Saturday, June 4, 2011
I woke up around 7:45 and decided I would place the bike up on top of the Sawtooth Bluff, also known as Maple Hill. Maybe Maple Hill is just part of the Sawtooth Bluff. At any rate, I took a right onto the Gunflint Trail and took a left at the next road, which is Tower Road, and drove up to the SHT Crossing. There’s a little parking lot there and it’s probably also used by snowmobilers and dogsledders in the winter, because the SHT uses the wider North Shore Trail here. I headed back down to the Pincushion Mountain Trailhead/Grand Marais Overlook. When I got down there, I was getting ready to hike when a car pulled up, and it was the Student from the University of Minnesota-Duluth that I had talked with the night before. His name is Dave, and he was wondering what I was doing. I told him that I was getting ready to hike up on top of the bluff. He said the rest of the Students were still sleeping but he had to get up and do something. I told him he should hike out to Pincushion Mountain, and that it was about a mile one way. It’s got some spectacular overlooks and it’s not that hard of a hike. There would be a map of it up on the Kiosk above the parking lot. He seemed to be happy about that. I took his photo and gave him an “I saw Tman” card. He left to go on his hike.
After that, I was still waiting for the Spot Messenger to send its message when another car pulled up. This is when I met Lance and his daughter. His daughter looked to be about 3 years old and she immediately needed to go to the bathroom, so they went inside the nearby outhouse. I started talking to him and he is from Chicago, but he was spending some time up in Grand Marais this summer with the mother of his daughter. I took his photo and gave him an “I saw Tman” card. I wish him well with that, hopefully it will work out.
To follow along with photos of this hike Click Here
Well, the Spot Messenger sent it’s message and I headed out around 8:30 am, before anybody else showed up. I was hiking on a nice and wide ski trail again, and would be doing so for about .8 miles to where the SHT splits off from it. I was headed in a mainly west to southwest direction and it was generally downhill. I wasn’t very happy about it going downhill, because I knew every step going downhill would have to be made up by going uphill to the top of the Sawtooth Bluff. It was easy walking for now.
I walked past a couple of Ski Trail Junctions and across a couple of those wide bridges again, and then I came to the junction where the SHT leaves the Ski Trail. There is a SHT sign with and arrow pointing to the right there. Evidently, if you keep going on the Ski Trail, there is another path that will take you into Grand Marais. I headed down the path to the right and I was walking in a generally uphill direction, crossing a couple little streams on the way. I was walking on the regular SHT now, not a ski trail. Then I encounter a steeper section of uphill trail, and made it to the Gunflint Trail. It’s a nice extra wide paved road here. And if you look to the left, you can see the Grand Marais Water Tower down at the curve about a 1/4 mile away.
After the Gunflint Trail, the SHT goes up at a rather steep rate. There are steps in some places, and just upward trail in other places. This lasts for a good 300 to 400 yards, then the trail takes a left and you are walking on the side of the hill, so it isn’t that bad. While you’re walking on the side of the hill, you start getting glimpses of Grand Marais down below. This keeps going for another few hundred yards until you get to a spot where there is a pretty good overlook of Grand Marais. There are a few trees in the way, but it’s still a good view. Then the SHT takes a sharp right hand turn and they have a SHT sign with and arrow pointing that way.
I had been wearing my cowboy styled soft hat with a head net over it. It seemed like it was kind of buggy when I first started the hike, so that’s why I wore it. But now, I was getting too hot, and the bugs were non-existent, so I took off my hat and head net and stuff them loosely in my vest. After the right hand turn, the easy walking is over, as you head vigorously uphill for a short ways. Then the trail flattens out and you hit a boardwalk. It always amazes me how there can be wet areas on top of hills. And this is no minor boardwalk, it’s a pretty good sized affair. The section since the turn is a very straight trail. This straight section was what I thought was the Electric Line Right of way, back in 2009. That Electric Line Right of way must be west of here a few hundred yards. Then the boardwalk ends and you walk a little ways to another shorter boardwalk. After that it is easy walking in a gradually uphill direction until you hit a snowmobile/dogsledding trail. This trail is the North Shore Trail, and is very wide. The SHT takes a left onto the North Shore Trail, and less than 200 yards I make it to my bike at Tower Road.
I WAS DONE.
I was very happy until I found out that I lost my hat and head net somewhere along the way. I had stuffed them in loosely between my shirt and vest, and they must have worked their way out. It was my own fault, I broke one of my rules of hiking. The rule is that everything must be tied on or snapped in. I guess I hadn’t had a misadventure for a couple days and I needed one last misadventure to make this hike a real hike. I started back on the North Shore Trail, then turned on the regular SHT. I knew I wouldn’t have to walk all the way down the hill, because I had stuffed the hat and head net in my vest along the hike on the hillside. I walked down past the first boardwalk then on the second boardwalk I found my Hat and Head Net. I must have been powering through the boardwalk, and not paying attention. At any rate, I was happy that I only had to walk back less than a 1/4 mile. I had to find the hat because it was my famous Sylvania Wilderness hat I wear on all my backpacking trips. I could not proceed without that. Well, I walked back to my bike knowing my last misadventure of this hike was over. When I got back to Tower Road, I took some Victory Shots at the Trail Crossing. I was a happy camper.
