Sep 6, 2023 - Day 8 on the SHT (Britton and Carlton Peaks and Temperance River State Park)

Lots and lots of side hikes, rocks, and overlooks today.  What a fantastic section.  First up side trail to Cedar Overlook.

Next, a side trail to Britten Peak.

Then on to the Ted Tofte Overlook.

Spur trail to the summit of Carlton Peak

I'm leaving my picture of Mediocre Overlook out.   All I can say is it's a long side trail to a very mediocre view if you can even call it that!  Sometimes my side excursions don't pan out.  LoL

Next I dropped down through the amazing waterfalls and gorges of Temperance River State Park!

At the wayside near Lake Superior the trail loops back to the other side of the Temperance River and returns upward toward the ridgeline.   I popped off the trail and hitched a ride into Tofte to resupply.  First stop the Tofte Grocery Store, next an outfitter next door that had fuel for the stove, and finally a nice dinner at the Blue Fin Restaurant overlooking Lake Superior.

More waterfalls along the return loop up through Temperance River State Park.  And a nice camping spot at Cross River.

 

Sep 5, 2023 - Day 7 on the SHT (Lutsen Gondola Chalet & Moose Mtn, Oberg Mtn Loop, and Leveaux Mtn)

There as a little over a mile spur trail hugging the side of Moose mountain that leads to the top of the Lutsen ski gondola Chalet.  The trail cuts across three of the famous Lutsen double diamond runs Adrenalin, Freefall and The Plunge and includes some rocky trail.  Of course I took it to get a burger and beer!  

The famous Oberg Mountain Loop

Side hike loop over Leveaux Mountain

Camping at West Leveux.  I was so happy to get in all the side hikes before the rain.  Prediction was for heavy rain around 4pm.  Made it to camp around 4:45pm, setup tent, and the rain drops started falling as I was getting water.  Jumped into my tent and stayed dry through what was very heavy rain most of the night.   Had hard salami and cheese tortilla rollups as a nice cold dinner to avoid cooking in the rain.

Sep 4, 2023 - Day 6 on the SHT (Agnes Lake and Mystery Mountain)

Hiking around Agnes Lake and Hunter Rock was beautiful but crowded with Labor Day campers.   Lots of fresh moose prints.

Glove Overlook

Hiked over a spur trail to the base of the Lutsen Ski Area Gondola.  At $29 I opted to hike over to the top tomorrow for a beer instead of paying for a ride.  Instead I had an ice cream from the gift shop, resupplied with water for the dry camping ahead, and charged my gadgets in the sunshine.

Dry camping at this wonderful Mystery Mountain Campsite

 

Sep 3, 2023 - Day 5 on the SHT (Cascade River State Park and Lookout Mtn)

Hiking to the Cascade River I was distracted by the many waterfalls and ended up on the Cascade River Loop trail.  Looking at the map I decided to keep on the trail instead backtracking a 1/4 mile as it hugged the amazing river's gorge and paralleled the main SHT.  It basically makes a up and back loop from Cascade River State Park on both sides of the river.   This of course required me to ford the river to rejoin the main SHT.   And we all know I love river fording challenges.  

After reconnecting to the SHT I made the climb to Lookout Mountain.

This bridge looked in good shape and the caution tape was well trampled so risk it I did.

Jerry Evjen's Overlook

Camping at Spruce Creek Camp.   I had planned to hike to the next site but I meet a section hiker "T" while filtering water here.   He said the next camp was a stagnant pond so we opted for this wonderful cool cascade to camp tonight.  

Sep 2, 2023 - Day 4 on the SHT (Devil Track River and Pincushion Mountain)

Wildflower Hill, which as one would expect was covered in wildflowers, had a great ridge-walk view of Lake Superior!

Lot's of outlooks today including Barrier Falls and the Devil Track River

Pincushion Mountain and overlooks were filled with Labor day weekend hikers.

Then dropping down toward Grand Marais.  I opted out of hitching to town since I had food for another few days.   I ended up at North Bally Creek Pond to camp which, I must say, had a terrible pond water source.   I ended up wadding into the middle of the pond to get a clean scoop of water to filter.   Should of grabbed water at the beaver pond a 1/2 mile before but thought the campsite would be better.

Sep 1, 2023 - Day 3 on the SHT (Lake Walk and the Hungry Hippie Hostel)

Lots more signs of moose and bear today.  The trail drops down to Lake Superior for a wonderful 1-1/2 mile section directly along the Lake called the "Lake Walk".   There are campsites on the beach open to hikers and boaters.  

In the afternoon I hiked off trail a mile to check out the Hungry Hippie Hostel.   It's Labor Day so no rooms but I had a nice shower and sat in the sun and charged my batteries before heading back to the trail and camping at Durfee Creek.  Lot's of Labor Day hiker company in camp.