Getting to Remer

Pre-trip Preparations and Wednesday, October 20

I decided I really needed to get out for a fall hike. I set the dates for October 20 –27 and took those dates off of work. Now, all I needed to do is figure out where I would hike. My top two choices for hikes were the Trap Hills in Upper Michigan, and the Chippewa National Forest in North Central Minnesota. I was actually leaning towards the Trap Hills hike because it would be less of a drive than the Chip. But I had heard good things about the Chip from Tom Salwasser on the Hiker Yahoo Group.

I checked out the Peter Wolfe Chapter’s website and found a possible shuttle. The Superior Shores Resort in Ontonagon, Michigan does shuttles. I called up Don at the Resort and he said that they do Shuttles whenever they are not really busy. He said he thought my October dates would be okay for a shuttle because the peak fall colors time would be over. It sounded like the Trap Hills Hike would work out.

But then I sent an email to Tom Salwasser asking if there were any Shuttles in the Chippewa National Forest. My email was short and sweet. Here it is

“Hi Tom

What are the best places to stay near the NCT Chippewa segment and are there any shuttles in the area

Regards from me, Todd aka Tman”

Tom gave me a rather rousing response, here it is

“Hi Todd,

Glad you're hiking the NCT in Chip! I underestimated how beautiful it was, thinking it could never compare to the SHT. And it really can't, there are no overlooks of Lake Superior and the trail is sadly underused. But it's a beautiful walk in the woods and any time you're outdoors be prepared for mother nature to surprise you. The trees, rivers, lakes and ponds are well worth your time. I would wear some blaze orange, there is a lot of grouse hunting activity now. Nothing to worry about though.

There is no organized shuttle service at all. Each town you encounter (Remer, Longville, Walker, hmmm, any others?) has motels, restaurants, gas stations and grocery stores. If you're staying at a motel you could probably arrange a shuttle with the proprietor. When I walk the Chip I usually do an out and back, unless we have 2 vehicles. I would feel safe hitch hiking here, but that's just me. I have never actually done that on the NCT.

What are your plans T-man? I sure am looking forward to your detailed trip report and photos.

Best, Tom”

I responded with a rather long email

“Hi Tom

I hate to get you too excited about me hiking the Chip, because I'm not exactly sure where I am going. I'm planning a hike which includes the weekend of October 23 & 24.

I have a friend that has been following my adventures on my website and he may go with me. He's around 60 and has done a canoe trip in the Boundary Water's every year. He is pretty fit, but has not done any backpacking except on portages.

Plus I have heard that it can get pretty cold up there in Late October. It could get cold enough to freeze over the lakes.

Because of these conditions, doing day hikes might be the best thing to do. I'll have to research the nearby resorts. Also, I have another friend from Madison who is guiding a fishing trip on that weekend on Leech Lake. There is the possibility that he could pick us up at night and bring us back to the van, and we could stay at the resort he's staying at. But the resort is on the north side of the lake.

There also is the possibility that if my first friend attends that we could "Hike Opposite" of each other. I would drop him off at one trailhead and drive to another trailhead. He would be hiking towards the van and I would be hiking away from the van, and we would meet in the middle. But maybe my friend won't want to do that.

Right now my top three places for the October Hike are the Chip hiking West from Remer, SHT around Lutsen, and the Ott hiking east through the Trap Hills north of Bergland. I'm saving the Wisconsin section for some type of organized Trip with a bunch of people.

To me, the Ott has the advantage of being less of a drive. I'd say it would be about a 6 hour drive instead of a 9 hour drive for the Chip or SHT. The Ott also has a resort, the Superior Shores Resort, that will shuttle you if they are not busy. Also, I could do some sight-seeing at Porcupine Mountains.

I'm not sure if I want to go back to the SHT, but we could do some sort of Inn to Inn hike if my friend attends. I have been up in the Arrowhead twice in the last 15 months,and I may go back again in the spring. So maybe I should give it a break this fall.

And I decided that hiking the SHT may not be my mission. I would like to go back and hike from Otter Lake Road down to Grand Marais, so I can meet up with the other sectionI hiked (Grand Marais to Lutsen). But the SHT is already the most popular trail around, so why should I be promoting and photographing it. I'd rather be hiking a trail that needs some publicity. Therefore, I've decided that I want to avoid hiking Pictured Rocks, Porcupine Mountains, and the SHT because they are already the most popular places to hike in the Midwest. I can go sight-seeing at in the Porkies, but I won't be taking a serious hike.

So the Chip is definitely on my radar. It is in my top 5 places I want to hike. But I am not sure when it will happen.

Regards from me, Todd”

As it turned out, my friend who wanted to hike with me was unable to get off of work and the other friend who was planning a fishing trip that weekend had his client pull out. So I would be on my own.

Tom Salwasser emailed me back

“Todd, a little background.

