Planning for a Trip to the Superior Hiking Trail

As a backpacking beginner, I have limited experience with the Superior Hiking Trail, especially with planning a trip for it. Lately however, I have been making it my top priority to thoroughly plan out every detail I can to ensure a safe, and successful trip. I am sure many of you are familiar with the movie 127 Hours based on the true story of Aron Rolston who became trapped in a canyon after dislodging a rock and pinning his arm. Clearly in Minnesota I don't have to be worried about canyons, but there is a good lesson from this tragic event, planning is essential.

Back ground
  When planning a trip I like to get a little particular, and what I mean by that is I will go as far as looking up historic weather data to know what I can expect during my trip. Having lived in Minnesota all my life I have a pretty rough understanding of what the weather is like, and as they always say, if you don't like the weather wait five minutes. There are some things to take into account with weather and time of year as well, and for the sake of simplicity, lets keep the conversation on the Arrowhead of Minnesota, or the far north.

• Insects
• Temperature
• Precipitation
• Day-length
• Maps
• Itinerary 

Now these are some basic things to keep in mind, but these are significant enough to either make your trip potentially miserable, or unsafe. Insects, now in Minnesota we all know mosquitoes are an annoyance, but as far as I know they don't typically pose a threat of spreading disease here in the US. Black-fly's are another bug that while make your skin crawl, not to mention itch like crazy. Both typically hatch around may and into June. Thankfully during these times, night time lows will be cold enough to make them inactive, 50 degrees Fahrenheit is around the magic number. As far as prevention for insects goes, 100% DEET insect repellent works beset. I know what you're thinking, oh DEET is unsafe and bad for you, and yes that is true. Here's why I recommend it; first, it works the best, second, you need to apply less than lower percentage DEET repellents so your exposure is actually less, and third, you're only using it for a few months out of the year anyway so exposure is limited as is. Tight weave clothing is another option as well as no-see-um mesh for your shelter of choice.

Temperature is another factor that I consider to be very important. I can remember many trips where I was cold the entire time. For getting a rough idea of the temps during your trip I would recommend using Historical Weather Data to plan your adventure, just search the nearest location and month and you'll find fairly accurate information. The link will also show precipitation records which may or may not be accurate. For a more accurate weather forecast I would suggest Wunder Ground, I believe it to be accurate up to the seven day forecast. Wunder Ground also has historical weather data and a neat trip planner feature that is some what helpful with planning. Once you know what the temperatures are going be like for your trip, plan accordingly. Layers is the name of the game, it's much easier to have layers and take them off when you get hot, rather than to be too hot with only a few articles of clothing. It's another topic I could go on about at length, but for the sake of this I will leave that for another post.

Precipitation, a wonderful thing for May flowers, but sometimes can prove to be dangerous. Maybe that was a little dramatic, most often it will just be a little annoying or unwanted. For a few years I thought I was cursed when it came to rain and storms. Five of my camping trips over two years either had rain every day, or there were wall front wind storms reaching gusts up to 60mph. Turns out I just didn't plan very well and as a result have some fun stories to tell about it. Now rain itself doesn't really bother me, its wet, sometimes cold, but what comes with rain is where it's not so fun. Trails can become mucky and muddy, which may lead to slippery trails and rocks become much more dangerous. Not to mention your equipment may get wet which leads to more weight and poor performance from some items. Minnesota is also prone to lightening storms, which I am rather fearful of and for good reason, lightening is dangerous. Along with those lightening events comes wind, now for me its hard to admit, but I am terrified of wind. Trees come crashing down, limbs break and fall, uffda. My greatest fear during a trip is wind, I can easily deal with the rumble of thunder and the pouring of rain, but wind just worries me. Not much to do about wind but be able to hunker down and keep everything tight. As far as preparing for weather, there are some things to keep in mind;

• Get the forecast, trying to use the three day for most accurate results
• Bring appropriate clothing, rain jackets and pants can be a life saver
• Waterproof your gear, line your pack with a trash compactor bag, cheap and waterproof
• Know your limits, understand when enough is enough and evacuate when necessary

Day-Length is a much less important part to preparation but it's another good thing to know. It's obvious to point out that in winter the day is shorter than in summer, but it means a lot. With more day length there is more time for your activity, whether it be hiking, canoeing, or fishing. As a rule of thumb I will typically not hike at night, I have some reasons; its easier to get lost, animals are more active at night and run-ins are more likely, it's harder to set up camp in the dark, and the temperature is colder. If there is one thing I like to avoid it's being caught out in the cold, so setting up camp a few hours before sundown is a priority of mine. Knowing when sundown and sunrise occur is quite important and something I make sure to know. Another use of Wunder Ground, there is a whole section of astrology which can prove useful. Knowing the moons cycle is nice, this allows you to prepare for night-time conditions. Unfortunately cloud cover will prevent a moonlit trip, but it will keep the night warmer.   

