Day 4, October 2, 2021
It is becoming increasingly evident to myself that I am just not a morning person. I struggled again to get up and out of my tent. It doesn’t help that the sun is rising later so it doesn’t even start to get light out until after 6:30am.
I had a mostly great day today. There were so many beautiful spots along the trail that overlooked big forests with patches of colors. So many gorgeous oranges, reds, yellows, and greens in the canopies. I feel stunned by the beauty of these forests every time.
I took a spur trail that parallels the main trail, but on the other side of the Cascade River. There are often wooden plank walkways that are placed over the trail to protect it from foot traffic and erosion. But the rain from the night before left these planks very slick. My feet slipped while walking across one of these boardwalks and I completely ate it. I fell forward and there was another plank in front of me that was raised a bit higher than the one that I slipped on. I broke my fall entirely on my ribs on this other plank. I laid there in defeat for a moment, worried that I just did something really stupid that would affect the fate of my hike. As I pushed myself up, I realized that it was only my pride that was hurt. While my ribs were a little sore from the fall, they didn’t feel tender and didn’t hurt at all when I took a few deep breaths. I felt awash in relief.
Lookout Mountain, a popular destination for Cascade River State Park visitors, was stunning. The forest canopy was a mosaic of greens and yellows, interrupted by an occasional red or orange leafed tree. There were quite a few people here when I got there. I was lucky to get there when I did as I had a great view. But the clouds soon rolled in, covering up any other views for the day.
It lightly drizzled towards the end of the day and then tapered off to a thick mist. But as I got to the Mystery Mountain campsite, it started to rain for real. So far, I have been able to stay dry inside my tent. Except for the condensation. Every campsite along this trail is right next to a water source, which is great for retrieving water. But it means that tent condensation is near unavoidable. I wouldn’t normally camp so close to water for this reason, but I am following the SHTA’s rules and sticking to the designated campsites, as camping anywhere else is prohibited.
I had been feeling a little frustrated with how I was hiking. I thought I was moving along at a good, fast pace, equal to what I had been doing on the PCT, but with less miles to do each day. But I still felt rushed and struggled to make it to our chosen campsite before nightfall. When I finally put together the reason, I felt a mixture of relief and foolishness. It was later in the year, the sun was just rising later and setting earlier. I simply didn’t have the same number of daylight hours in the Fall as I did over the Summer.
Day 5, October 3, 2021
When I woke up this morning, my tent was soaked inside and out. It was overcast most of the day, but I was still able to dry my tent out a little bit when I took a lunch break on top of Carleton Peak. It was much the same today, more stunning views and beautiful trail. There was a bit more elevation gain and loss. I noticed that the SHT maintainers sure do like their stairs. Instead of making switchbacks in the trail, they just put a wooden staircase over steep sections. For much of the day, I felt like I was on a stair climber with the most beautiful view.
The Temperance river was very cool to see. There were some deep and narrow gorges where the water had sliced through the tough lava rock. The water was tinged yellow. Though it looks unappetizing and has a slight odor even after filtering, it is still perfectly safe to drink. The color and smell are caused by the tannins from the leaves decomposing in the water. Tannins are not harmful, although they don’t taste very good.
We made it past 100 miles on the trail! We are about one third of the way done with our hike. We camped at Dyers Creek, at approximately mile 108. X and I had a nice, easy conversation while we ate our dinners and it felt good.
Day 6, October 4, 2021
I had my earliest start on trail so far: 7:15am. I began hiking just as the sun was rising. I hadn’t even realized I had been missing the sunrises the past several days with how overcast it has been. It was so beautiful, and it motivated me through the short, yet steep, climb out of Dyers Creek.
We had a nice break in the weather today and it was warm and sunny. I had a chance to really dry out my tent. The warmth also brought out the reptiles and I saw six garter snakes. It was another day of a lot of up and down and, of course, the SHT’s favorite, stairs. At least everything was dry and the boardwalks and stairs weren’t slippery. I have been extra cautious walking across these since I slipped and fell. It was nice to be able to walk along them with more confidence.
