Well this was suppose to be a nice easy hike for a couple of Hammock Forum friends and I on the SHT. We planned to walk from Crosby Manitou State Park to Gooseberry Falls State Park. A 6 days 62 miles hike over some of the best scenery on the SHT!
Pre-Trip- The Beginning:
We met up on Saturday afternoon at Gooseberry Inn and Motel just 1 mile from the park and planned to spend the night here and sort out gear and last minute arrangements like parking permits and such
we were directly on the water and had seagulls and a great view. It rained on and off all day, but that was expected and it would stop as predicted the next day.
We had a great dinner at Rustic Inn, right across the street, along with great blueberry pie for dessert.
Day 1: Crosby Manitou State Park to South Egge Lake Campsite
We were ready to go early next morning and after a drive up the north shore we arrived at Crosby Manitou State Park
The Trail was really quite nice today. the temperatures were cool and it was cloudy off and on with no rain- it made it a perfect day for walking in the woods.
Lots of water features all day
Jeremy "Ramen Shamen" on left and Eric "Hoot" on right, enjoying the day
A panorama view of Sonju Lake from Lilly Island-named after a dog that loved the trail.
We arrived at South Egge Lake campsite at around 2 pm, with lots of time to set up and relax
View of Egge Lake from our campsite.
A night view of Egge Lake
All of the hammock set ups, above, and the last of the daylight in the tops of the trees, below.
It is always nice to have a good campfire at the end of the day.
Day 1:
9.5 miles in 7 hours.
Day 2: South Egge Lake Campsite to Section 13 campsite with a detour to Finland MN for lunch
Day 2 started out with a spectacular bugle from a moose somewhere on the lake. The bugle sounded like it was right next to us, but we could not see him on the lake from our vantage point.
Leaving Egge Lake, I got this shot from the southern end as we left the lake
We had decided to go to Finland today for lunch since we come out of the trail only 2 miles from town. It did mean a road walk and we were so early it was still breakfast, but it was a great side trip non the less.
Back on the trail it was beautiful afternoon, it got a bit hotter with the sun out and no clouds but stayed in the upper 70's all day.
this section of trail is very swampy and has the giant glacial erratic rocks that were dropped by the recession of the last ice age.
I don't understand why I can't push it off the trail?
We came across Sawmill Pond. A pond made entirely from the activity of beavers. It was beautiful. You can see the beaver home in this picture below just off the center of the photo.
the trail work here is also excellent with a boardwalk going all the way along one edge ( the dammed edge, so you get a great view of the beaver construction) of the pond.
back into the woods again
more beaver bog work and a new bridge across this section.
The trail to the top of Section 13 is very steep and rocky
Finally arrive
The view from the top was so worth the climb
Day 2:
12.3 miles 8 hours
Day 3: Section 13 Campsite to Hwy 1 ( just shy of Tettegouche State Park)
We knew that the forecast called for rain today, so we were prepared and it started around 7 am.
Jeremy and Eric ready in the morning. it only rained mildly for an hour or so.
We came off of Section 13 and started the next section of the trail which stays higher on the ridge line and has more open views of the country side on one side and Lake Superior on the other
We saw many unusual rock and color formations in the section
Sawmill dome panorama
A view of Lake Superior and the unusual birch trees that have been severally bent over from the ice storms and strong winds of the last couple of seasons
Some new construction work by the excellent SHT volunteers near raven rock and the entrance to the Wolf sanctuary area
Wolf lake with the Wolf Sanctuary Outdoor Center on the hill in the background- what a great view!
Just past here we filled up our water in Kennedy Creek and walked on toward Tettegouche State Park.
Unfortunately this is where our adventure ends, Eric had rolled his ankle earlier in the day and had been favoring it all day. We reached Hwy 1 after about 8 miles of walking on it and he realized he couldn't continue. One for all and all for one, there was an SHT parking lot right at this road crossing so we sat down to figure out our options, the SHT shuttle?, walk into town and get call a cab? we actually didn't have to wait long- 15 minutes and three fabulously nice ladies that just happened to be finishing a 3 day hike returned to their car and agreed to give me a ride to pick up Eric's truck at Crosby Manitou State Park. they could not have been more accommodating. They didn't even let me fill up their gas tank, even though taking me was bout 20 miles out of their way. Hikers are great!
I fear my guiding service career is over before it begins having allowed 50% of my first clients to get injuried on the trail, but it was a good decision as Eric's ankle did need attending too.
After a quick round up of the cars and lunch at the Lighthouse at Emily's we were all off for the 10 hour drive home- Eric and Jeremy to KC and me to St.Louis.
Thanks Guys for allowing me to tag along and the great company- we will finish it again.
