The Best Day Yet

Today was the best day on the trail for a lot of reasons.  Sleeping in a bed with the blinds closed, I was able to sleep in a bit later (7:00 am, woo hoo!), and the breakfast at the hotel was awesome.  I only had a 16 mile hike planned for the day (never thought I'd say "only" and "16 miles" in the same sentence), so I enjoyed a cup of coffee and a newspaper before we headed out.  When we left the hotel it was raining, but at this point I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that it will be raining most of the time... Trying to be excited when it's sunny rather than mad when it's raining.

My dad dropped me off for the first 5 mile section of the hike, which consisted of lots of ups and downs over the ridge line.  I could tell that my marathon training had paid off on these climbs.  Now, they barely got my heart rate going or caused heavy breathing, whereas on some of my backpacking trips last year when I encountered similar hills, the only thought running through my head was "how are they going to get my dead body off the top of this hill when I have a heart attack at the top???"

At a road crossing around mile 5, I met up with my dad, who would be joining me for the next 3.5 miles on the hike.  As I sat in the car eating a granola bar while he got his boots on, it stopped raining!  As we climbed back up to the ridge line in "almost sunny" conditions, it was really nice to have some company.  I realized how fortunate I am to have my dad along on this trip.  As long as I can remember, my dad has been involved in and supportive of all my endeavors.  I'm truly lucky to have him as my dad.  (Case in point, as I was typing these last few sentences he just walked over and filled up my mug of wine)

After a few miles, we arrived at Bean and Bear Lakes, a pair of glacial lakes up in the hills.  As the guidebook promised, this was without a doubt the most scenic part of the trail I had yet encountered, and the fact that the weather had come around certainly helped things.  After taking a break above the lakes, dad took a side trail back to the car, and I continued on the SHT toward my next goal, Mt. Trudee.

Bean and Bear Lakes

As I descended from the ridge down into the Palisade Creek Valley, I could see Mt. Trudee looming in the distance.  The SHT follows the Sawtooth "Mountain" range along the north shore of Lake Superior, but I only considered what I had seen so far to be glorified hills.  Mt. Trudee, on the other hand, did look like a full blown mountain, and it certainly felt like it on the way up.  I thought I had seen the best view of the day overlooking Bean and Bear, but as I arrived at the summit of Mt. Trudee, I realized I was wrong.  With the song "Day After Day" by Boxelder playing on my headphones, I took in the view of a valley dotted with beaver ponds, the inland mountains, two glacial lakes, the shore of Lake Superior, and a 30 mile view of the Sawtooth Mountains that I would be traversing for the next few days.  Sitting at the top of this mountain and listening to this song, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace and joy to be where I was (get the song on iTunes and you'll see why it was perfect)

I went to the mountain...

As I slowly got up and returned to the trail, a cool breeze picked up, and I had a bad feeling that more rain was on the way.  Sure enough, within a few minutes the sky opened up.  But hey, at least I was right!  I started down Mt. Trudee for the final 4 mile stretch of the day.  I entered Tettegouche State park, where I would soon cross the Baptism River, just as the weather transitioned from rain to full on thunder and lightning storm.  I reached the river at the booming High Falls, which is the tallest water fall in Minnesota.  A few dozen feet upstream from the falls is a swinging metal bridge that I would have to walk across to get to the other side of the river.  An hour ago at the top of Mt. Trudee, I had felt like I was the master of the universe.  But as I hustled my way across a rickety metal bridge, above a roaring river and waterfall, in the middle of a lightning storm, I was quickly reminded that I was at God's mercy!

After another mile slog back to the car, dad and I headed north, stopped for dinner, and set up a new base camp at Temperance River State Park, which will be our home for the next few days.  In spite of inclement weather and sore legs, today truly was an awesome day.  Being able to share it with my dad, and to share it with each of you, makes it truly amazing!

Matt