We camped at Leskinen Creek, roughly 135 miles along the trail. There were three other hikers there already, two brothers and one of their kids. They were nice, although the conversation between them and X was boisterous and went from repeated stories from X I had already heard five times, to hunting and blowing things up. I quickly lost interest, but the men didn’t notice my disengagement. I wasn’t bothered though, as this allowed me to retreat to my tent earlier and enjoy the quiet of the night.
It was clear and the stars were out. Again, I hadn’t realized I’d been missing them with how overcast or rainy the last few days have been. But it was so peaceful looking up and seeing the inky black sky full of shimmering stars, the vastness of space.
Day 7, October 5, 2021
I am so glad I enjoyed the sunrise yesterday while I had the chance. The clouds rolled in overnight and soaked everything. The fog/rain and the condensation from having to sleep so close to rivers or ponds was a brutal combination for my tent. Luckily I’ve been able to dry it out well enough each day. But today we are headed into town, Silver Bay, so I am not so worried about it.
The trail was shrouded in mist for most of the day, so I didn’t get to see the sunrise. There were still plenty of great overlooks with fantastic views of the color changing forest. I was beginning to see less green and more reds and oranges among the leaves. I passed by the “Glacial Erratic,” exactly how this point of interest is marked on the map. It is a large boulder in the middle of the forest, a remnant of the ice age where glaciers picked up rocks and then deposited them far from their origin. Large, solitary boulders like this one can look so out of place.
It was still cloudy, but the mist lifted in the midafternoon and I had a great view of Bear and Bean Lakes. There were quite a bit more people on this popular section of trail with its proximity to the trailhead in Silver Bay. I passed by these other hikers, eager to get to town. I met X at the Northwood Family Grille. We split some cheese curds for an appetizer. We’re in the Midwest and I’m pretty sure it’s mandated by law to order cheese curds at every possible meal. I was so happy to see they had beyond burgers here. I ate one covered in teriyaki sauce, mushrooms, and cheese. I was so happy. It was a good way to celebrate reaching the halfway point. We had made it just beyond this point at about mile 157.5.
We did our resupply shopping at the market in the same shopping center as the restaurant. Then we found a room at the Mariner Motel. We were sharing a room and splitting the cost. It was good to save money, but I wasn’t thrilled about sharing such private quarters with X. But the motel room was bigger than I thought. It was actually two rooms separated by a door, each with their own bed. It was the perfect setup. I took a shower and then took our laundry back down the road to the laundromat. It was hard to locate at first because it looks like it’s part of an abandoned auto shop. I had to visit a few different places to find enough quarters. And then the laundry took longer than I expected. I was tired and just wanted to enjoy the motel bed for as long as I could. But clean clothes are always worth the wait.
Day 8, October 6, 2021
It was so lovely to wake up in a warm comfy bed, completely dry. Especially since, by taking a peek out the window, I could see that it had rained overnight. For breakfast, I ate my yogurt and fruit that I bought yesterday from the market. We checked out of the Mariner Motel around 7:30am and walked back through town to get back to the trail by 8am.
The day started off cloudy and cool. I saw some really great wildlife along the trail. A pair of Pileated Woodpeckers flew through the woods from tree to tree. I saw three river otters splashing around in Beaver Creek before they ran up the bank and into the trees. I found a garter snake and a warty toad among the leaves. And there was a Bald Eagle that flew out of the trees and over the river. I’ve seen my share of wildlife the past week, but they were especially abundant today.
The heavy morning fog began to lift as I walked into Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. I was once again able to see stunning views of the forest canopies in their mosaics of autumn colors. The fog continued to lift and finally broke as the afternoon wore on. The dour gray clouds were replaced with bright blue sky. Continuing through the park, I had to cross a river where the bridge had blown out. It took a little bit longer than I expected to find a point where I felt I could cross safely. I had to walk off trail up the river farther than I would have thought, for such a popular area, until I got to a narrower point with large boulders I could hop across. Then I had to climb up a steep bank to get back to the trail. It made me think that I must have missed something. How were other people crossing this river?
