Superior Hiking Trail Thru
Having thoughts of doing a thru-hike of the SHT in Minnesota. What is the best time of the year for this adventure? Looking for great weather, beautiful nature, water availability, and the least amount of critters that buzz, bite, maul, or sting.
I am aware of the guide published by the SHT association, but I am looking for comments from folks that are familiar with the area.
Any other information about books, forums, blogs, etc. will also be appreciated.
Thank you!
Great weather is a crap shoot. The fall season is usually pretty nice, but short and can get quite cool to a lot of folks from warmer climes. The bugs tend to die down a bit in the fall, too. If you can time it to the leaf change I'm not sure you'll find a more beautiful place to be than the SHT.
Spring has very few bugs and you can see Ma Nature coming out of her winter slumber, but the trail is usually pretty wet and there's usually some snow to deal with until mid May.
Once the bugs come out in June, some parts of the trail can be pretty brutal in that regard. This year the bugs are especially bad.
Water should be plentiful just about any time depending on the weather. Spring is almost a sure thing for water, but the other seasons could be a little more spotty. Water is always available, you just may have to hike a little more in dry years to get to it.
The trail has a Yahoo Groups site at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hiker/ that's a little clunky to use, but is fairly active. They also have a Facebook page.
It's a beautiful trail.
If your lucky enough to be outdoors, your lucky enough!
Any day is a good day to be on the SHT.
Life is short. Can you leave today? If no; try for tommorrow.
Mid September is wonderful up there. A killing frost has usually knocked down the bugs but, the day time temps are pretty warm mostly.
"In your face space coyote"-HJS
Thanks for the very useful feedback. I joined the yahoo group, and it looks like I'll be planning my trip for September. You guys are sooo lucky to live nearby. I have an eight-hour car ride just to get to duluth, or twenty hours by greyhound.
just curious. Are you going to thru hike it south to north or north to south.
pros and cons on which way
'Classic.' A book which people praise and don't read.” ― Mark Twain
Who cares about showers, gourmet food, using flush toilets. Just keep on walking and being away from it all.
There are times that the only way you can do something is to do it alone.
This sounds pretty awesome. Make sure to upload your trip report when you are done. I would like to know how long it takes you and your food drop points.
This is good advice. If you hike North --> South and start mid-September, you hit Lutsen right at about peak color time for the sugar maples (in most years, don't know how things are this year).Originally Posted by Beast 71
There is rarely a shortage of water on the SHT, and this year there is a surplus. September should be drier.
Relish the journey.
--Kurt
I can assure you that July 4 sucked. My wife, dog and I attempted a thru then planning to average 10 miles per day. The temps were in the 80s-90s during the day and the bugs were unbelievably bad. Dog had over 150 ticks on him in the first two days, the mosquitoes (which swarmed by the hundreds) laughed at permethrine and deet and the deer flies were starting to come out. Despite months of planning and prep, we had to call it quits after 3 days (for the sake of the dog as well as our sanity). We were heading SOBO. PM me if you have any additional questions.
Travel Journal: http://clackstont100.weebly.com/
All depends on where you are and the weather. I was at Crosby Manitou over the 4th and no bugs to speak of. I haven't seen a single tick in the past two years on the trail. I was up last weekend and no bugs either. Not a single bug bite. Maybe I'm just lucky ??
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