By John Keefover of Keefography
SHT THRU-HIKE RECAP CHAPTER 3: DAY 7-9
Trip report from my Northbound Thru-Hike of the Superior Hiking Trail in June 2022.
In June of 2022 I Thru-Hiked the Superior Hiking Trail going Northbound. During the hike I filled 3 journals worth of notes, stories, trail conditions, and thoughts to be paired with photos take along the way. I enjoy sharing my adventures in hopes of inspiring others to get outside and experience it for themselves. For general information about the SHT itself see my other blog: HIKING AND BACKPACKING THE SHT. If you’re interested in planning your own trip on the SHT you should check out the SHT THRU-HIKE ITINERARY I wrote as well. For all of you gear nerds out there take a look at my GEAR LIST FOR THE SHT.
This is a more thorough Trip Report than the Itinerary I posted, and covers days 7-9 of the hike. To see the rest of the trip see the links below.
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CHAPTER 3: DAY 7-9
DAY 7: SATURDAY 6/18/22
Total Mileage: ~15.9 Miles. Crow Valley Campsite - South East Split Rock River Campsite. 2 tent pads. Water from river.
It was cold in the morning. Had to have been in the 40’s. The chill got me up right at 5 AM without my alarm even going off. I got ready quickly to warm up and get on the trail before the big group of people at the site. When I got onto the trail there was a tent and a hammock set up right at the entrance to the campsite. They must’ve got in late last night and saw how crowded the site was. The trail was sloppy again until I climbed up to Mike’s Rock. This marked overlook was grown in with not much of a view. Soon though I came to the Gooseberry River. It’s nice seeing the river up here where it’s calm and peaceful compared to further downstream where it tumbles and plunges into several iconic waterfalls.
Wildflowers and the moon with the winding Gooseberry River winding.
You could tell just how high and strong the river was this spring with the myriad of downed trees piling up everywhere. The riverbanks were also very eroded in several places where the trail once was. There was a lot of flooding this spring with the amount of snow and rain we had. Gradually the river got swifter until I reached Fifth Falls where I crossed the bridge to the other side. From this side there’s a nice straight-on view looking back at Fifth Falls. If you have time and haven’t been here before I definitely recommend checking out Upper & Lower Falls as well. They are amazing and you can get right up next to them. I’ve been countless times before though and it’s the most popular state park up here so I kept on walking. There’s a huge reroute from here to Split Rock Lighthouse State Park called the Gooseberry Gap. It the trail will be back open in 2023 but for now it follows the paved Gitchi Gami Trail along Lake Superior for 2 1/2 miles and then road walks up Blueberry Hill for another mile or so. A lot more road walking so far than I was expecting on this hike. My body definitely handles the the trail much more and so does my mind. Felt way more at ease once back in the woods. Back on the trail there some nice views while climbing Breadloaf Ridge. Off in the distance I could just barely see Crow Creek Valley where I camped at last night.
Fifth Falls on the Gooseberry Rivers.
Finally crossed State Park Property and came to the Split Rock River. It’s an incredible section filled with many waterfalls. I didn’t take many photos as I was just set on getting to camp at this point in the day. I was planning on staying at the SE site on the other side of the river. At one point I crossed by where that site was and saw a group of like 10 people and a tent set up already. I was pretty bummed but kept going in hopes there would be room there. This section is called a loop trail but the bridge at the top of the loop was destroyed in floods years ago. You can still cross the river but it keeps most of the day hikers away from the other side. The water was waist deep making it the deepest wet crossing of the trip but it’s not very wide.
Bridge out at the top of the Split Rock River Loop.
Once on the other side I got to my destination campsite and saw the group there still. Turns out they were just passing through though and I ended up just sharing the site with 1 other person who had the tent I saw earlier. Got to camp around 2 and relaxed the rest of the night away.
SE Split Rock River Campsite.
DAY 8: SUNDAY 6/19/22
Total Mileage: 12.4 Miles. South East Split Rock River Campsite - East Beaver River Campsite. 3 tent pads. Water from river.
Today is Father’s Day. Hopefully I get service somewhere to call him, but if not I’ll send him a text from my Garmin inReach Mini 2. I woke up at 5 AM after passing out at 5 PM last night! Definitely needed that sleep. I’m hoping this trip will help me reset and give me a normal sleep schedule compared to my usual night owl habits. It’s another very cold morning in the low 40s! I dreaded putting on the toe socks that were still soaking wet after the river crossing right before camp yesterday. Begrudgingly I was ready to hit the trail at 6 AM. Before I left I did a spot check to make sure I didn’t leave anything behind. I’m doing so I noticed the moon right across the campsite at the exact spot I had once shot the Milky Way a couple of years ago.
The moon from my campsite on the Split Rock River.
