We couldn’t have asked for better hiking weather with 60 degrees and a cool breeze wisping off the lake. Sherri scouted a promising shortcut on her navigation app, but we wound up dead ending in someone’s pack-in campsite. We chalked it up as a reconnaissance mission providing vital information about top tier campsites within the Park. Probably the most precarious part of our trip was trying to avoid getting plowed by a semi truck careening our direction at 75mph as we ran across the highway with bouncing backpacks and a spastic dog on leash. Things started to settle into a nice rhythm though once we climbed up into the foothills, and eventually down into the Split Rock river valley. We had a few wood tick checks here and there through the grassy sections, but not terrible.
Disappointed to discover that the first two campsites were completely packed, we continued hiking until reaching a river crossing where the bridge had washed out, which we immediately began strategizing like a team challenge course. In an attempt to stay dry, I first carried our backpacks across, and then we hopped from boulder to boulder together until touching down on the opposite bank. The real trick was coaxing Mia to leapfrog across the slippery rocks with us, who swam once, but only because she psyched herself out with a bunch of hesitation bobs before jumping. She recovered quickly as I snatched hold of her backpack grab loop.
After high fiving our blue ribbon river crossing, we soon strolled into a secluded, vacant campsite that made for a beautiful home that night. I immediately got to work foraging for firewood to help thwart off some of the bugs, lugging every downed tree that I could find back into camp. After setting up the tent and hammocks, we found ourselves enclosed in a web of tie downs and trip wires, setting the stage for some prime time entertainment that night listening to each other hit the deck on the way to the bathroom. We figured Mia would be better off in the tent with Sara, but suffered separation anxiety from mamma & papa, whining every time that she heard us readjusting in our hammocks. During the night, Sara had opened her sleeping bag for a brief moment, upon which Mia seized the opportunity to dart inside and curl into a thousand pound ball of fur.
Early the next morning, Sherri also ran out of heat and piled into my hammock, after which Sara plopped Mia onto our laps. Delighted to find only our heads exposed with arms restrained beneath a drawcord cinched sleeping bag, Mia immediately commenced licking our faces off, increasing with intensity as we helplessly squirmed to no avail. After flipping some flapjacks on the frying pan, and warming up with coffee by the fire, we set off on our final leg of the trip. Our hike started with a slight drizzle, but it quickly burned off as we enjoyed a string of beautiful views overlooking the churning rapids. We knew that we were getting close when we hung a left onto a trail that seemed like a highway compared to the chainsaw massacre path of the Superior Hiking Trail.
After flopping our backpacks into the trunk of the car, we snatched a picnic table at the park to cook a victory meal of white cheddar Mac & Cheese. A few miles down the road, we burned up a Dairy Queen gift card to celebrate a great trip into the wilderness together. It was a bit of a teaser trip for Sherri & I knowing that we will soon be back up in this neck of the woods to hike the Superior Hiking Trail in its entirety- it’s going to be awesome- a right of passage, so to say, for Minnesota outdoor enthusiasts! I hope we make it 🤞- stay tuned.
