Superior Hiking Trail, Minnesota

Superior Hiking Trail

Erik Kaitala ran the completed portion of the Superior Hiking Trail (205 miles) in 4d3h43m in 2005.

The Superior Hiking Trail runs 205 miles following the NW shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. It is a beautiful and rugged, mostly single track trail. The Superior Sawtooth 100 mile race, and a couple of shorter races, use this trail.

The Superior Trail is not yet complete. Eventually, it will be about 300 miles long, running from the Wisconsin border to Canada. So far, around 205 miles of the northern section of trail, from Two Harbors, have been completed and linked. Another 40 miles of trail runs through Duluth, but the two sections have not yet been joined. As with most of these long trails, volunteer efforts can help with construction and maintenance of the route! Andy Holak anticipates that the trail may be completed in about 2012.

Andy Holak attempted an ulta-runner style, supported speed record on the existing Superior Trail in June of 2005. Unfortunately, Andy had to quit after only 40 miles due to an injury. Kurt Decker also made an attempt in 2005, but stopped after 135 miles.

Erik Kaitala was familiar with both previous record attempts. He explains his speed record as follows:

My attempt in 2005 was based on knowing Andy and Kurt and some issues they had in completing the trail. I want to say that Andy was shooting for 3 days and Kurt had 4 days alloted to finish. In Kurt's case, he had work and other commitments that he needed to get back for and seeing that it wasn't going to happen, he pulled the plug. I was with Kurt when he dropped. Seeing that they did not complete the trail I figured I would give myself 5 full days and that proved to be the difference I think... The SHT runs along the North Shore of Lake Superior and knowing pretty well all of the southern 2/3 of the trail, I decided to start on the southern end thinking it would be easier mentally to finish on sections I had never done. It coincidentally worked out best as the northernmost sections were the least runnable and I wasn't running at all the last 75 miles. My wife, Denise, drove a small RV from trailhead to trailhead and acted as a mobile aid station. Without her, it never would have happened. -- Erik Kaitala, 10 July 2008


Travis Wildeboer, of Winter Park, CO, did the completed 205 miles of the SHT in 4d15h20m unsupported, in May 2009. Wildeboer's splits as follows:

May 9: 41.3 miles. Started at 6 a.m. Finished at Kimball Creek campsite at 7:42 p.m.
May 10: 35.3 miles. Started at 6:04 a.m. Finished at Spruce Creek campsite at 7:58 p.m.
May 11: 44.1 miles. Started at 5:00 a.m. Finished at Crystal Creek campsite at 8:52 p.m.
May 12: 42.0 miles. Started at 4:48 a.m. Finished at East Palisade Creek campsite at 9:25 p.m.
May 13: 47.7 miles. Started at 4:30 a.m. Finished at southern terminus at 9:20 p.m.

Here is Wildeboer's complete report:

I crewed Andrew [Thompson] on his second Appalachian Trail record attempt and Jonathan [Basham] on his Colorado Trail record. This is where I became curious to see if I could link together big days. I wasn't prepared to attempt something at the level of these men, but I felt the Superior Hiking Trail would be a good challenge.

I have always wanted to through hike the Superior Hiking Trail but work and time restraints made this difficult. I through hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2000 and reached the summits of all 54 14,000 foot peaks in Colorado in 2001 -- but always with friends. This would be my first attempt at completing something completely self-supported.

During a return trip to my hometown of Cedar Falls, Iowa, I scheduled time to attempt an unsupported record of the Superior Hiking Trail. To my best knowledge, there was no recorded unsupported record of the Superior Hiking Trail, so my plan was to go out and give it all I had.

On May 8, 2009, my friend, Kyle Klingman, drove me to the northern terminus of the Superior Hiking Trail. We arrived at the terminus late at night in the rain and snow so I decided to sleep in the passenger seat of Kyle's Ford Focus. This was not a good idea.

After a restless night of sleep and scrambling to decide what to bring and what not to bring on the hike, I started my record attempt on May 9, 2009 at 6:00 a.m. I started the hike carrying seven days of food with the goal of finishing in six days. The guide book I used was the 2007 edition of the "Ridge Line Press Guide to the Superior Hiking Trail". This guide book has the trail at a total of 210.4 miles. I divided this into six days equaling 35.06 miles per day.

