Friday, June 3, 2011
Boy that felt good sleeping in a real bed. On Thursday night I had eaten at the Casino Restaurant at about 8:15 to 8:45 pm, I went to the Swimming Pool area at around 9:00 to 9:30 pm. I came back to the room and just crashed. So, I was definitely sleeping by 10:00 pm, which is pretty early for me because I work second shift. I woke up sometime in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and change batteries in the camera charger. I woke up at around 6:30 am, put the TV on the Weather Channel and started to get my stuff together. I looked like there was going to be rain today, nothing too heavy, but still rain. I packed up and went down stairs to get a hotel cart to haul my stuff on. I was out of the hotel by 7 am.
It was raining lightly in Grand Portage, and I could here thunder up in the hills. Maybe I was in for a major rainy day. We will see what happens. I went to the Gas Station/Convenient Store that is up from the Casino. I was looking for my usual egg muffin-like sandwich that I always got at the Grand Marais Holiday Station. But they didn’t have anything like that. So I got a donut and a hot chocolate, and hit the road.
As I left Grand Portage, all of a sudden I had plenty of questions and feelings about Grand Portage. I guess my main question was, would I ever come back here? Now that I would be completing the Superior Hiking Trail to Grand Marais, there would really be no reason for me to come up this far on the Arrowhead. Of course, there are a few trails and a few sights that I had not seen in the area. I had not hiked out to see the waterfalls at Grand Portage State Park. I had not done the Mt Josephine or Mt Maud Trails. If I ever worked on a Border Route Trail Crew again, especially if it is a Trail Crew that departs from the Arrowhead Trail, I could always take the side trip up to Grand Portage. Or Maybe I would decide to take a backpacking trip on Isle Royale and come up to Grand Portage to take the Ferry. But none of that stuff is in my immediate plans.
My other question was about the Grand Portage National Monument Trail. Was that a gigantic waste of my time? The main reason I hiked it was to find out whether the section of Old Border Route from Partridge Falls to Rengo Road is a viable route. Nobody seemed to know what the condition of that section was. I decided I would go out and check it out for myself, and that’s what I did. And I did find out that it is not a viable route. I guess I did my little service project for the hiking world. But shouldn’t have the Border Route Trail Association kept better tabs on that section? After all, they did publish that route in their latest guidebook from 2007. But the BRTA has its hands full maintaining one of the toughest wilderness trail sections anywhere. So, I can’t blame them too much. I did see the spectacular Partridge Falls, and I did see a moose at a nearby impoundment pond, so I guess my Grand Portage National Monument Trail hike was worthwhile. But it just didn’t feel like it. And while I was in Grand Portage I did learn about the interesting history of the area at the National Monument Heritage Center and Depot. Plus I hiked the beautiful Mt Rose Trail.
Over the last couple of years I’ve felt my mission or calling is to hike and photograph parts of the North Country Trail. Going on the Grand Portage National Monument Trail took me away from that. There are still plenty of places on the NCT that could use a little extra publicity from me hiking it. There are plenty of underused sections of the “Big Trail.”
I headed down highway 61 away from Grand Portage. I had a fairly simple strategy for today’s hike. It was “just hike it, and worry about the ride back later.” I really didn’t think this section was all that easy for a “hike and bike.” So, I was just going to hike the trail, and see what happens. I could always call Harriet Quarles to come pick me up and shuttle me back. I made it up to the Highway 14 trailhead, and set out the Spot Messenger. I got my gear ready and around 7:45 am, after the Spot Messenger sent its message, I headed west on the SHT.
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From the trailhead going west, the trail just plummets. You go down a series of steps, then you hike on the trail, which is dug into the hill, then you hit another series of steps. This zigzags around in switchback fashion and you see more steps farther down the hill. Finally, you see a bridge at the bottom and you’re done going down. Hurrah, I thought. I was glad I was coming down those stairs instead of going up.
The bridge goes across the river to the right. But there is a path leading straight that goes to the Kimball Creek campsite, so I took the short walk up there. The campsite has something I had not seen yet at a SHT Campsite. It has a metal grill that’s on a pole. It looks like it may have been made from a 55 gallon drum. At any rate, the rest of the campsite was the standard affair for a SHT campsite. The tent pads looked a little barren, but it is in a regular woods where it doesn’t get much sunlight for growing grass. Still it is a very nice campsite, with the regular 2 x 12 plank benches for sitting around the campfire. And the water trail is an easy walk over to Kimball Creek. The campsite overlooks the creek.