I set out the spot messenger, put on my biking gear and stashed my vest and poles on the side of the road. It was really fun biking down Tower Road. At first I thought it might be a little hard going on the gravel road, but it was mostly in a downhill direction so it was easy. I really flew down the road. Then when I got to the paved Gunflint Trail, it was all down hill to the Trailhead. I flew even faster there, and coasted the last block into the trailhead. My victory lap was over.
I put the bike in the van, then headed back up Tower Road to pick up my gear. The Spot Messenger had sent it’s message, so I was set to go. I went down to the Grand Marais Water Tower on the Gunflint Trail and took my photo in front of it, much like the photo I took in 2009 when I was hiking up from Grand Marais to Tower road to connect with the SHT. The Electric Line Right of Way that I walked up in 2009 is right behind the water tower.
I rolled down into Grand Marais to the Library. I wanted to update my website and send a post to the Superior Hiking Trail Yahoo Group. It was about 10:30 now, and the Librarian said the computers were booked up until 11:30. I signed up and said I would come back later. I headed down to the Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply where the young lady who sang “Son of a Preacher Man” the night before was working at the counter. I asked for Jack and she said he was in back. He had asked me to stop by and tell him the conditions of the trail. I said the trail was very good except for a spot west of the Arrowhead Trail where there is a prolonged area of wet trail. He seemed to think that the trail wasn’t very developed up in the northern sections, but I told him the trail is very good, and easy to follow. There were just a few wet spots, which are probably drying out since we haven’t had rain for a few days. He seemed to be happy with my report, and went on to help some people who were renting some sea kayaks.
I went back and parked on Main Street in front of the Library. I crossed the street and got a vanilla cone dipped in chocolate at the Dairy Queen. I said Hi to the owner who I had met at the American Legion and Birch Terrace during the week. I walked slowly back to the library and met the guy who sang “Play that funky music white boy” at karaoke the night before. It’s a small town, within the last few hours I had met 3 people that were at Karaoke last night. After I finished off the cone, I headed into the library. It was before 11:30, but they had a computer open now. I updated my website and wrote the following on the SHT Hiker Yahoo Group.
Hi Everyone
I have completed my hike from Otter Lake Road
to Grand Marais. I've taken over 2500 photos
and will be sorting them out and posting them
on my website sometime in the next week or two
Heading back to Madison, seeya
Todd
After that I left the library. I had one last task to do in Grand Marais. I went down to the Municipal Campground and the Office was open. But it was more than just an office. It was a little store with camping items, souvenirs, and even an ice cream treat freezer. I paid my shower bill and talked with the lady there. She said that the Campground has over 100 sites that are rented for the full summer, and the sites are $600 for sewer, water and electricity. That’s not counting people who come up for a week or weekend. Sounds like it is really a good thing for the economy around Grand Marais. After settling up my bill, I headed out. I headed up over the hill, and soon I was out of town.
I didn’t put a lot of thought to it. I just had finished up everything I had to do in town, and decided it was time to go. I know I’ll probably be back, because it’s my favorite little town. It kind of reminds me of Cicely, Alaska, the town in the TV show Northern Exposure. I hope Grand Marais has a great summer.
When I got down to Cascade State Park, I pulled in and talked to the Park Ranger at the Entrance Building. The Entrance Building here is also a little store, which I thought was interesting. I asked the woman ranger who was behind the counter if it is true that backpackers cannot take showers at the Campground, unless they sign up for a campsite. The lady said unfortunately, it is true. I said wouldn’t it be better just to charge $3.00 for a shower so backpackers don’t have to sneak in to take a shower. Just then a male ranger walked into the store from an office. He must have been overhearing my conversation. He said that it was a rule they were trying to get changed, and I should call the Minnesota State Parks Department and express my concerns. I told him I would, and thanked both of them, and headed out.
Right about at Cascade State Park is where you get back into Cell Phone Coverage, So I called Kathy and Jan at the Cobblestone Cabins. Kathy answered the phone and I told her I was at Cascade heading south, and that I wanted to stop by and see their resort. For those of you who might have missed it, I met Jan and Kathy at the Birch Terrace in Grand Marais on Monday Night May 30. She said that it would be a good time to stop by, and would be seeing me in a little while. It didn’t take me very long at all and I was down to their resort near Tofte.
You pull in their driveway and the first thing you see is their garden. Then you cross the Gitchi Gumi State Bike Trail and then I parked down by the cabins. Jan was out in the yard and he came over to greet me. He looked like he was out doing some work around the resort. He took me on a little tour. We went out in the yard where there is a cliff going down to Lake Superior. There is a stairs going down but we stayed up on the grass. Down below is a little building on the rocky shoreline, which Jan said is the Sauna. Then there is a rocky shoreline going out to a point to the right of the sauna. There was a lady sitting out on the point just relaxing and enjoying the day. Then Jan showed me one of their bigger cabins. This cabin can be converted into a yoga room, where Kathy can teach up to 9 students. Wow, that was pretty cool. They seemed to combine two business interests at once, having a cabin for yoga.