Logging started in the Remer area in the 1870s. All the logs that could be floated down the Willow River to the Mississippi were cut. Then around 1910 the SOO line railroad came through. Remer was incorporated. Railroad technology enabled building small spur lines with powerful geared Lima Shay locomotives to run through the woods to main SOO line. The era of log drives on rivers was over. Remer peaked around that time. It once had 2 hotels, several restaurants, bars, churches, etc. It's now mainly tourism based, an outdoors haven for lakeshore cabin owners, hunters, fisherman, snowmobiles, ATVs, etc. It's a beautiful area, although a very economically depressed area.There is not a hiking/backpacking culture there. Many residents are angry about all the new restrictions on motorized recreation. There have been more than a few episodes of vandalism on the NCT in the area. The NCT almost never sees any hikers there. It's sad really.

You are an educator, a scout leader. Would you consider putting on a school assembly at Remer High School? A show and tell with your gear and slides? Attitudes change slowly but by showing those kids how cool backpacking is, you can start to show them alternative ways to get out and enjoy nature. I can put you in touch with Forest Service personnel who would probably help out. Maybe the NCT folks would be interested but I've not gotten any traction on this idea with them. Just a thought!

Best, Tom”

Then I wrote back

“Hi Tom

Okay, Since you want me to photograph the Chip I will do so on my October Hike. I will do a 4 to 5 day hike including the weekend of Oct 23 & 24. I plan on leaving Madison on Wednesday, October 20 and hike until the evening of Monday, October 25”

The email continues on with a bunch of comments on my researching the hike. But, the main thing was I had decided that I was hiking the Chippewa National Forest. I did email the Principal at the Northland High School in Remer stating the dates I would be in the area, and that I would be willing to do some type of Backpacking Presentation, but I never heard back from the Principal.

I continued on researching the hike trying to find someone to help shuttle me. I emailed Matt Davis, Regional Coordinator for the North Country Trail Association and he emailed me back with a list NCT Volunteers that live near where I was planning to hike. Also, Matt would set up a Meetup Hike for me on Saturday, October 23.

I sent the volunteers the following email

“Hi Everyone

I was given your names from Matt Davis as people who are volunteers for the North Country Trail.

I will be hiking and photographing the NCT in the Chippewa National Forest October 20 - 25. Tom Salwasser found out that I was planning a fall hike, and he asked me to do the Chip. So I am headed your way.

I plan to drive up on Wednesday October 20. Then I need a little help on the Mornings of October 21 and 22. And I am willing to pay someone to help me.

I plan to start on Thursday, October 21 at the Hwy 6 Trailhead northeast of Remer. I will be hiking west. Since there is nobody around that seems to shuttle people, I am asking you, NCT volunteers, to help me. My plan is to park the van at a selected location each morning, and then have the someone drive me to a different location, then hike back to the van. Using this method, hopefully I'll be able to cover more ground than carrying a heavy backpack and I'll get a good night's sleep in my van. I will be carrying a smaller day pack with food, water, and other gear.

I'm hoping to do at least 10 miles a day, and hopefully closer to 15. But I am not sure what the conditions will be like.

Continuing on Saturday, there is a scheduled Meetup Hike on that day, so hopefully a few people from your area will attend. The Meetup will occur at 8 am at the Highway 84 Trailhead just south of Highway 200. On Saturday Night I'm planning to attend the Itasca Moraine/Laurentian Lakes Dinner in Park Rapids.On Sunday, hopefully, I will be hiking near the Woodtick and Paul Bunyon Trails, so I will be able to ride my bike back to the van.

If you are unfamiliar with me, please check out my website at http://sites.google.com/site/isawtman/Home I have over NCT 2500 Trail photos posted at my website, along with trip reports. I have photographed all of the Kekekabic and Border Route Trails, and part of the Superior Hiking Trail. Plus I've photographed a section of the NCT in lower Michigan.

The Superior Hiking Trail Shuttle charges $15 to shuttle people from one trailhead to the next. I am willing to pay $20 each morning for someone to shuttle me. I'm hoping to do the shuttle each on the two mornings at around 7 am.

I do have a few questions for you.

Are there any early morning restaurants in Remer or Longville?

How well do cell phones work in your area?

Will there be any hunting activity during this time period? I'm planning on wearing my blaze orange outer shell if there is hunting.

Thanks in advance for your help

Regards from me, Todd McMahon”

I received an email from Katy Blau stating that she could not help me on the days I planned because she had work commitments on those days. Then I received an email from Jack and Jerry Fitzgerald offering to help. They also stated that Cell Phone coverage was iffy, and there would be some hunting in the area. We agreed to meet at the One Stop in Longville on the morning of Thursday, Oct 21.

