Lost the trail at dusk on the Superior Hiking Trail - had to bushwhack back

I was coming down from Carlton Peak on that northern section, the one with the exposed rock faces. Figured I had an hour of daylight left, no big deal. Then I took a wrong turn onto a game trail that looked official enough. After 20 minutes of it getting steeper and narrower, I realized I was off the map. No cell service, temps dropping fast. I had to climb back up using my headlamp and follow my own footprints in the dirt to get back to the actual blazed path. Took me 45 extra minutes. Has anyone else had the marked trails blend in with animal paths up there? Those yellow blazes can be tricky to spot on bare rock.

2 comments

2 Comments

ericjackson1d ago

Slow down a bit" - yeah, that's fair. I was probably booking it like I was being chased by a bear, not paying enough attention to where I was stepping. Guess I learned the hard way that my headlamp should be out before the sun actually sets, not when it's already dark.

gavin_mason311d ago

Ngl, I've hiked that exact section a dozen times and never had that problem. The yellow blazes on Carlton Peak are pretty spaced out on the bare rock sections, but they're usually there if you look close enough. Tbh, if you're losing the trail at dusk on a clear path like that, you might have been moving too fast or not paying enough attention to the cairns. I get that game trails can look similar, but the SHT blazes are always on trees or rocks right at eye level, not on the ground. Just saying, maybe slow down a bit and keep your headlamp handy for after 6pm up there.

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