Superior Hiking Trail Trip

We have a date!!!

Our first trip together as a group has been planned. We will backpack on the Superior Hiking Trail from Tettegouche State park and northeastwards from there from Friday to Sunday. Wendy and Mike have graciously offered to be our guides, so all of us newbies are in extremely capable hands.

Tettegouch Park is 58 miles northeast of Duluth on Hwy 61.

Tettegouche State Park is full for Friday night. Here are the alternate camping
arrangements for Friday night:

Finland Sate Forest Campground
(218) 226-6365
1st come 1st serve, $11/ night
self-registration required via envelopes with your camping fee
enclosed at the campground.

Directions: Take Hwy 61 N out of Duluth past Silver Bay and
Tettegouche State Park.
Left on Hwy 1 to Finland
Take Cty Rd 6 east (right turn) 0.5 mi
Campground on RHS.

If the Campground is full we will have to resort to staying
overnight in one of the parking lots for the SHT. The lot is in
the Finland Recreation Center 1.3 miles east of Finland on Lake
Cty Rd 7 (Cramer Rd.) past the ball field.

All of the campsites on the superior hiking trail are 1st come
1st serve but you have to make room for others as they arrive.
Some members have books that break down the sections into better detail, but according to our fearless leaders, Mike and Wendy,
for Minnesota this trail gives the most bang for the buck.
There are some very beautiful falls right in the park that the
hiking trail goes right by, so if you leave early on Saturday morning,
you will get to see a very beautiful sight. A guy at Midwest
Mountaineering talked to Wendy and thought it would be a good section for
beginners to tackle.

The SHT is a through trail and does not circle back on itself
so either you get to hitch hike back or someone can leave a car
or 2 at a trail head where we plan on stopping and can shuttle
back that way. We can figure out these details later.

Please note in your RSVP whether or not you want to be a driver or a carpool rider, and how many extra people and gear you can take in your vehicle.

THE FOLLOWING SECTION CONTAINS SERIOUS AND NON-FUN INFO FROM YOUR GENERALLY FUN AND NON-SERIOUS ORGANIZER:
"Guest" RSVP options have been eliminated, as I just don't think it is reasonable to expect anyone to be stuck in the woods for 3 days with a mystery person. It is very easy to sign up on Meetup.com, so if a guest wants to come, they just need to quickly sign up like the rest of us did. Also, children are not welcome on backpacking trips. Sorry, but unless someone really wants to lead a family-type backpacking trip, this just won't work with the group.

Following the RSVP process properly will be very important on these trips. We need to plan for exactly how many people and abilities will be on a trip, and this is no easy task. We all understand that emergencies arise, but please be fair to your group members and be serious when committing to an RSVP. I urge you to sign up early so that we can plan for your participation, even if you must sign up as a "maybe" until you figure out your schedule. You will need to change your "maybe" to a "yes" or "no" within a reasonable time frame of the trip date, or you will get bombed with annoying emails from me until you do. We will not be able to add people at the last minute, because much preparation and communication will have been missed by that point. It simply will be too much hassle to try to plan around people who can't manage their schedules and plan ahead just a little bit.
THAT ENDS THE SERIOUS, NON-FUN ANNOUNCEMENT. ;o) Now, back to your silly selves, please.

This event will be updated and notices will go out as details emerge. Feel free to use the "email group" or message board feature or communicate with each other directly to work out details. Some members will need to rent packs from REI and borrow tents and whatnot, so please feel free to communicate whatever info you may have or need. This is a learning process, and email and the message board are the perfect tools. Don't be shy! This is YOUR Meetup and we are here to make it a great time for all of us!

See you on the trail!