I continued preparing for the hike. But there was a flu-like sickness going around at work. And I got it. I felt fine on the weekend of October 16 & 17, but I was outside all weekend teaching the Outdoor Webelos Leader course. But when I got back from OWL, I was starting to feel sick. I was worried that my hike would be in jeopardy. On Monday, I asked around at work, and they said Thermaflu worked the best on this sickness. I started to take it on a regular basis. I decided I was well enough to go on the hike. Only, I made a slight change of plans. Instead of staying in my van every night, I would stay in a motel most of the time.

I was steadily getting my gear ready. There would be no new gear purchased for this hike. There are a few things that I need for my next serious backpacking trip. But since this was a series of day hikes, I would not need any new gear. I went down stairs and found the box of blaze orange clothes that my dad had used for deer hunting. I’m glad that I kept that box, even though after my dad died I thought of getting rid of it. I was planning on taking it into work and letting the hunters grab what they wanted. But I never did. Now the box of blaze orange clothes has come in handy for hiking. I had used it last December when I hiked in Southern Michigan, and now I am using it for this hike.

I also have a rather large cumbersome blaze orange backpack I bought at a garage sale some time ago for about 5 dollars. There was talk of a new Boy Scout Troop being started in our area, so I was buying backpacks, sleeping bags and other gear in preparation of the new Troop. But the new Troop never happened, and now I have some extra gear including a blaze orange backpack. As I said, the backpack is rather large, with an external frame. A smaller day hike backpack would be better. But that would require me going out and buying a new daypack. I figured the large backpack would do the job, besides, there would not be very much gear in it.

The heaviest thing that would be in the backpack would be the water. I was planning on carrying at least a gallon of water each day. Then there would be snacks, maps, toilet trowel, extra clothes and a raincoat. I wouldn’t be carrying stuff like a sleeping bag, tent and cooking gear. So I assembled all my gear, and extra gear, and gear that would be in the van such as sleeping gear. And I was ready to go.

I woke up the morning of October 20 not feeling the best, but I felt I was good enough to go. I kept using the Theraflu, and it seemed to keep me fairly well. I did my final packing, and headed out of Madison around 9:30 am. This is early for me because I work second shift.

The weather was good, and it was easy driving. I headed up Highway 94 to Eau Claire, then took Highway 53 to Superior. In Duluth is where I had my only episode on the trip. I should have gotten gas in Superior, but I crossed the big bridge into Minnesota and started looking for a gas station. I headed all the way up the hill from Duluth and still didn’t see a gas station. I was thinking about turning around and going back into Duluth. But I kept going and luckily found a gas station before I ran out of gas, Whew. It seemed like I was heading out of town, then all of a sudden I hit a big commercial area with big box stores, auto dealer, restaurant and all the little stores you’d expect. I turned on Highway 194 and made it out of town.

This is where the drive is vastly different than going to Grand Marais. Going to Grand Marais you’re driving next to Lake Superior with beautiful panoramic views. There’s two magnificent tunnels, the Split Rock Lighthouse and many cascading rivers. But the trip to Remer is a whole lot of nothing. You’re traveling through the scrubby woodlands and marshy forests for the whole 90 miles. It just keeps going and going. Finally I made it to Remer, but it was after dark. I pulled into the Remer Motel and got a room. The Motel has about 15 rooms, with an apartment for the owner. I asked the owner what the best place around to get something to eat, and she recommended the Pub Inn, which is just out of town on Highway 200 going towards Walker.

Instead of going to the Pub Inn, I decided to go scout out the trail. I drove up to the Highway 4 Trailhead, northeast of town and locked up my bike there. This location would be about an 11 mile hike from the Highway 6 Trailhead where I was planning to start. I was planning on placing my van at Mable Lake Road, which would be a 16 mile hike from the Highway 6 trailhead. I placed my bike at Highway 4 to give me more options. If I wasn’t feeling well, or it was getting late in the day, I could hop on my bike and make it back to the van quicker.

Then I headed back to the Pub Inn. When you walk in the door, there is a bar area with tables, bar and some video games. After the bar area, there is a large room where there was about 20 people playing poker. There was about 4 tables of 5 people each. Then the end of the large room there is a stage area for bands to play on. It’s a nice set up. I pulled up to the bar and ordered a burger basket and a beer.

I was the only person at the bar. There was one lady playing the video poker, but the rest of the people were playing real poker. Soon a man who had lost in poker joined me at the bar. It just wasn’t his night. We had a nice little conversation. The Burger arrived accompanied by a rather large amount of fries. I started eating. I was pretty hungry, but the large amount of fries proved to be a challenge to finished. But I did, and then headed back to the Remer Inn.

The room was nice. The only room they had available was one with two beds. But that was perfect for me because I could lay out my gear on one bed and sleep in the other. The Room had a Microwave and Mini Fridge. I heated some water for the Thermaflu, and took a really hot bath, which I like doing when I have a cold. I turned in early because I knew I would be getting up early in the morning.