Fall on the Superior Hiking Trail - a Minnesota tradition
(For a photo tour of The Superior Hiking Trail in the fall by Zach, click HERE)
I think if you ask the typical outdoor-minded Minnesotan what his or her favorite season is, the vast majority of them would honestly answer autumn.
Sure, we like to brag about how we thrive in the winter, braving the sub-zero temperatures by skiing and winter camping. Some of us may claim to breathe a sigh of relief when those first spring showers come, making the leaves bud and rivers flow.
Many others will even claim to enjoy summer the best, saying since it’s so short we really need to appreciate it.
But when it comes right down to it, no season is more Minnesotan than autumn. It’s that transitional season between summer and winter - you can be swimming at the beginning and skiing at the end.
Yes, you may be able to say the same about spring (in reverse) but autumn has a couple of things that spring cannot boast.
First, the various hunting seasons happen in autumn, letting us chase those deer, grouse, bear, etc. that we have been monitoring all summer.
My personal favorite thing about autumn, however, is that it turns our hiking trails into cool, bug-free corridors of hyper-Technicolor! Things just look better in the fall - heck, they feel better, sound better, even SMELL better (are there any better smells than dry leaves and wood smoke???).
And even though the peak color season only lasts a few short weeks, it is indeed, what most Minnesotans would consider, the best time of the entire year.
So when the leaves start turning in late September I make plans to spend the next month on the Superior Hiking Trail.
Now, I know what you’re thinking - this website has only been in existence for about a month and so far I’ve written about the SHT about 90 percent of the time. Trust me, I DO go other places, but this time of year, I live on my favorite trail!
Autumn on the SHT is actually three distinct seasons. First, is the “maple” season when you can enjoy the blazing oranges and reds. Next come the yellows of the birch and poplar. Finally, it’s the “see-through” season when all the leaves have finally been blown away and you can see vast distances through the forests.
Last weekend I began the season, climbing four iconic peaks within the two days. The colors weren’t at full power yet, but they’re getting there. I really can’t wait to hit the trail this weekend with my boys and some friends from work. There’s just something about bringing people into the woods amongst amazing color to get them excited about the outdoors.
The best part of fall color hiking on the SHT is that there are countless mountains to climb which give you fantastic vistas of these colorful forests. Not only do you get the reds, oranges, yellows and greens, but many also mix in the blue of Lake Superior and smaller inland lakes. It’s pretty close to a full rainbow out there!
I expect many of you are now chomping at the bit to get out on the trail this weekend and expect me to tell you some great places to go. Alas, the classic conundrum of an outdoors writer. You want to get people outside, but not give away these special places so they become too crowded.
I think what I’ll do right now is tell you about some places that already get somewhat heavy traffic (mostly because they ARE so spectacular) yet leave you with the knowledge that there are many more amazing places up and down Superior’s north shore where you can have amazing vistas all to yourself. That way it will whet your appetite and hopefully inspire you to explore and find your own hidden gems.
The first place I will mention is a double-header: Oberg and Leveaux Mountains near Lutsen. I will be hiking these two peaks on Saturday, just as I have every year since 1997. The maple forests you view from the tops of these two peaks are just jaw-dropping. But , like I said, these two are very popular - actually, scratch that - Oberg is popular. The parking lot is located between the two mountains, but the vast majority of hikers hike Oberg and forget about Leveaux (which I believe is the prettier of the two).
The difference is that while the hike around Oberg’s summit is a mile-and-a-half, it is about a three-mile hike to the top of Leveaux and back. My strategy has always been to hike Leveaux first, have lunch on one of the summit vistas and then head over to Oberg late in the day when the crowds have diminished. The light is better for photography later in the day as well. In 15 years, this strategy has yet to steer me wrong!
Next - Mount Trudee in Tettegouche State Park. This is the other hike I absolutely do every year. No excuses! It’s about a seven-mile round trip from Tettegouche’s trail center but worth every step. This hike features the infamous “drainpipe” a steep climb almost straight up a cliff with a tight squeeze near the top. When you finally make it to the summit of Trudee you are rewarded with colorful maple and birch forests, Lake Superior on one side and three smaller lakes on the other. Keep a watch out for migrating raptors riding the thermals on their way south.
