Minnesota State Parks Revisited - January 4th, 2025 Redux - Gooseberry, Split Rock, Tettegouche, Temperance River, Cascade River, -30 Degrees

 

Gooseberry Falls State Park, Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, Tettegouche State Park, Temperance River State Park, Cascade River State Park

Date Hiked: December 13-14th

Trail Hiked: Gitchi Gummi Trail, Day Hill Trail, Shovel Point, Lookout Mountain Loop, Carlton and Tofte Peaks

Distance Hiked: 10.8 miles, 8.2 miles

Elevation Gain: 1437 ft,, 1152 ft. 

Duration: 4h 21m, 3h 31m

If I have a trait that can be considered both a blessing and a curse, at least in a hiking context, it's the drive to immediately outdo something that I considered impressive until the moment it was done. 

Burying bad memories underneath new ones to compensate is probably a close second. 

I've merged all these hikes into one entry. Four on the Saturday, one on the Sunday, I consider them a collective because of what they represented in my head at the time. If you've read my Hiking Club reviews, you know that my January 4th trilogy of hikes when it was -30 outside set the bar for what I considered one of my biggest hiking accomplishments of the year. 

Unfortunately, those are laced with bad and redacted memories now, and when put in the position where the time and context are right, even something that stupid and dangerous needs to be outdone. I was at my favorite inn up north, the weather was nearly identical to January 4th, and instead of having to drive up there, I woke up right in the middle of all them already. -30 wind chills, overwhelming bright sun, sea smoke, Minnesota State Parks, but also, about 450 hikes in between created a capstone for a year that began with checking boxes and ended with returning to frozen roots/routes. 

Yes, two of these parks I did a few weeks before January 4th, but I didn't want to just outdo time and distance. Why continue highlighting a day with three state parks hiked when I could do four under the same dangerous circumstances? It made sense in my head at the time.

First, my old friend Gitchi Gummi, before I had the amazing thought that maybe ice spikes would be a good idea when walking on cliffs while they're covered in ice. This time, it was a breeze, and at times I could even feel my face for a few seconds. 

Second, Split Rock. With the snow at least ten inches deep, the daylight being limited, and at least two parks to go to complete my arbitrary quest, I opted for the Day Hill loop as opposed to the full Hiking Club route. While pursuing the Hiking Club would've made this a problem, I was doing this strictly because I felt like it, and perhaps also working on my Hiking Club Adventure Labs (4 done, 8 to go). 

Third, Tettegouche. It's still a point. With Shovels.

Fourth, and the official end of my ice spikes, Cascade River. My best-ranked Hiking Club state park, and that still stands after revisiting many of them when it's not Jupiter outside. 

Then on Sunday at Temperance River, I combined this ridiculous quest with my ongoing pursuit of hundred-percenting the Superior Hiking Trail, so I'll delve in more deeply on that entry. In January, all the hikes combined didn't match the distance or elevation gain from this one alone.

The view from Carlton Peak alone made it all worth it. 

Superior Hiking Trail #1-14 - Hartley Nature Center to Martin Rd.

 

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. 

Superior Hiking Trail #1-13 - Rose Garden Trailhead to Hartley Nature Center

 

Superior Hiking Trail

Map 1 - Section 13

Rose Garden Trailhead to Hartley Nature Center

Date Hiked: May 4th, 2025

Other Sections Hiked That Day: Map 1 - Section 12, Map 1 - Section 14

The concrete sidewalk ascent after the Rose Garden, despite its incline, is quite the welcome reprieve after the alleged nature trail takes a long detour in the land of the paved and concrete. Duluth's ability to be authentically urban but to immediately transform into a seemingly quarantined nature oasis is uncanny. Once the sidewalk climb turns into the Chester Creek trail, it's hard to remember that these two places are so closely linked with each other. 

Chester Creek is such a magnificent delight, I was amazed this was the first I'd heard of it. Duluth is filled with so many epic views and wonderful excursions that it's easy to get lost in the shuffle, but even amongst Duluth's best, this stands out. A rocky climb next to a pretty raging waterfall, it's hard to believe that roads run mere feet from the idyllic setting. That's Duluth though, managing to balance the two with acceptable levels of separation. 