Day One: I hiked the first day through snow flurries and cooler temperatures. I reached the lake walk 35 miles into the hike around 5:30 p.m. and was still feeling okay. I spoke with some college-aged hikers who were hiking north and they said there were some good campsites around the Kadunce River. I decided to keep hiking until 7:42 p.m. where I arrived at Kimball Creek campsite -- 41.3 miles into the trail. It was at this point I decided I could hike the trail in 5 days if I averaged 42.08 per day.

Day Two: I started hiking at 6:04 a.m. with my body feeling good. Sunny skies and warmer temperatures, but the trail was still very wet and muddy. I started to see more blown down trees from a March storm the farther south I hiked. There were piles of wolf scat and deer remains about every mile. I made it 35.3 miles to Spruce Creek campsite at 7:58 p.m.

Day Three: I started the third day at 5:00 a.m. hoping to raise my spirits when I reached the half way point of the trail. I had ran a 50 kilometer race near the Lutsen Ski area so I was looking forward to some familiar trail. I was motivated when I checked the Lake Agnus Trail register and saw there were some through hikers up ahead. Up to this point it was a very lonely hike. The sun came out, not sure of the temp, but it was pretty warm. I had a great view on top of Britton Peak of Lake Superior. I finished day three at Crystal Creek campsite at 8:52 p.m. by covering 44.1 miles.

Day Four: Started day four at 4:48 a.m. just before the rain began to fall. With my right shin beginning to swell and a blown down tree every 20 yards from Crobsy-Manitou State Park to Finland Recreation Area, my pace felt like a crawl. When I arrived at the beaver dam before County Rd 6 I saw some northbound hikers. once again, it was good to see people.

After climbing Mount Trudee to the sound of wolves howling, I ended my day at East Palisade Creek campsite, finishing 42 miles at 9:25 p.m. I soaked my feet in the creek and ate the majority of my food. I sent Kyle Klingman a text message asking him to drive up from Minneapolis to the southern terminus. I had 47.7 miles remaining and wanted to finish the following day.

Day Five: I set my alarm for 3 a.m. but slept right through it. Fortunately it started raining at 3:50 a.m. and I was awakened by the rain. When I first put my shoes on and stood up the bottoms of my feet were really sore. Since I knew I wasn't going to need my sleeping pad anymore I used my insole as a template and cut some new insoles out of the pad. This made all the difference in the world and my shoes felt brand new. I started hiking at 4:30 a.m.

The sun came out around noon and I saw a few more hikers. By this point my right shin was really swollen and I had developed some "cankles." With 16 miles left at Gooseberry Falls State Park, I had one Clif bar remaining. I only ate half of it, saving other half for Castle Danger. The sun went down as I crossed the Encampment River and I hiked the last miles by headlamp to County Road 301. This is what the guide book called the southern terminus. I finished at 9:20pm.

I celebrated the finish with a Gatorade and ride in Kyle's Ford Focus. His seat was more comfortable than I had remembered.

I finished my unsupported hike of the Superior Hiking Trail in 4 days 15 hours and 20 minutes. The trail was far tougher than I had imagined. I have a new found respect for Jonathan Basham, Andrew Thompson, David Horton, and other speed hikers who have made similar attempts.
-- Travis Wildeboer, 21 May 2009

Wildeboer also provided his gear and food list for the trip:
FoodGear
6 Lipton noodle packsLowe Alpine Vision 40 pack
6 ramen noodle packspack cover
2 pkg tortillasWestern Mtneering 5 degree bag
1 jar peanut butterfoam sleeping pad
1 block cheesePetzl head lamp
12 packets oatmealKatadyn water filter bottle
10 Clif barsOzark Trail rain fly
10 Odwalla barscat food can alcohol stove
5 Met-Rx meal barsTi pan, plastic spoon
knife
tooth brush & paste
Marmont rain jacket
Sierra Designs rain pants
Capilene LS & SS shirts
2 pr Wigwam socks
Montrail Hardrock shoes
cell phone
guide book



Alicia Hudelson set the female FKT for the SHT at 4d17h26m (supported), starting at the northern terminus at 5:11 a.m. on May 23, 2009, and finishing at 10:37 p.m. on May 27. Her complete report is here. Hudelson had relatively little ultra experience prior to this trip, having done the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim-to-rim (47 miles), the 55-mile Courmayuer-Champex-Chamonix race, and 70 miles of the Grand Union Canal race.