Superior Hiking Trail, out and back from Lake county road 301
Day 1
Started from Lake County Road 301 parking lot, five hours and twenty minutes to reach (13.4 miles) to West Gooseberry
Beginning had a number of marsh areas, feet got wet. Not a lot of things to see. A few grouse though. After parking lot I didn’t think reaching Gooseberry campsite would happen, too tire and slow. Dinner really improved spirits and gave us an energy boost. Last 3.4 miles started with hard up hills before leading to a very, very long march crossing. We didn’t know if we missed Mike’s rock. Setup camp while Anna collected firewood. Tried to clean off in the river and got even dirtier (clay). Eat green beans, beef jerky. Nice fire, sans taps.
Day 2
Started from West Gooseberry campsite, six hours and thirty-six minutes (12.6 miles) to SW Split Rock River
Up at 6:45am, got water. Pump didn’t work so had to use tablets. Started fire. Anna up at 7:00am. Eat breakfast. On trail by 9:30am after fishing. Made a few stops to look for agates, found some really nice ones. Made good time down Gooseberry river. Stopped at the road and got bad news, I missed the campsite on my distance chart and it will add 1.6 miles to today – if we make Splitrock campsite. My feet hurt really bad, last night they were a little white fro water. Made good time to Blueberry hill where we had lunch. We both aired out our feet and changed socks. Next few miles were nice with best view of the trip, on ridge overlooking Lake Superior. A few marshy areas but overall not too bad. Reach sign at the bridge, said 1.6 miles to campsite. Anna basically ran. Unfortunately it turned out to be nearly 2.0 miles. Steep up hills next to the river but up and down. We saw the site we stayed at last year??? Site was okay but not right on the river. Setup camp in record time, Anna was a big help and did her part without assistance. Did more fishing (no luck). Nice campfire/dinner. Took a hike upstream before bed. Beat Anna in Uno three times. COLD NIGHT, Anna had to get in my sleeping bag at one point
Day 3
Started from SW Split Rock River campsite, 16.0 miles) to Crow Creek Valley
Felt good in the morning. Got dressed and made inside hot breakfast. On the trail by 8:30am. Anna slipped after about 10 minutes and got her glove and sleeve wet. We were slower to the bridge. Next leg it began snowing. There were more marshes than I remembered. Made it to Gooseberry in good time. We decided to not have lunch at the visitors center (Anna) and eat under a tree at 5th falls. Cold but gave us a chance to change socks (very wet feet). Trail to West Gooseberry was very wet. Planned to have a long break but someone was there so we continued another five minutes and ate/took a break under a tree. Last 3.7 miles included mostly uphill and one stretch was a 0.5 mile long marsh. Mike’s rock was a good view, looks like clouds are lifting. My feet really hurt the last 1.3 miles. We walked past the campsite (sign hard to see) and added about four minutes to the day. Setup camp, made a big fire, and relaxed. Ate dinner and dried shoes, socks, and Anna’s pants. Took a walk (Anna’s request) and called it a night.
Day 4
Started from Crow Creek Valley campsite, (10.0 miles) to Lake County Road 301 parking lot
Hiked back to the car.
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