Keeping with the theme of quick hitter transformations, Chester Creek gives way to the campus of the University of Minnesota-Duluth, which was bittersweet for me. I attended the campus for a cup of coffee in my first attempt at grad school before the second one led me to my degree, and I only left due to complicated financial difficulties that couldn't be solved. Being the first time I'd been back since that devastating, costly mistake, I once again recalled why the urge to attend that campus was so strong, despite the main branch being a few miles away in the Twin Cities metro: the views down the road that most likely take for granted are invigorating and awe-inspiring, no matter how many times one gazes down toward the Gitchee-Gumi from an elevated perspective. There's even a lovely scenic view in the woods shortly after the campus traverse, and given the amount of cans and charred remains of healthy snacks for the 20-year-old soul, it can't be dampened with the smell of stale beer and regret lingering in the empty forest. 

Just as quickly once again, the campus trails give way to a street crossing leading toward the Hartley Nature Center, where my car tempted me to cut short the Section 1 conclusion. I'd visited Hartley once before in the winter of 2024, but this time was different in ways that had little to do with the weather. In that winter adventure pursuing the Adventure Lab finds, the fog was thicker than the worst of Silent Hill during a Pyramidhead encounter, and nothing sealed that vibe like the horn of a freighter cutting through the thickness like a warning shot. On this lovely spring day, no vibes of giant threatening swords were even a wisp of a threat, so the only terrifying presence of evil lay in the mosquitos and ticks just waiting for the moment to strike. I think I'd prefer giant Pointy-Head McGee and his impractical blade of doom rather than those blood-sucking monsters. 

I dismissed the opportunity to stop at Hartley.

Superior Hiking Trail #1-12 - Twin Ponds Trailhead to Rose Garden Trailhead

 

Superior Hiking Trail

Map 1 - Section 12

Twin Ponds Trailhead to Rose Garden Trailhead

Date Hiked: May 4th, 2025

Other Sections Hiked That Day: Map 1 - Section 13, Map 1 - Section 14

In most cases, I would be moderately annoyed that this is the opposite of a nature trail. The absence of a nature trail. The antithesis of a nature trail. It is not in nature, nor is it an actual trail, except for the very beginning where the website (at the time) was cautioning people over vagabonds in the area. I found that weird, considering that thru-hiking is mostly just vagabonding with a budget, but I also know for whom those warnings are. Regardless, there was evidence of people existing near the end of the descent, and I still managed to survive the whole way to the concrete bridge crossing the highway, so I lived to tell my tale. 

Though this is not a nature trail, as repeatedly mentioned, it's hard to complain when the urban trail portion of this hike goes through Canal Park, by the Aerial Lift Bridge, and along the shore of the big lake. Fortunately for me, it was not between Memorial Day and Labor Day, so moving about without clusters of tourists being oblivious to anyone walking around them was not an issue. I also made use of Lyft, with which is not something I'm usually comfortable, but doing section hikes two days in a row led me to not wanting to waste energy doubling back, so I parked at the Hartley Nature Center and got the ride to the Twin Ponds trailhead, which is something I wish was available for future portions of this travelogue, spoiler alert. 

Duluth is one of my favorite places in the world, and the day was immaculate for photography and hiking. After dodging the construction around the Amsoil Arena, the slip bridge was up, which somehow takes more time to complete its process than the lift bridge, but spending time in Canal Park without the mob while the weather wasn't "biting face off" levels of cold was a unique privilege all the same. 

The recently-revitalized trail along the shore heading toward Fitger's is a lovely upgrade from years past. If there is an advantage to being on a paved section of the trail, it's giving the trekking poles a break and just taking in the scenery, at least before the ascent through the streets in section 13. Sometimes the lake breeze on my face and the calming sound of the lake hitting the rocks on the shore is the perfect place for recharging energy, at least with one long section hike the previous day and more difficulty looming after a walk through the rose garden. Having seen that lake when it decides it's tired of everyone's shit and wants to show off how frail and temporary anything floating on it truly can be, relative placidity makes for a considerably easier pace.

After paying respects to Uncle Harvey and his emblematic representation of poor decision-making, there's a little more of Duluth's urban parks to get through. The remainder of civilization with which to intermingle precedes the lingering emptiness of Section 2. 