Okay, I’ll let you know one more essential autumn hike - Carlton Peak in Temperance River State Park. I hiked this three-mile round trip from the Britton Peak trailhead last weekend, and am seriously thinking about hiking it again. This mountain is quite near Oberg and Leveaux and shares the same maple/birch combination. In fact, if you time it right, you can view the Superior National Forest “rainbow effect” where a strip of orange borders a strip of green bordering a strip of yellow, etc., far off into the distance. This is another popular hike, but, like I said, I can’t give away ALL my secrets.
To get directions to these and other trailheads, visit the Superior Hiking Trail website at www.shta.org. Better yet, pick-up a copy of THE GUIDE TO THE SUPERIOR HIKING TRAIL. It’s a great guidebook that details every section of this great trail. That way you can waste time at work staring at maps, planning trips and daydreaming…
So there are some hikes for you to start off with. Remember, the peak color season doesn’t last long - you’d better ditch whatever plans you had for this weekend, lace-up your boots, grab the kids and get over to the Shore! Just remember an empty memory card and extra batteries for your camera. Then email your shots to us here at Minnesota North Outdoors!
As for me, it’s time to shut-off this laptop. I’ve got a backpack to load!
In : Hiking
Tags: superior hiking trail leaves fall hike oberg leveaux trudee
Zach Johns is an alpine skier, backpacker, paddler and all-around nature lover who lives on Minnesota‘s Iron Range. Originally from Osceola, Wis., Johns attended the University of Minnesota-Duluth so he could ski every day and be close to the trails of his beloved North Shore. There, he earned a degree in Communication and was editor of the student newspaper. However, the real education he gained at UMD was in honing his outdoor skills. He took courses in subjects such as backpacking, winter camping, rock climbing and canoe tripping. By the time he graduated, that was all he wanted to do. In January of 1997, he moved to the Range where he met a group of die-hard skiers dedicated to making turns at Giants Ridge every single day of the winter (when they weren’t out skiing the big mountains of the west.) Throughout the late nineties he built a very impressive ski resume, taking several trips to Utah, Montana, Wyoming, California, British Columbia and Alaska. During the off-season, he took to the hiking trails. In 1997, he hiked the entire Superior Hiking Trail during the single season (what had been completed until that time) and in following years, took trips to Yosemite, Glacier and the Grand Canyon. He also made two attempts to climb King’s Peak, the highest mountain in Utah, but failed to summit both times. In 1999, he attempted the infamous 43-mile Kekekabic Trail through the heart of the BWCA and limped out after only ten miles with a hernia. He did finally complete the Kek in 2005, during one of the hottest weeks on record. Besides hiking, he also continued dabbling with paddling, making several canoe trips to the BWCA and became an enthusiastic (yet very novice) whitewater kayaker. He is now a father of two sons, Nick and Jackson, who accompany their father on nearly all his adventures. Both were skiing fairly soon after they could stand and from 2006-2011, the three hiked in every state park in Minnesota, 195 miles of hiking in 65 parks. Since becoming a dad, Johns has suddenly realized that you can’t just be out there skiing, hiking, paddling, etc. without also working to protect the very things you love. With that in mind, he founded an adventure club at work to get co-workers outside who might not otherwise be inspired to go. The club has gone on hiking, paddling, winter camping and cycling trips and annually go on a trash pick-up hike to celebrate Earth Day. He believes that once you get people out into beautiful wild places, the more likely they will be to protect them. He has also done a lot of volunteer work for the Superior Hiking Trail Association including adopting a backcountry campsite which he and the boys maintain twice a year. It is of extreme importance, he believes, to introduce children to the outdoors early. Not only is it good for them, but they will be the ones protecting these places once we are gone. Future plans? There are a few local goals to check-off including hiking the Border Route Trail in the BWCA and Isle Royale. Mostly, it’s just to take the boys hiking and camping in more of our national parks, skiing the big western mountains, and more of their usual seasonal cycle: Giants Ridge in the winter, Superior’s North Shore in the spring, South Shore in the summer and back to the North Shore in the fall.