I headed back to the bridge and headed across. The bridge is a fairly substantial bridge, not just a plank affair. After the bridge you come to a sign that says the Kimball Creek Trail. Evidently this is a fisherman’s trail that goes up and down the creek. The creek looked pretty shallow for fish, but maybe there are pools at places where fish can live. It must be, because there are fishermen that must come out and use the trail, therefore it exists.
After the bridge, the SHT turns to the left and gently goes uphill. Then all the gentleness is over with, because there is a full-scale staircase heading up a hill. This staircase was just as bad as the stairs I had came down just a few minutes ago. At the time I thought I was lucky going down the stairs. Now my luck had run out.
I get to the top of the stairs and the trail starts going in a gentler uphill pattern. Right at the top of the stairs would be a good place for a bench. But I didn’t find a bench, I found something a little less comforting. As I’m walking in the gentle uphill pattern through the mature woods, I find a sign. Remember that I am pretty much winded, and worn down at this point. The sign reads “Cascade River, 24.8 MI, Lutsen Ski Hill, 59.2 MI.” I’m lucky if I’m gonna make it another 100 feet down the trail, and their worried about stuff that is 24 and 52 miles away. This sign HAS TO BE somebody’s idea of a joke. I feel like coming back and putting up another sign that reads ‘Grand Marais ER, 11.1 MI.” Unfortunately, that would not be a joke because I’m reminded of Peter who I met earlier in the week. He went to the ER after hiking Otter Lake Road to Grand Marais, and the doctor told him to stop hiking his foot was so bad. I hope he’s doing all right.
Then the trail is fairly flat for a ways. At one point you’re hiking on the edge of a slope, with a deep, dark woods going down to the right of the trail. Then the trail goes on another uphill tear, this time it’s not quite steep enough to have stairs. It starts looking like you’re getting on top of something and you are. I made it to the Scrub Oak Overlook, and saw lots of pine trees. I guess there were a few scrub oak but they are not the dominating feature of this overlook. It’s actually a quite nice overlook, given the scrubby name. The trail goes into a fairly large grassy field with scattered pines and scrub oak. Perhaps this was a homestead at one time, because it’s cleared. But there is an excellent view of Lake Superior and the land leading down to Lake Superior. I tried looking for the town of Grand Marais off in the distance but could not see it from this vantage point. Grand Marais has a little peninsula called Artist’s Point sticking out into Lake Superior, so it is very recognizable. I figured if I could see Grand Marais, then I was making some progress. But I didn’t see it.
After the Scrub Oak Overlook, the trail goes in a generally downhill pattern for quite some time. Eventually you get to a small creek with a plank going over it. Then you go gradually uphill and downhill to another plank creek crossing. Then you go gradually uphill and downhill to another creek crossing. But this creek is a bigger creek requiring a bridge with railings. I had made it to Cliff Creek. Cliff Creek is your normal rocky, rapidy creek that’s typical of this area. After the creek, the trail goes up a stairs for about 20 steps. When I say stairs, it’s always wooden 4 x 4s that are built into the ground. It’s more of an erosion control system that makes it easier to walk uphill. At the top of the stairs there is a sign for the Cliff Creek Campsite, so I headed down the path to the left.
The campsite is situated on top of a small hill overlooking the creek. The water path really isn’t that steep getting down to the creek. The campsite has all the usual stuff, plus about 6 or 7 tent pads. This is a Multi-Group site, which means it has more tent pads than a regular site. The tent pads are fairly grassy but not overwhelmingly so. The campsite seems like it does get some sunlight, even though it’s in a regular woods.
I continued on the SHT and it continues to go gradually uphill then downhill to a plank creek crossing, then uphill and downhill again to another plank creek crossing. It does this 7 or 8 times, crossing a two-track forest road at one point. Then you go on a downhill tear and get to a more substantial A Frame Bridge crossing a more substantial creek. I had made it to Durfee’s Creek.
