Superior Hiking Trail

    Last week was the Minnesota Education Association’s Conference for teachers in Minnesota.  What that meant for us parents with kids in school was break time.  We took advantage of only a half of a day of school on Wednesday and no school on Friday and Saturday and headed South with the family.  Not too far South, only to Two Harbors, but that is close enough to civilization for us Trail Folk! 

     We met my sister and her family there for a weekend of fun.  The place we stayed at was right on Lake Superior and very close to the Superior Hiking Trail.  As a hiker my first dream was to thru hike the Appalachian Trail, after we bought Voyageur my dream was scaled down to thru hike the Superior Hiking Trail, and now I am content with hiking bits and pieces of it at a time. 

     My sister and I decided to hike a section of the Superior Hiking Trail last Saturday.  We started at the Castle Danger Parking Area with a steep climb up to a great view of Lake Superior.  We continued on our uphill trek to Mike’s Rock and another scenic vista.  After hiking along the meandering Gooseberry River we arrived at Gooseberry Falls State Park.  Our families, along with every other family on vacation in Minnesota,  were there exploring the beautiful waterfalls while they waited for us to arrive. 

     After seeing only four people during the 9 mile trek I couldn’t believe all of the people who were there at the main falls.  While Gooseberry does have a nice waterfall many of the other State Parks and waysides along the North Shore are way better.   I guess they remain as hidden gems because they require a short walk to get to. 

     Mike and I hiked another section of the Superior Hiking Trail during our vacation.  We again started at Castle Danger but instead of heading towards Gooseberry we went around 7 miles back to the Trail Head.  This portion of the trail had some elevation changes with views not only of Lake Superior but of the area inland.    

   Unfortunately we didn’t spend our whole time hiking.  My family all visited the dentist for an annual teeth cleaning, Abby and I got our hair cut, we did a little bit of shopping and even did a tourist thing.   We took the North Shore Scenic Railroad from Duluth to Two Harbors and enjoyed Dominoes Pizza on the train.  The kids enjoyed their time spent at the Children’s Museum but I think everyone’s favorite activity was just taking in the sights and sounds of Lake Superior.