Sam Haraldson above Duluth, MN and Lake Superior, October 2005
I’ve decided to take all the trips I’ve documented on samh.net/backpacking and create blog posts about them here so that I can have one all-encompassing trip reports website. The majority of these posts will be short and focus on photos but others such as my trip reports for my thru-hikes are quite lengthy.
This particular post you are reading now will cover two trips, one from July 2006 and another from September 2006 – both on the Superior Hiking Trail on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota.
I took an overnight trip in July 2006 into Crosby-Manitou State Park along the Superior Hiking Trail. I had really only begun practicing ultralight backpacking the year previous and was getting into the process of trying out new gear and techniques. In the photos below you can see my heavy nylon tarp, makeshift nordic ski poles, Equinox “About-a-Pound” pack, DIY Tyvek stuff sack, REI WPB bivy, and Gatorade water bottle.
In September of 2006 I had acquired a Golite Poncho Tarp but was still rockin’ the same nordic ski poles and bivy. I did a lot of volunteer trail maintenance and a lot of backpacking that summer. It was wonderful exploring the North Shore of Lake Superior and re-visiting the SHT again after having thru-hiked it on a visit there in 2005. On my hike into Sonju Lake I was surprised to find fellow trail-maintainer and friend, Kurt with two buddies who were out on a multi-day trip.
