Superior Hiking Trail
Map 1 - Section 14
Hartley Nature Center to Martin Rd.
Date Hiked: May 4th, 2025
Other Sections Hiked That Day: Map 1 - Section 12, Map 1 - Section 13
I didn't know it yet, but this was a sign that I wasn't going to enjoy Map 2 nearly as much as the first.
After leaving Hartley Nature Center, making the decision to not get back in my car from there and instead venture further, perhaps with some notion of determined completionism that is both a blessing and a curse. Most of what I loved about this trail to this point became less abundant, instead replaced by trail with less maintenance, overgrowth, road crossings with confusing entry points, and high brown grass from trails for snowmobiles.
Knowing what I do about the history of this trail and when it extended farther south, having this be the link between the original southern terminus and the non-concrete portion of Duluth, it made some sense. Still, in retrospect, I wasn't going to enjoy Map 2. The glorious views and rugged elevation gain were no longer a feature. It's also considerable that I was already a good distance into my hike that day, which followed up on a heavy hiking day on the 3rd, so I was more tired than usual. Still, bushwhacking was not on my list of goals for this hike.
I don't know which road crossing it was, but it wasn't clear where the trail picked back up. I thought perhaps this section was meant to be a bit more rough, or that the overgrowth hadn't been cleared, as it was spring. Turns out, I just wasn't on the actual trail, and therefore was crunching through the woods rather than being on the trail itself. Even with the help of AllTrails, that wasn't clear, and it was further compounded by the signs for private property. By the time I got to Martin Rd., I was not only irritated, but walking along the side of a moderately busy road to get back seemed more appealing than the three miles I'd just traversed. Good decision or not, that's what I decided to do.
A colleague of mine told me a few days after this hike that Martin Rd. was a spot of some car break-ins reported recently, the other being Ely's Peak, and I can see why. Despite being on a major road, it is out of view, surrounded by trees, and the shared space with a snowmobile trail begins here, but since it was early May, no snow on the ground meant very little traffic. Ely's Peak, I'm guessing, is more for it being a touristy spot in a rather remote area. Then again, this is the same place where transient people existing is enough of an issue for a warning, so I don't know what to make of it.
It's going to be difficult to write about Map 2, so maybe I'll cover that all in one or two essays rather than the divided sections as I've been avidly penning them so far. This isn't meant to discourage anyone from doing the entire thru-hike, but merely my reflection of comparative sections.
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