I looks like a fairly new bridge. There’s a sign on it that reads “Durfee’s Creek June 2007,” so it is fairly new. After crossing the creek, there looked to be a faint trail headed along the bank of the creek. That must be one of those fisherman trails. But also after the bridge, the trail goes up a short series of stairs built into the hill, and at the top of the stairs, there is a sign for the Durfee’s Creek Multigroup Campsite. I was experiencing Déjà vu, because this set up was the same as the Cliff Creek Campsite. You go down the trail, and the campsite is on a little hill overlooking the creek. There are about 6 or 7 somewhat grassy tent pads, and the usual 2 x12 plank seating for the campfire area. This campsite wasn’t quite as flat as the Cliff Creek Campsite, it seems to slope towards the creek. Maybe the reason the Cliff Creek Campsite is so flat is that there is some sort of cliff there. But I didn’t see any.
The trail goes on a couple more gradual up and downs to small creeks, then it goes on a decidedly uphill stretch, but not too bad. Then you come to a big clearing and there is a tremendous view. The first thing I noticed was five mile rock out in Lake Superior straight down from the overlook. I looked to the southwest along the shoreline to see if I could see Grand Marais, but I couldn’t. It appears that Pincushion Mountain is in the way. But I could see Maple Hill, also known as the Sawtooth Bluff off to the west. I can tell it was Maple Hill because it had radio towers on top of it. That was comforting because I am finishing my hike at Tower Road on top of that hill. So I could see the finish line now, so that was a little bit encouraging. The Superior Hiking Trail Guidebook really doesn’t have a name for the overlook I was at. But I do believe I’ve seen it referenced as Wildflower Hill on a map that I have. That’s kind of funny because this is a much better overlook than the Blueberry Overlook and the Scrub Oak Overlook which both have names in the SHT Guidebook. In fact, both Blueberry and Scrub Oak have arrowhead reference points on the SHT Guidebook Maps, where this overlook is just mentioned in the text. At any rate, this is a very good overlook, and I took several photos here including some self-shots.
After the overlook, the trail goes on a gradual downhill run. Apparently, we are done with the small ups and downs to creeks. Then the trail goes on the side of a hill, which makes you feel like you are gorge walking again, but it’s not quite cliff-like enough to be a gorge. Eventually, you get to the point where you can see Wood’s Creek down below the trail, so it does get to feel more like a gorge walk. I would more accurately call it a hillside creek walk. So, I’m going on the side of the hill, and the trail goes closer to the creek then farther away. There are some short uphill stairs and short downhill stairs. This keeps going for over a half a mile.
Then, I made it to the Wood’s Creek Campsite. This campsite is located in the deep dark woods right next to the creek. In fact, it looks if there was some sort of flash flood, you’d be in trouble. But if it’s raining that bad, you shouldn’t be there. At any rate, it’s a cool creeky campsite. The tent pads look a little barren because it doesn’t get much sunlight to grow grass in the deep dark woods.
The campsite is about a half mile from County Highway 58. So, it might be a good site to hike into if you are arriving late on a Friday night, and want to get to a campsite in short order. I continued west on the SHT and the trail starts looking like more of a gorge hike instead of a hillside creek walk. Now there are more cliff-like sides along the shoreline of the creek. And it’s a really nice little creek, with little waterfalls and rapids. In some places the trail goes right next to the creek. Soon, I saw a big white cement culvert ahead, and I knew I was coming up to Highway 58. I took a short uphill climb and hit the road.
Highway 58 looks like a really nice gravel road. Once you get there, you kind of hike kiddy corner and start up on the trail again. Before Highway 58, the trail is on the left side of the Wood’s Creek. Now after 58 the trail is on the right side of the creek. Also on that side of the road is a really nice Trailhead. There’s a nice big parking lot, with enough room for about 10 cars. You can tell this area is a little more popular that the Highway 14 trail head. After all, this is the gateway to the Devil’s Track River Gorge.
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The trail goes parallel to Wood’s Creek for a little ways, except the trail is up a small hill from it. Then the trail veers away from the creek and starts going through some tall pines. It goes across a small bridge then a boardwalk, then starts going gradually uphill. Pretty soon you’re hiking next to a gorge, and it isn’t a gorge for Wood’s Creek, it’s the full-fledged Devil’s Track River Gorge. And this is a magnificent gorge, with a sharp cliff and the river is at least about 50 yards below. There is one spot with an excellent view of the gorge. At first, that didn’t quite seem possible, at first I was walking not that far up from a creek and now I’m hiking next to a cliff with the river way down below.