 

 

Superior Hiking Trail #1-11 - Haines Road to Twin Ponds Trailhead

 

Superior Hiking Trail

Map 1 - Section 11

Haines Road to Twin Ponds Trailhead

Date Hiked: May 3rd, 2025

Other Sections Hiked That Day: Map 1 - Section 8, Map 1 - Section 9, Map 1 - Section 10

 

Not all miles are created equal. 

 

For example, the 12.5 miles of this hike are not equivalent to the same distance on the nearby Munger trail. While there may be gentle grade on an old railroad trail, it is generally easier to add distance without nearly as much of a strain. This section, these 12.5 miles, had just under 2000 feet of elevation gain. This trail proved wonderful for spending some of my summer hiking mountains in the Pacific Northwest, and that is not hyperbole to say. Most of the state may not be able to provide such practice, but the Superior Hiking Trail be all like "what's that, a hill? What if we went straight up? What mud? Here's a rock, have fun." That is not a complaint, for the record, just an observation. This trail is not for novice hikers. 

 

By the time I reached this section, I was regretting my life decisions. I had a ride waiting to meet me at an undetermined stopping point, and I figured with only a mile and a half to go, I might as well knock out just one more section. What harm could it do, after all? 

 

Sections 8-11 took nearly six hours for me, and I am nothing if not stubborn. On a relatively flat trail, I can usually average 16 minutes a mile speedwise. This hike? It was a 27 average, and if you haven't gathered by now, I am no beginner-level hiker. That is also not a complaint, because I wanted the challenge. I had dreams of hiking Mt. Si as my first (which would happen, but that's for another day), so the Superior Hiking Trail was exactly what I needed to prepare myself. 

 

But I really should've stopped at Haines Road. 

 

I've been spoiled by trails with bathrooms and water fountains. My empty water bottle clanging in my backpack pocket, taunting me with its severe lack of hydration, I was stumbling toward Enger Park, aiming for some arbitrary stopping point based on a now-irrelevant scene from a memory, but alas.

 

One thing that perked me up was the Forgotten Park, as from the Hiking Club trails you'll know that the chance for abandoned photography is always a booster in the point system. Passing a basketball court with a Cthaeh habitat dominating what once was a basketball court made me forget about my zero percent physical battery. 

 

Superior Hiking Trail #1-10 - Skyline Parkway to Haines Road

Superior Hiking Trail

Map 1 - Section 10

Skyline Parkway to Haines Road

Date Hiked: May 3rd, 2025

Other Sections Hiked That Day: Map 1 - Section 8, Map 1 - Section 9, Map 1 - Section 11

 

This was one of those hikes where I wished I'd chosen to stop one section before I did, and the empty clanging of my water bottle only further emphasized that lack of better judgment. 

 

With this early May jaunt providing tremendous views of Canal Park and the big ol' eponymous gnarly bitch of a lake, it was also accompanied with a surprising level of heat to which I had not yet adjusted. After all, mere weeks earlier I was pushing myself through temperatures with a minus in front of them and questioning my life choices for pressing on through thigh deep snow in a town where they'd have to figure out where it was before even attempting to find my Shining-esque, hilariously frozen hiker face amongst the rest of the Nothing. 

 

Reflecting on these hikes now, given how long it's been since my entire summer of displacement, disappointment, heartbreak, and dearth of terrible decisions, it's hard to remember when completing this trail was the foremost goal in my mind. As of this writing, recent attempts to pick up where I left off in section 3 have led me to pick the wrong place for an entrance, be warded off by the dangerous levels of smoke being about, and also opting for paved, photogenic lakeside paths when I've been up in the arrowhead. Perhaps I'll continue finding sections to highlight on my massive poster when spring comes back around, but it feels like a different lifetime when I was pursuing this milestone, so the distinction between sections is a bit harder to recall than it was months ago when I was penning these entries as they were fresh in my mind. Life comes at you fast, and if you don't flip Ferris Bueller the bird and empathize with poor Jennifer Gray's character, you could miss it.  

