Start: East Branch Baptism River Campsite
End: Lutsen Ski Area
Day 10-12 mileage: 45.6 miles (plus 1.8 mile Oberg Mountain Spur Trail)
Total mileage: 173.7 miles
It rained all night (It’s not a backpacking trip unless you pack up a wet tent at least twice). Today I went through Crosby-Manitou State Park and yes, it was tough, but four miles seems a little ridiculous. It must have been a very rough day for that guy. Today was my highest mileage day of 21.2 miles.
I need to stop letting people shake my confidence. I am fairly sensitive to what others say and can let it get me down. Sometimes I let people’s negative comments about me affect my self worth and it is not healthy. I can’t let other people’s judgements or assessments of a situation create expectations, and I straight up need to stop listening to other people grading me. How I am rated at an interview or on the job is just someone’s opinion of me, based on their own biases and conditioning. Sure, they may have a point, but it is easier to just let it go if I don’t agree and move on. This is something I definitely need to work on…
Tonight I was planning to hike two more miles to the next campsite, but when I heard voices at Fredenberg Campsite, I stopped. I didn’t want to camp alone again… There are three women here, Barb, Karen, and Lois. They are lovely and gave me warm water from their pot of cooked pasta so I could have warm mashed potatoes instead of cold. They also gave me fancy chocolate, my favorite! They are out for four days, headed to Lutsen. They were curious about me hiking alone and asked questions about my pack weight, gear, and clothing choices. I explained a little bit about my reasons for being out here and told them I stopped weighing my pack (I can carry it and I can’t think of any gear I can eliminate, what’s the point in weighing it?). They were very sweet and I will sleep well tonight.
Indeed, I did sleep amazingly that night. The woods were quiet and I wasn’t alone at the campsite. The morning’s hike took me by the Temperance River which started out shallow and then flowed through an gigantic gorge.
After the river was the trek up Carlton peak. On the way up, I met a southbounder who started at the Canadian border. We chatted for a minute and he told me Carlton’s summit is a spur trail… I pretty much have done no spur trails since I started this hike. I’m already doing 260 miles with amazing views, why add more? He said it was only 0.25 miles. He also said I should do the spur loop trail around Oberg Mountain, as it had excellent views. I told him I would decide when I got there…. So, I went up the spur to Carlton’s summit and was underwhelmed, but at least I could say I did it.
Three or so miles later I run into Cory, also going North. I saw him last night at the campsite, he stopped by to see if there were sites open, but decided to go to the next campsite. Cory has a dog named Tucker, who is part German Shepherd and pure adorable. I am more of a cat person, but this dog may win me over. Cory and Tucker had just finished a break and we chatted about our respective campsites from the night before and today’s trail. We started walking with me behind and Cory asked if I kept a similar pace. Honestly, I told him, my pace was a bit faster, but it was nice to have someone to talk to. [Cory and his wife own a window tinting business just north of Minneapolis (www.lifestyletint.net). Please see them for your tinting needs in Minnesota!!] Cory said he was camping at the next site, about a mile away. We had fun conversation and when that campsite came, he said he would go further. Well, three more campsites came along, as well as the Oberg Mountain loop, and it made for a 20 mile day for me, 18 for Cory, who said he was originally planning 13 for the day. Cory, Tucker, and I are camped at West Rollins Creek. By the way, Oberg Mountain was definitely worth the extra miles.
The following morning we made it into Lutsen ski area, where Cory’s wife, Jamie, was waiting for him. Domonick reserved me a room as a birthday surprise (I turned 32 the day I made it to Lutsen) as it was supposed to rain over an inch that night. This was much appreciated =) Thanks, Domonick! <3 Cory and Jamie drove me to Grand Marais and bought me breakfast. They are a great couple and I hope to stay in touch. Check-in for my room was 4:30p, which seemed unreasonably late. I took my stinky self to the laundry room and cleaned my clothes and then just waited in the lobby of a gift shop for a couple hours. After finally getting into the room, it was amazing with fireplace and all! I treated myself to a warm meal at one of the restaurants in the ski village and slept in a warm bed. It’s the small things in life!