Then the trail went down to a fairly substantial bridge with railings over a small creek. This creek was going down a sheet of rock, and it was going down fast. Part of the footings for the bridge was built using a criss-cross log cabin style method. That was the first time I had seen something like that. After the bridge, the trail takes a left and goes sharply uphill. At first there are no steps, but then you see to rather long series of steps up the hill. Oh, my God. I’d say there was about 35 steps total, here. Once I got on top of that, the trail went fairly flat for a short ways, then there was another set of stairs. Again, after that it was flat for a good distance. I seemed like I was walking right next to the gorge, but there were not any really good views for a ways, then you get to some. Here you can see the red cliffs on both sides of the canyon and Lake Superior on the horizon. Yes, it definitely started looking more like a canyon than a gorge. Then you descent a steep series of steps until you get to a spot were you can see the river way down below you, and I mean way down there. From there the trail goes up, using mainly tree roots as steps. It seems a little treacherous, but a this point the trail is not right next to the rim. But it takes you there, and there’s a sign that says “Barrier Falls Overlook.” Unfortunately, there was too much foliage in the way for me to see the falls way down in the canyon. At one spot, there seemed to be a trail going down the steep hill from the SHT. I’m not sure if that was a fisherman’s trail or a trail to go look at the falls. But I wasn’t going down there, it was too steep to get back up.
After the Barrier Fall Non Overlook, the SHT goes down on a series of steps, then goes up about twice as far as it came down. That was a pain in the butt. Then, it’s fairly flat until you go down to cross a creek on a sturdy bridge that had a handrail on one side of the bridge. After that, there is another long tedious series of step, going up in a more gradual fashion, but still going up. The trail then continues go up, but now it was a steady upward haul that didn’t need steps. You’re still going up for quite some time and then you hit another one rail creek bridge. But this time, instead of going down to hit the creek, you are still going up. And you’re still going up after the bridge, you keep going and going. Every once in a while you get a glimpse of the canyon to your left, but there wasn’t anything that was a super overlook. Eventually, you get to one last short but steeper uphill stretch and when your on top of it you see a bench off to your right. Then I saw a sign attached to a tree that said “Spruce Knob.” I was on top of it. But I was spent.
I used the bench as a bed for a while. On the way up to Spruce Knob, I had paused several times to catch my breath. On one of those times I called my doctor’s office and told the nurse about the target rash on my back. Now she called me back saying the doctor had approved an antibiotic for me. I told her I would be home sometime the next evening, then I would pick it up at my normal pharmacy on Sunday Morning. She seemed to be okay with that.
After resting, I took a self-shot of me lying on the bench. This Devil Track segment was kicking my ass. But it was a beautiful afternoon, after expecting much worse earlier in the morning. At least I wasn’t hiking up this Devil Track tract when it was raining. Thank God for that.
After Spruce Knob the SHT goes on a steep downhill tear, using several series of steps. It keeps going, down, down and more down. I could hear the river getting closer and closer. Then all of a sudden I see the sign for the East Devil Track River Campsite. I got a little confused here and started going down the SHT instead of the Campsite Trail. But, I came back and found the campsite. This campsite is very small and very close to the river. The river is coming down at a pretty good rate here. You can see it curve around the campsite. The river curves from the right up above the campsite and curves to the left down below the campsite. And this river must drop 20 feet in that distance. It’s a total fast moving and rapidy river. The East Devil Track River Campsite is a really small campsite, with only two tent pads. And one of those tent pads is more suited to a small tent. There is a very small campfire area with a smaller bench around it. Both tent pads are barren, but the campsite does seem like gets a fair amount of sun light. I think the soil here is too rocky to grow grass. Plus this campsite looks a though it gets a lot of use.
I headed down for real the SHT that I had mistaken for the campsite trail. Within about 75 yard I came to a big A Frame bridge over what now was becoming the Devil Track River gorge. This is an elaborate bridge that must have been fun to build. Just hauling in the wood for it must have been a real chore. Once you’re on the bridge, it’s a real good spot to take photos of the river below. And that’s exactly what I did. I could see a small waterfall about 50 yards downriver from the bridge. It was really becoming a gorge down that way, with 15 to 20 feet high cliffs on each side of the river. Also, on the bridge I could see the West Devil Track River Campsite. It was at the far end of the bridge on a little butte like rise. So, I went across the bridge and walked up on some rocks to the campsite. This is a really nice and really big campsite. Unlike the other Devil Track Campsite, this one seemed like it had a lot of space. There were some really huge tent pads and the campfire are had some more room to pitch tents around it. And surprisingly, everything was nice and flat. I thought this area was an anomaly in an area where everything was sloping down with the fast falling river.
