Superior Hiking Trail – Day 4

Daily Miles: 18

Total Miles: 66

The rain lasted a few hours last night, but we all stayed dry in our hammocks.  It was really warm overnight, which we hadn’t expected since it usually cools off with the rain.  Everything under the tarp still felt a bit damp this morning, since the air was so humid.

We headed out at 6:45am and decided not to wear any rain gear since it was so warm.  Luckily the trail was pretty clear of overgrown plants, so we didn’t get wet.

Shortly after starting, we came to a very long set of stairs going up.  We were glad we didn’t have an extra layer of clothes on, because by the time we got to the top we were overheated.

This morning we also came to the Pincushion Mountain Trailhead, where we had really nice views of Grand Marias.  We also learned from one of the informational boards that Lake Superior contains 10% of earth’s water.  Amazing!

As we were walking, we remarked on all the outdoor infrastructure around Grand Marias.  We saw lots of cross country ski trails, snowshoe trails and mountain bike trails.  We even crossed paths with a group of high school boys out trail running…presumably as exercise for some sports team.

Shortly after the trailhead, we crossed a road and found a nice sunny spot for a break.  JJ and Qball hung out some gear to dry in the sun and breeze.  While it was humid in the morning, that really seemed to dissipate within a few hours.  We had mostly clouds with a few moments of sun.  It was actually a great day for hiking, where the temps were probably in the high 50’s with cloudy skies.

The bulk of the rest of the day was pretty flat trail.  It was a nice break from the steep ups and downs of the previous days.  There was some walking through tall grass and it was impossible to avoid having wet feet.

As we navigate our way on the trail, we are mostly able to just follow the blue blazes of the SHT signs.  We do also have a gpx track we found online, the SHT data book and the SHT guidebook.  One frustrating omission in the data book is clear information about water sources.  Mostly it hasn’t been a big problem, as we just load up two liters when we pass a good water source.  However, certain times, like today, the lack of directness about water sources seems like a major oversite.

We arrived at the Cut Log Campsite at 5:20pm.  There was another campsite within a half mile from here, but this site has so many hang options, we decided not to go any further to check it out.  Our site was listed as a small site. But it was surprisingly very spacious…seems like it was mislabeled and should actually be considered a large site.

All the campsites have a fire pit with benches around it.  This makes for a nice place to hang out and cook in the evenings.  Qball and JJ usually write in their journals on the benches.  We usually wash up and then identify the branch we will use for our bear hang.

Since we got into camp early, we are all in our shelters by 7pm.  We usually end the day pretty tired, so it is easy to fall asleep quickly, while it’s still light out.