Jan always had an interesting story or two. He told me about some backpackers who were not prepared for mosquitoes on the worst mosquito weekend of the year. He also told me about when he bought the resort. He came to look at the resort 35 years ago, and within the first 10 minutes he told the guy he wanted to buy it. Wow, what a life changing moment. Perhaps it was a life defining moment. I thought back trying to decide my life defining moment. Maybe it was when I decided to hook up with D instead of K.
We went over to the house where Kathy was relaxing on the back deck. I talked with her for a little bit, then decided it was time for me to get going. I thanked them, then on my way out, Jan showed me his garden. They have quite the plot, including a small greenhouse to start the plants early. The garden is right on the Gitchi Gumi State Bike Trail. I always like seeing gardens and people’s back yards when I’m out biking on a State Bike Trail. It’s a slice of Americana that you don’t normally see. I’d like to ride that bike trail, but what bike trail wouldn’t I like to ride? I said goodbye to Jan and was on my way. Have a good summer at the resort, and happy hiking down in South Carolina this winter.
I headed down Highway 61 and it was good driving until down past Beaver Bay. Then the traffic just stopped. I’m not sure what was going on, because there was a long line of cars. I could see the Split Rock Lighthouse down the road in the distance. The traffic didn’t move for over 20 minutes. I looked at my Minnesota State Map and saw a county road going the back way between Beaver Bay and Two Harbors. Again, the traffic still had not moved. I wondered if there was a problem in the tunnel down around the curve. Still everything was stopped, so I decided to turn around and take the back way. This turned out to be a rather long detour. Everything was fine at first, it was a nice paved County Road, but then it turned into a gravel road. I went on that for several miles and it finally changed back into a paved road. I went through I little town, then saw the Two Harbors Water Tower. I had finally made it around.
In Two Harbors, there is my mandatory stop at the Culver’s. Maybe it’s some sort of ritual I have. Maybe it’s a signal I coming back to the civilized world, which we all know isn’t very civilized. I jumped on the four lane Highway 61, and was down to Duluth in no time. Then to compensate for going fast on a four lane Highway, you have to go on city streets for about 3 miles. I took a little detour into a commercial area looking for an Anytime Fitness. I didn’t find one, and decided to stop putzing around and keep going. I went over the big bridge into Superior. I was back in Wisconsin.
I was looking for an Anytime Fitness along the way in Superior, but didn’t see one so I kept going. After leaving Superior I was back on a four-lane highway again. I decided to call my sister. My brother in law Keith answered and said Carol was working. I asked him if he could look on the computer at Anytimefitness.com to see if there is an Anytime Fitness in Spooner or Rice Lake. He checked and there are not any. So, I asked him about Eau Clare, and he said there are two locations in Eau Clare and one in Chippewa Falls. I asked him the name of the street the one in Chippewa Falls was on, and he said it was on Bridge Street. I thanked him and kept going down the Highway. The stretch of Highway 53 between Superior and Eau Clare seems like a very long stretch of road. It seems longer than going from Madison to Eau Clare. But I kept going and made it down to Chippewa Falls and turned off. I was a little bit hungry, so I turned into a Burger King and got something. I asked the people in the Burger King where Anytime Fitness is and they gave me directions. I bet they don’t get that question asked very often.
The Anytime Fitness is on a street in downtown. I thought it would be in a strip mall on the outskirts of town, like many locations seem to be. I parked on the Bridge street and put my spot messenger on the windshield of my van. There didn’t seem to be a lot happening in the downtown area at that time. I suppose you’re wondering why I’m going to Anytime Fitness. Well, it’s because I’m a member and I know that they have showers at every location. So, I grabbed my shower kit and my cleanest dirty clothes and headed in.
The Anytime Fitness is in an older building in downtown Chippewa Falls. I headed into the back hallway and found the men’s restroom. And sure enough, it did have shower. I was still in my hiking clothes, so it felt good to get them off, take a shower and put on some decent clothes. It was around 7 pm when I got done. I found the Highway 53 again, and headed to Highway 94 down by Eau Clare.I think I made one other stop on the way back to Madison, just to get an Ice Cream Cone.
It was around 10:15 when I made it back to Madison. I headed down the beltline and got off at South Town Drive. I drove a few blocks and parked right in front of Dave’s South Bay Lounge. I set out the Spot Messenger on the windshield of the van, then I went inside the bar. Dr Karaoke does Karaoke on Saturday night at South Bay. It wasn’t very busy considering it was a Saturday Night and Dr Karaoke usually packs them in. I signed up for “Home Sweet Home” by Motley Crue. Dr Karaoke was amused that I came to Karaoke before going home. But I told him that I did clean up at an Anytime Fitness on the way back. I obtained a beer and shortly it was my turn to sign. It was the first time I had ever did that song, because somebody else usually sings it. I don’t like singing other regular singer’s regular songs. But this was a special occasion, and also, the other singer was not there. I sang the song, finished the beer and said goodbye to Dr Karaoke.
“I’m on my way, I’m on my way, Home Sweet Home”