Near the bridge is a wooden box with a log book in it. I wrote the following in it. “It’s a really beautiful day but this Devil Track is kicking my butt.” I rested at this campsite, and called Harriet Quarles. I was about 2 pm now, and I told her that I would be at the Pincushion Mountain Trailhead in a couple hours and I needed a ride back to the Highway 14 Trailhead. She said she was still down in Miami, but she would get someone lined up to pick me up. She said she was driving back up to Grand Marais starting the next day.
Harriet Quarles life is kind of an oddity. She goes down to Miami in December and shuttles people to the Cruise Ships for several months, then during the summer, she shuttles people in the Grand Marais Area. So you could have the same person shuttle you to the ship in February that shuttles you to the Trailhead in August.
I continued on as the trail follows the river in downward pattern. Soon I got to a spot where I could walk out and see a close up of the waterfall that I saw on the bridge. And that was really a cool spot with cliff walls on each side of the gorge. The river is really narrow in this section, and that’s probably why they built the bridge where they did. I took a self shot photo of me in front of the waterfall.
The trail continues along the river for a short ways, then there is a short set of stairs where the trail starts moving away from the river. Those two Devil Track River Campsites were really cool. It would be good to camp there just to explore the river for a day or two. As the trail moves away from the river, you get to another little set of stairs at a curve in the trail. I thought it was a little set of stairs, but when I got there I found a long steep staircase, which was hidden from view initially because of the curve in the trail. This is not what I needed. I started up the staircase and it keeps going and going. Boy, it must have been fun to bring in the wood for that bridge. Then the staircase stops shortly so you can walk up over some tree root, then it starts up again. Finally I made it to the top, where there’s a well placed bench.
At that point I checked the phone and saw that I had gotten a message. It was from Dave, one of Harriet Quarles associates, so I called him back. He told me that when I got to the Pincushion Mountain Trailhead to call him, and he would drive up to pick me up, I said I thought it would be at least an hour before I got there. I headed out, and I was easy walking up there, that’s a change. It didn’t take very long and I arrived at a junction of a ski trail. There’s an SHT wooden sign there pointing to the left and it said “Pincushion Mtn - .5 MI, Parking Lot – 1.7 MI.” Now I was making some real progress.
And it continued to be easy walking on the ski trail. It didn’t take very long and I was at the Junction of the Pincushion Mountain Spur Trail. I started hiking that trail. You get to a spot where there is a big rock face that you have to walk up and over. They have rectangular blazes painted on the rocks to guide your way. Then you come to a tremendous Overlook looking towards the north into the mainland area. Continuing on for another few hundred yards you get to the east end of the mountain where there is another tremendous overlook. The best shot here is looking north east, but at this point you can see Grand Marais down to the South west. I’d say that this overlook was at least a 250 degree overlook. This is well worth the effort getting out to the overlook. And it wasn’t very bad of a hike. Definitely easier than the staircase I just walked up from the Devil Track River. I was a happy camper now. A tired out camper, but happy. And it continued to be an absolutely gorgeous day. Evidently it was a gorgeous day for hiking gorges.
Originally I thought the Pincushion Mountain Spur Trail was a loop trail, but I didn’t see a loop, and after further consulting with the SHT Guidebook it seemed like it was more of a out and back trail. So I hiked back the way I came. Once I got back to the ski trail, I took a left and continued on my easy walking adventure.
At the trail junction, they had a map of all the ski trails, and it looked like I was on the far reaches of the ski area. I walked at a pretty good rate consider all I had been through. The finish line is approaching and I was encouraged. This is a really elaborate cross-country ski area which attract skiing enthusiasts to the area every winter. This ski area is also the home field of the Grand Marais High School Cross Country Ski team. And they hold High School races here. I had seen a calendar in town that had all the Grand Marais High School Team schedules listed on it. And the Cross Country Skiing and also Downhill Skiing Schedule were listed on the calendar. I thought it was unusual that there were Skiing teams on the High School level. Down in Wisconsin we have skiing clubs on the high school level, but not teams. But this Northern Minnesota, where snow is king.