It was fairly quiet on the trail today. There were a couple of people early in the morning and a few in the park, but overall, it felt like a ghost town out here. I had gotten used to seeing people so often on this trail that their absence was hard to ignore. Perhaps the downed bridge kept people away?
The trail joined with the Gitchi-Gami State Trail, a paved recreational trail, for about two miles. Gitchi-gami is the Ojibwe name for Lake Superior and means “Big sea.” It was nice to walk along this trail for a bit. Pavement allowed me to zone out since I didn’t need to focus on navigating over terrain. It was a nice mental break. The trail entered Gooseberry Falls State Park. I hiked alongside the river and got to see the sun sink below the trees and light up the clouds in a beautiful sunset. The stars came out which was lovely as, once again, the weather is not expected to be in our favor.
I received an email today from a job I had interviewed with just before starting trail. They wanted to set up a second interview, ideally for tomorrow. With some last-minute scrambling and pleas for help on facebook, I was set to head into Two Harbors tomorrow afternoon for this second interview.
Day 9, October 7, 2021
I was nervous about making it to the meeting point to get into town on time, so I woke up extra early and started hiking at 6:40am. While I was quite impressed with myself for overcoming my aversion to early mornings, it proved unnecessary as the trail was really smooth and I cruised along it just fine. I made it to the trailhead parking area with plenty of time to spare. My timeliness was rewarded with a sighting of a Red Fox when I got there. Although it was foggy this morning, by afternoon it had all burnt off and left a clear blue sky. I was able to dry out my tent under the warm sun while we waited for the Trail Angel to come pick us up.
I had told X that I needed to head into Two Harbors for this job interview and had arranged a ride for myself. He decided to tag along saying he never missed an opportunity to get town food when on trail. I didn’t feel like I could tell him to not come, he’s an adult after all, but I was a little miffed. Things hadn’t improved between us, which meant that it just kept getting worse. We clearly were not compatible and it seemed like we were merely tolerating each other’s presence at this point. My having to leave trail for a couple hours was the perfect, drama-free opportunity for us to split. He would be able to hike ahead during the time I would lose and I wouldn’t be able to catch up. I was confused that the promise of a couple slices of pizza was really enough for him to willingly stay together, despite how unpleasant it had become.
The Trail Angel took us into town, about a 15 minute car ride. Once again, I was shunted to the backseat. We were dropped off at the brewery in the middle of this small town. I had asked for advice on where a good spot to take this video interview would be and was directed to the brewery. I was a little doubtful, but the people said it had good Wi-Fi and would be quiet in the middle of the afternoon. So, I trusted them and got set up there. It turned out to be quite disastrous. I spent some time in the bathroom washing the dirt off my face and braiding my sweaty hair, but it was impossible to transform myself into anything remotely professional looking. I had a nice quiet spot picked out and sat reviewing questions until my interview time. Three minutes before they were supposed to call, a young family with a crying baby sat just across from me. I scrambled to find somewhere quieter. When they finally called, I learned that the microphone on my trail-battered headphones didn’t work anymore. I had to use my phone’s mic and speakers. I became so aware of just how noisy this place really was and how bad I must have sounded, plus I could hardly hear them. I felt like I answered their questions well, but that didn’t matter. I knew the disastrous, disorganized image I had presented of myself just ruined any chance I had at getting offered the job. Ah well, you live and you learn.
The same Trail Angel picked us back up and brought us to the same spot on trail. I was so grateful to her and thanked her profusely for being able to help me out in a pinch. We only had about six miles left of hiking until our campsite for the day, Stewart River. We passed mile 200 today. Less than 100 more to go! It feels crazy how fast this trail has gone by and that I’ll be finished in just a few days.
I started my period today. As usual for me, this came as a surprise. It was my first period I have had since April, near the start of my PCT hike. There were a few spots of blood in my underwear and shorts. I used a fallen leaf, damp from the morning fog, to wipe them clean. Surprisingly, this was a successful method and no stains remained on my clothes.
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