Up on the ridges here I had a fantastic view of Lake Superior and Split Rock Lighthouse off in the distance. Moments like this is when I do wish I had my camera. Phones just cannot zoom in without losing all quality. Would’ve liked to get a cropped in shot of the lighthouse with the moody sunrise behind it. Further down the trail it was funny passing by other campsites. People we still sleeping inside their tents and I’ve already put in over 6 miles on the day! I love waking up early and being on the trail before anyone else. I also loved the views of Fault Line Creek. The bog below was photogenic and there was a sliver of Lake Superior in the background.
Fault Line Creek and Lake Superior.
On this day I was supposed to meet my mom at the next trailhead in Beaver Bay. She actually hiked out to meet me along the trail before there which was nice! We walked to her car together where I resupplied for the next section. I was also craving real food so we decided to head into town and eat at Lemon Wolf Cafe where I had a big ole burger and side of chili! Then we headed over to the Green Door liquor store where I picked up a 4 pack of Duluth Cider for camp tonight. Even though I already hiked 12 miles it was only noon so it basically felt like I was taking a Nearo(near zero miles) today as it’s just another half mile to camp tonight along the Beaver River. 3 friends were planning on joining me there as well. I got the 4 pack of cider for all of us to share. My mom joined me for the short hike to campsite along the river. There’s a nice waterfall right there as well where we sat next to most of the time. Soon my buddies came by as well. John Schwager was the first to arrive and he actually made a video of his overnighter there which you can watch here: https://youtu.be/0dKqzX0CD20. Later another backpacking YouTuber, Rob Pelton, showed up and actually joined me for the next night as well. We’ll get to his video later! My Landscape Photography friend Matt Varin also got to camp at the same time as Rob. I shared my ciders with the boys while we all caught up with each other. I hadn’t seen John or Rob since we backpacked at the Porcupine Mountains last fall where you can watch John’s video here: https://youtu.be/4eqMktiLg9w. I hadn’t seen Matt in awhile either and he had literally just gotten out of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness after a 5 day canoe trip. We finished our drinks and went to our tents and hammocks around 10:30 which was pretty late for me so far on this trip.
My mom snapped this photo of me resupplying my food bag at her car with supplies I had given her before I started the hike.
DAY 9: MONDAY 6/20/22
Total Mileage: ~8 Miles. East Beaver River Campsite - East Palisade Creek Campsite. 4+ tent pads. Water from East Palisade Creek.
Penn Creek Waterfall in a mossy slot canyon.
This was to be my shortest mileage day on the trail at 8 miles so we took our time getting up around 7:30 AM which felt like sleeping in! After breaking down our camp I said goodbye to John & Matt. Rob went with them too but he just went to his car to move it to the next trailhead for Bean & Bear where he’ll join me again. Bean & Bear is the by far the most popular section of the SHT because of the incredible view you get of those two lakes from the main overlook, as well as from the towering cliffs running parallel to them. It’s pretty rugged with a lot of elevation though. Today was hot too. Real hot. Temps were to be in the upper 90’s and was already feeling it. I met Rob at the trailhead in Silver Bay and immediately asked if we could go grab some cold beverages in town. I slammed a Gatorade and filled my water bottle with another one for the hike in. We hit the trail and we’re both struggling a bit with the heat. We’ve both hiked this section many times before and yes even though this is a bit of a challenging hike, the humid heat made it extremely difficult. Everyone on the trail was really struggling too. A lot of people come to hike Bean & Bear after seeing it on Instagram or something and come pretty unprepared with only a one water bottle and no filter and improper clothing or footwear. Definitely need to stay hydrated today. We did run into Maps & Poptart on the trail right at Penn Creek where they were filtering water. We told them about the waterfall nearby downstream at the Penn Creek campsite and we went down there. The waterfall is in a little mossy slot canyon you can walk I’m right up to. It felt great in there too with cold water and it felt like a natural air conditioner as well. We hung out in there to cool off and filter water before we parted ways again.
Soon Rob & I got to the picturesque cliffs on the ridge above Bean Lake. The breeze up here felt great though it was still hot air and the sun was burning down on us on this exposed spot. We reached the main overlook and took a good long break in the shaded trees with an amazing view. We’re in no rush today with just a couple miles left to camp. We reached the Round Mountain campsite where we originally planned on staying for the night. It was very small and overgrown, looked like it’s hardly been used recently. The water source didn’t look great here as well with possible beaver activity. West Palisade Creek was in the same shape and has a crazy long spur trail to get there.
Bean & Bear overlook.
In between those two campsites was also the spur trail to Round Mountain. We both agreed it was too hot to hike up there for now, but that we would go back for sunset. Spoiler alert though: we didn’t. Instead we went straight to East Palisade Creek Campsite which is the best of the 3 campsites here by far. It’s big with lots of tent pads and trees to hang for Rob’s hammock. Palisade creek flows right past the site as well for water. Maps & Poptart were already here as well as a few other people. We talked for awhile about our trips, lives and how miserable the weather was. We’re all thinking about waking up early tomorrow to try to beat the heat again.
Round Mountain & Mount Trudee.
Trip Report from backpacking the 42 mile long Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Trail. It follows sandy beaches and dramatic cliffs along Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.