leech between my toes. My first leech. Nope. The latrine was across the trail and up a hill, and it felt weirdly dangerous – like, too far away from camp and also too close to civilization. When I was coming down from the latrine I heard an animal running toward me, and it’d been so long since I’d seen people or an animal I was a little freaked out. It was a trail runner who had is dog off leash. So stupid and dangerous to do that. For me. For the dog. For the wildlife in the forest – for everyone but the owner, essentially, who would rather not have their style cramped in order to keep everyone else safe. Guess I have some feelings about that…
July 1 – Poplar River campsite to Oberg Mountain trailhead
around 9 miles – lots of elevation change – the most beautiful section
Drying out clothes, my tent, dinner, sleep, coffee, breakfast and a weather report. I had some calculating to do. I had a whole extra day to play with. I could stay another night at Poplar. I could hike on past the trailhead to Onion Creek campsite, or I could just walk out and drive to Minneapolis that day. The sky really threatened all night long – so much so that I was considering moving my tent away from the river bank (but I was too lazy). I looked up the weather and it showed a huge storm starting at 11am, so I decided to get up and get out of camp as early as possible, which I did. I struck camp and was walking by 8am.
I had a great hike until exactly 11am when the rain started. And then I still had a great hike, which got progressively harder and scarier and more challenging as the rain picked up incrementally every 1/2 hour. By the end I was trail running up and down a rock-covered trail that had essentially become a creek. After about an hour of that I committed to just going to the parking lot and heading to Minneapolis, as the weather report showed no sign of it letting up in the next 24 hours.
Helpful Links
Minnesota State Park Reservation System
Superior Hiking Trail Association
Superior Hiking Trail Facebook Group (they vetted my plan and were really helpful)