 

The Brewer Park loop section is among the more difficult in Section 1, including for making Enger Tower appear much closer than it actually is, at least by hiking standards. It reminds me a lot of the bluff trails in the Hiking Club reviews, with the trails along the edges of massive hills and rocks. They make one grateful for the scenery and relative lack of leaves that haven't obstructed the views quite yet, but also for trekking poles, as one slip on the steep elevation gains and declines could make for a less than pleasant afternoon from headbanging with a rock the size of a bulldozer.  

 

While the views of the urban landscape, particularly of the gorgeous architecture that is Duluth, the scenes in distant, diorama spectacle aren't quite equal to crossing roads and dodging drivers uploading their panoramic shots with thumbs visible in the corner while driving up the hills. It may be part of the territory for section 1 before it becomes dystopian levels of rural, but it's still not what I prefer in the general context of hiking. Though by the time the trail reached lakeside, it was paltry by comparison.

Superior Hiking Trail #1-9 - Waseca Street to Skyline Parkway

 

Superior Hiking Trail

Map 1 - Section 9

Waseca Street to Skyline Parkway

Date Hiked: May 3rd, 2025

Other Sections Hiked That Day: Map 1 - Section 8, Map 1 - Section 10, Map 1 - Section 11

I had to keep reminding myself that this was the urban section of the trail. Duluth is magical that way, in the sense that you can be near a dense section of the city, but within a few steps, you're transported to something that feels like it should be 100 miles north. The noise doesn't always reflect that illusion, but Duluth does an amazing job of providing that separate immersion without the necessity of pushing onward beyond cell phone signal or bathrooms that would make characters in a Laura Ingalls Wilder setting feel a bit apprehensive. I'm sure there are people more rugged than me that laugh at such an idea, but they're also the ones who can sleep outside and not be constantly worried that there's a bug crawling on their skin, so I take any mocking condescension with a "you were raised in this shit and are used to it" grain of salt. With how I grew up, my family's idea of camping was sleeping on Grandma's couch instead of one of the guest rooms because more than my parents and sister were visiting at one time. Don't laugh, that couch had abrasive ridges that would leave imprints on my face, and my skin is so sensitive to texture that it takes over my entire internal monologue. 

Hey, it's almost like that's why I'm pushing through as much of this trail as I can before the mosquitos invade or something! Even if they aren't biting me, the feel of anything buzzing or crawling near my skin (these wounds they will not heal), fear is how I fall into a constant state of swatting around my head and getting the sensation of prickly little pointy bastards on my arms whether they're there or not, thus confusing what is real. 

Might be a stretch, but there is a Lincoln Park in Duluth and I can't not hear that shit in my head every time it's even mentioned. Say you were a teenager in the late 90s without saying you were a late teenager in the late 90s, check. 

I probably could've paid more attention to where the sections were splitting between each other, but that would involve looking at street signs and such, and my mind was indeed elsewhere along this hike. Like other sections, every mile was at least twice earned. 6 miles of flat hiking was not 6 miles of Superior Hiking, and the ascents and descents were quick to remind me of that whether I asked for confirmation or not. 

I could see Enger Tower in the distance, though the distance could've been deceptive, given how easy it is for a massive structure on top of a giant hill to stand out. It was still a good motivating waypoint, though the amount of sweat I was producing led me to once again question my life decisions and my compulsive, obsessive need to push past ridiculous and arbitrary goals no one else but me had forced onto myself. 

Superior Hiking Trail #1-8 - Grand Ave. Chalet to Waseca Street

 

Superior Hiking Trail

Map 1 - Section 8

Grand Ave. Chalet to Waseca Street

Date Hiked: May 3rd, 2025

Other Sections Hiked That Day: Map 1 - Section 9, Map 1 - Section 10, Map 1 - Section 11

With a memory of the view from the top of Enger Tower, I set out from the Spirit Mountain parking lot with the intention of reaching that park, despite both the heat and how crowded it might be on a gorgeous Saturday in the north. The first spur led me to see the ski lifts from the other side, so I knew the visibility was going to be outstanding. With no familiarity of these sections, I couldn't predict how difficult it would be to reach Enger Park and meet my ride, but missing someone who stood in the top of the tower with me that day, the next best thing I could do was pursue a scene from a memory. 

