By Christine Baert
The Superior Hiking trip went out on August 4th, 2003 and came back August 8th 2003. The students that participated were Chelsea Baert, Christine Baert, Matt Bantz, Shaina Fossum, John Friedmeyer, Jordan Helgeson, Katie Juneau, Chaz Kerr, Erik Onken, Paul Studer, Adam Swanson, and Andrew Wetterlin.
Venture out into the Northern tip of Minnesota (near grand Marais) where bears and wild life dwell. Here you will find a group of Mini-School kids trekking the Superior Hiking Trail with nothing much but their packs, tents and various food items brought along. The kids in Mini-School are very fortunate for the school to allow us to go on trips like these.
On August 4th, 2003 twelve individual Mini-Schoolers got together at MHS at 6:00 am to gather everyone’s gear and load it up in the vans. Accompanying us on this trip were Doug Berg and Paul Gerten. Doug Berg is one of the founders of Mini-School, and Paul Gerten, is currently a Mini-School teacher who decided to take over the trip program after Randy and Doug retired.
Finally we departed from the high school at around 7:30 or 8:00 am. On the road for about three and a half hours, we finally reached Two Harbors (just north of Duluth). When we reached the Two Harbors train depot everyone got out of the vans, stretched, sat down and chatted for a while about the history of Two Harbors and the Iron Ore Industry. After a little bit of school we ate lunch.
Our next stop, Granite Gear, is a company created and owned by a former Minnetonka Student. Granite Gear makes things such as packs for hiking, sledding, and also packs for dogs and other various wilderness accessories.
Next, we were all off to the Tofte Commercial Fishing Museum, an important historical site considering fishing was a huge part of Lake Superior’s trading history. After a long day of driving and field trips we settled down at Judge Magney State Park.
Tuesday, the day we begin our hike, but first we need to visit yet another historical site, Grand Portage. At Grand Portage we learned all about Indian trading and voyager life, we also learned how to make canoes out of birch bark and other things from nature.
Finally off on our 25-mile journey just north of Grand Marais. Tuesday we hiked about six and a half miles and then camped right on the shore of Lake Superior. It was pretty cold but we managed. Waking up at 6 am with a sore body and not in the mood for oatmeal, I forced myself to throw on my pack and begin shaving off a few miles from the ten and a half that was expected to be done on the second. After Hiking for a while the group all met up at the Jagerhaus, a German Bed and Breakfast, where the owners allow us to eat and get fresh water and maybe even use their bathroom. After a nice break we began hiking again – finishing off the hike we set up camp at Durphey Creek.
Thursday we did more hiking, about seven miles and I’m sore as ever, but beginning to enjoy the burning in my legs. It’s a feeling of accomplishment. The scenery around here is unbelievable, I wouldn’t change anything about this trip it was outstanding. By the end of Thursday we had reached a point called Pincushion Mountain. I have never seen anything so extraordinary; it was absolutely amazing, watching the sunrise was one of the most incredible moments of my life.
The week flew by so fast, and I’m not ready to leave all of this yet, I fell in love with the outdoors. This trip made me realize that we need to appreciate what we have, and that more people need to take care of our environment. Still not ready to leave, but I’m dying to take a hot shower, bathing in Lake Superior all week just isn’t doing the job. Two more miles to the vans and I’m on my way home.