Maps. It's safe to say everyone has been told at some point to always bring a map with, and that is sound advice. You should also leave a map with those whom you trust, so they will know where you are. I leave my maps with my mom, she serves as my trusty Base of Operations manager, as well as being my mom so she makes me food and washes my clothes still, thanks mom :) Anyways, leaving a map will allow your trustee to know exactly where you are planning to go in the event something goes wrong so S.A.R will know where to look, it's extremely helpful for search and rescue teams trust me. For the Superior Hiking Trail maps, you can order them from their website SHTA Store, which I have bought the book and believe me it is helpful. By no means am I a paid sponsor, just recommending a valuable resource. Another tool I like to use is Google Maps, trust me, they are amazing and the Superior Hiking Trail actually shows up as a trail. Here is a link to what I am planning on using for my map this summer Summer map, Google allows you to save maps and you can easily edit them as I have done, there is a bit of a learning curve so play around a bit. This is the particular map I will be leaving with my mom, and because it is online she has easy access to it. The only thing with the Google map is that campsites are not listed to that is where buying the maps from the website is nice, and you're supporting a local business which I believe to be important.

Itinerary. As I somewhat eluded to, planning an itinerary is key to your safety should something bad happen. As Aron learned the hard way, leaving a plan can save your life, or in his case a limb. My map does include an itinerary of sorts, it's subject to change as are all plans, but its a good start. They say the average hiking speed is about one mile in one hour for this trail, it's a good base number to plan off of so you can be pleasantly surprised if you're faster than that and can make camp early or stop for more pictures.

I do enjoy using my resources with planning as I may have mentioned, I use applications such as Microsoft Office One-note, Excel spread sheet, and the links I have provided throughout. For you more experienced adventurers I am probably just preaching to the choir and this was a waste of time for you, but for those of you who have never planned your own trip I hope this has been worthwhile and beneficial to your success. I am absolutely open to comments and constructive criticism, we're all learning and I believe everyone has something to teach others. This is just an inside peek of what I do for planning, most of which in this post was just weather and some things out of your control. Later I will be posting about what I do for preparing my gear, myself, and other aspects of my trips. Happy trails. 

About me

I am a young up and coming college student who has a passion for the outdoors, living in the Midwest does prove to be little bit difficult in regards to this. Minnesota being my home state, has always been my favorite place to be and explore. Since I was a young child my parents took me everywhere they went, head waters of the Mississippi, Lake Superior, BWCA, all wonderful places this great state has to offer. Now going to college in South Dakota, I have a Minnesota deficiency. The eastern most side of the state, not more than ten miles from the border, proves to be scarce in topographical features with the exception of Palisade State Park. During the winter months, I am of course dedicated to my college studies with my communications major, so the majority of my outdoor exploring occurs during the summer months. Although this time does allow for me to prepare for summer hiking, especially DIY projects to improve the quality of my gear.

During my younger teenage years, my family and I mainly stuck to car camping, that being driving right up to a campsite and pitching a three season tent. Later in high school, I joined the American Civil Air Patrol which proved to be quite a valuable experience for many reasons. That experience however, is another story, but I will say that I gained many outdoor skills as a result of my involvement. At this same time, I also was introduced to back packing, my new obsession. Since I graduated high school in 2012 I have always had hiking and back packing in the back of my mind. Lately I have been focusing on how to lighten the load of my pack, and being a college student, doing it on a budget. This has been a rather interesting endeavor I have begun, not only because of the lack of finances, but also because of where I am situated. Minnesota has one primary hiking trail, the Superior Hiking Trail, the pinnacle of Minnesota's grandeur. It's got the only "mountains" in the state, it rests on the greatest great lake, and it bisects many famous state parks. Being from the southern part of Minnesota, I can't run up there every weekend, so my actual big trips are few and far between, yet that doesn't stop me.
   

The majority of posts on this blog will be focused on my trips, the DIY gear I make, and the testing of that gear. What worked and what didn't work will be the main focus for me, not only as a way to share my findings, but to use for my own personal improvement. I enjoy sharing what I know about the great outdoors, and what I know about gear and equipment I use. It is my hope that I can inspire others to get out and enjoy the great outdoors, and to help those who want to try more DIY gear to do so. I am still learning, and by no means am I an expert in any field, please do not take my advise or testimony as an experts opinion.