The Ski Trail keeps going and going. At places there are 12 foot wide bridges crossing little streams. The whole trail is wide here. I suppose they need it that way for skier to pass other skiers in the ski races. This ski trail keeps going and going and finally I made it to another junction and I looked at the map posted there. It showed that I was making some progress. I was over 2/3s of the way back to the Parking lot from Pincushion Mountain. I kept going and at the next trail junction there was a SHT sign with an arrow pointing to the right. I turned right onto another ski trail. This trail didn’t seem as wide as the other ski trail I was just on. Perhaps this is just a short cut back to the parking lot, and it’s not used for any ski race. I walked up over a hill and down the other side, then found a big open field about the size of a football field. This field has lights around the edges of the field. I theorized this field is where people can come and practice skiing at night. There was a warming house up to the right. Soon after the field, I saw the Parking lot, and the magnificent view of Grand Marais below. I had made it!!!!!
I was about 5 pm on a great day. I called Dave to come pick me up. Then I met two locals named Brian and Bonnie. I commented on their big pickup truck which looks almost like a monster truck. Bonnie said they needed it to get up her driveway in the winter. Wow, she must have one hell of a driveway. She said her brother Brian was visiting and they were out looking at the sights. They both looked to be Native Americans, especially Brian. I talked to them about my hiking trip, gave them an “I saw Tman” card and took their photo for my website. They just seemed to be out enjoying the nice day.
It wasn’t very long then all of a sudden a pick up pulled up and it was Dave coming to give me a ride. Dave has a real nice pick up truck. I hopped in and he asked me how I was doing. I said that I was tired, and the Devil Track had kicked my butt. He said that he used to be an EMT and on a few occasions he had to haul people out of the Devil Track, and it wasn’t very fun. He said he couldn’t do anything like that now because he was disabled. Nevertheless, I thought Dave was a pretty cool guy, being an EMT at one time.
To me Dave didn’t look all that much like a Native American. I asked him if “Indian Dave” was really his nickname. And he said it was. I said that I didn’t feel comfortable calling him that because it sounds a little racist. But he says that’s what people call him and he didn’t mind it a bit. I told him that I am from Madison, Wisconsin, which is the Politically Correct Capitol of the Midwest, so maybe I’m more sensitive or aware of stuff that some people think is offensive.
Dave didn’t appear to be overly native, so it might be hard for people to realize that he is a native. Perhaps that’s the reason for the “Indian Dave” nickname. Dave drove down the Gunflint Trail into Grand Marais, then took Highway 61 up the coast. We started talking about the tribe. I asked him if he gets any money from the Casino. He said no, that all the money from the Casino goes toward programs for the tribe members. So when he goes to the Tribe’s Health Care facility, it’s free for him. I thought that was a pretty good benefit.
We made it down to Highway 14 and Dave turned and started going up the hill. But he stopped because there was a red fox sitting on the road up the hill a ways. The fox was just sitting there minding it’s own business. At one point it yawned and then stretched. Dave said he would sneak up on it. So he slowly drove up a little bit. Meanwhile I was taking photos of it. Dave drove up a little bit more, and it didn’t seem to bother the fox. Pretty soon the fox was right next to the truck. Then it decided to scamper away. But for about 5 minutes, that was the coolest little wildlife observation. It must be some sort of sport up in these parts to see how close you can get to an animal. We drove up to the trailhead, and I asked Dave how much I owed him, and he said he’d have to charge me $30. I thought that was a fair price. But I didn’t have any 10s so I gave him two twenties. I thanked Dave and he headed out after I got my van started. I really liked Dave. Be well my friend.
I thought about doing the last two miles up to the Sawtooth Bluff. But I was already pretty tired, and was planning on staying overnight near Grand Marais, so I thought I could do it in the morning. Besides it’s Chicken Night at the Grand Marais American Legion. So ixnay on another hike tonight. I headed into Grand Marais and my first stop was at the Municipal Campground. I was going to take a shower and also pay for all the showers that I had taken during the week. Unfortunately the Campground Office was closed. I thought the office would be open a little later because it is a Friday night when many campers might be coming to the campground. So I headed down to the shower house near the Ball Diamond and took a shower.