Normally a trail getting this close to a major interstate would be a turn-off, but it was the magic section of the 35, the one for which I'm always building up for someone taking the trip to Duluth and the North Shore for the first time. After two hours of mostly uninteresting highway driving, crossing over the hill and the following descent into Duluth is one of my favorite sights, and this day's hike would give me the chance to admire it as long as I wanted to from a place where I didn't have to worry about driving while sneaking glances at both the view and the first-timer's face when it unveils itself. 

Along the ridges, mud was still a factor, but not as much as it had been with a few of the previous hikes. The urban sections were naturally going to have more than just remote nature, which had both advantages and disadvantages. There was more likely to be infrastructure like bathrooms or places to fill up on water, but it also meant concrete, sidewalks, crossing roads of varying traffic flow, thus increasing the noise level from which a sensory sensitive autistic person like me is constantly trying to flee. 

Going under the 35, briefly reacquainting with the DWP trail, and heading back into the woods, my confidence was high that I could reach my goal. The heat was becoming a factor though, as I was more sensitive to it than ever before. It took so much conditioning and adjustment to complete the winter speedrun of the Minnesota Hiking Club that conversely, the heat felt more overwhelming to me than it likely would've at any other point in time. I wrote about this in my William O'Brien log for the Minnesota Hiking Club series, where 70 degrees seemed like 120 because I'd only recently been used to numbers with negative signs next to them . Year-round hiking is a series of adjustments in all capacities, but temperature tolerance is one that's constantly in flux. It's either tempering the cold and finding ways to minimize the impact it has on your motivation, or it's wondering why you're suddenly going through so much water and your chest seems heavy even though you haven't put in the miles you're used to. 

Superior Hiking Trail #1-6 - Becks Rd. to Magney Snively

Superior Hiking Trail

Map 1 - Section 6

Becks Rd. Trailhead to Magney Snively

Date Hiked: April 28th, 2025

Other Sections Hiked That Day: Map 1 - Section 7

My plan of working on the Superior Hiking Trail on Saturdays lasted an entire two of them. Given the previous series about the Minnesota Hiking Club, the only surprise about that is likely that I made it an entire week without jumping ahead. Even with how exhausted I felt staring at the impending Ely's Peak at the end of the previous hike, temptation won out. When the weather looked to be relatively cool and dreary, and with the season of bugs and North Shore crowds approaching, I imagined that this section might be one of the more popular weekend spots. Therefore, a cold morning summit felt like a good way to knock some miles off the highlight poster. (Why does that sound dirtier than it is?)

Only one other car was at the Becks Road trailhead that morning, as compared to the overflow situation that past Saturday. further validating my decision. Granted, that one car was one of the "Idling in the Car for Hours at a Time at a Park" Club I've seen so much of in the last few years, but I digress. 

A few flurries began to fall as I recalled the tank top weather only a couple days earlier. The FAQ on the SHT website makes sure people know that the trail doesn't control the weather's predictability any more than it manifests mosquitoes and deer ticks, because some people apparently think going through the remote northwoods in the summer has an off switch that's only not flipped because fuck you, that's why. I wonder if they think mud is also a conspiracy to piss off the rubes. 

I couldn't help but recall two previous adventures as I slowly pushed myself up the steep, rocky incline. First, that time my partner and I accidentally climbed Cougar mountain (no, accidentally is not a typo), where I was in mesh shoes, had no water, and every step on the hike down hurt my knees. How far I had come in three years, indeed. Second, my longest hike to date (as of this writing on May 14th, 2025), the 22.2 miles on the Münger Trail, likely because it was right below and I'd be taking it on the way back, but also because there was a time where that rail grade incline seemed difficult. 

Blue blazes on rocks as a guiding sign were really useful. Good invention, them trail blazes, because AllTrails can be a liar. The views were good, but some white blazes led to the actual peak, and I was already there. Why not stare down from the place at which I stared up hours earlier? I mean, it's no Unimpressive Overlook, but it's alright, I guess. It's not its fault that it can't meet the impossible standard of Unimpressive, that doesn't mean it should stop trying. 

After that though, it starts feeling like getting lost in Emyn Muil for a while (and that's not a bad thing, unless you're going in circles), but Duluth's skyview awaits.