After getting refreshed and cleaned up at the shower house, I headed over to the American Legion for Chicken Night. The first thing you notice is that Chicken Night is not nearly as popular as Burger Night. And I was at the American Legion at around 6:30, pm, which would have been prime time for people to be there. There were a few people there, but on Burger Night, the place is packed. I went to the back of the American Legion and put in my order then I moseyed up and found a seat at the bar. Again, Elizabeth was my bartender. This was starting to feel like my “End of The Hike, Victory over the Wilderness Dinner” that I have after my hikes. I still had a two-mile walk to do, but that seemed more like a victory lap at this point.
I had conquered the Devil Track. The worst part had to be over. Yes, I would be walking up a bluff for the 2 miles, but it was only two miles. I was planning to sing Karaoke at the Birch Terrace later, so it seemed even more like a celebration. I told Elizabeth that I was singing Karaoke at the Birch Terrace tonight and that she wouldn’t be able to hear me this year because she works at the Birch Terrace on Saturday Night. She said she would be able to hear me, because she’s going over to the Birch Terrace after the American Legion closes. Evidently, the American Legion Bar closes earlier than the Birch Terrace, which surprised me because I thought they both would close at bar time. Perhaps there isn’t enough business for the American Legion to stay open that late. My chicken dinner came and it was really good. It was still pretty early when I finished up at the American Legion. It was about 7:30 or so, too early for Karaoke. I was tired so I drove up to the overlook and took a nap.
The Devil Track had taken a big toll on me. I was much more tired out today than on Wednesday when I hiked almost 14 miles to Magney. On Wednesday I was ready to do another little hike, but it was Burger Night so I declined. Today, there was no way I was taking another little hike. The hike on Wednesday did have a couple uphill climbs especially Rocky Knob and the staircase in Magney. But at Devil Track it was a prolonged uphill event that lasted several hours. I think I’ve gotta give the Devil Track the prize for the most strenuous section of the SHT that I’ve hiked. I think it beats Cascade State Park.
I woke up and it was dark. The first thing that I thought was that I had missed Karaoke all together. But I checked the time and it was 10:30. So I had a full 2 1/2 hours of Karaoke ahead of me. So, I rolled down into Grand Marais and headed to the Birch Terrace. I headed into the bar where Dave the Karaoke DJ was singing a song. After the song was over he just start playing music. After a couple songs Dave decided to do a Karaoke song again. And I turned in a slip for “Wild World” By Cat Stevens. “Wild World” is usually the song I start out with when I’m singing karaoke when I’ve been hiking. I was my turn to sing and I told everyone that I was Tman from Madison, Wisconsin, and I was up in Grand Marais hiking the Superior Hiking Trail. So I know it’s a Wild World. I completed the song and was pretty happy with it. Soon, the evening became a Todd and Dave sing off, as we rotated songs for the next hour or so. We had a six song run from Steve Miller. Dave had started it off with “Take the Money and Run. I did “Fly Like an Eagle,” “The Joker,” and “Abracadabra,” while Dave did “Jet Airliner” and “Wild Mountain Honey.” Dave decided to do something else, so the Steve Miller singathon was over. But it still was only Dave and I doing songs, until a young lady came up and did “Son of a Preacher Man.” She really rocked the house and got everyone dancing. That kind of opened the flood gates and a bunch more people signed up to sing. To slow things down near the end of the night I sang “Don’t know what you Got till it’s Gone” by Cinderella. I thought that might be a good song for people who wanted to slow dance.
It seemed like I was the only non-local person in the bar, except some college students from the University of Minnesota-Duluth. I talked with one of them and congratulated him on UMD winning the National Championship in Hockey. There were a couple other things that happened at the bar, but let’s just say that I was still too tired out from doing the Devil Track to pursue any of it. The last song of the night was by a local guy who did “Sing that Funky Music White Boy.” That’s the only song he did all night and evidently it’s some kind of tradition for him to finish the night of Karaoke with it.
I drove up to the Grand Marais Overlook and parked to go to sleep. But there was someone out in the parking lot with a telescope. I walked over and talked to the guy and he had quite the telescope. He said it was the first night in a couple weeks that had been clear enough to go stargazing. His telescope had a small computer on it that you could select what constellation you wanted to look at, and the telescope would locate it. Wow, that was very cool. He said the telescope costs around $5000 used. He must be very serious about it. I went back to the van and went to sleep. The Devil had left tracks on me.