Hiking Tip: Reduce Excess Straps

Quick Fix

Often with a bag that is very adjustable comes extra strap material that can get in the way, become caught, or otherwise look obnoxious.

This is an easy way to tighten up your pack without cutting or sewing the straps.

Directions: 

1. Take your pack and fill it with a moderate amount of clothes and see where the straps will expand to regularly. 
2. Then, fold the strap at a reasonable length that isn’t likely to snag or be too short causing you to roll the strap too much.
3. Count how many times you rolled the strap on one side to transfer it to the next
4. Tape the strap using electrical tape or another durable and weather resistant tape
5. Continue on all loose straps.

Fold strap over and use electrical tape to reduce straps

Pack with straps taped

This may be a small tip but it will look great and keep straps out of the way, and lessen the chance of straps getting caught, ripped, or in the way.

See you on the trail!

Go breathe the wild air

-FCFP

Guide Review: Guide to the Superior Hiking Trail

Over Mt. Trudee and Through the Woods

Pair this guide book with separate fold out maps and you have an easy navigational system at your fingertips.

We purchased this guide book and maps from the Superior Hiking Trail Association (SHTA) from their online store. You can purchase your own guide book or a set with maps included here. The guide book is put together by the SHTA with an astounding amount of information.

This book covers massive amount of information on all aspects of the trail. Interesting and beneficial sections include: description of trail (maps, shuttles, dogs, trail markings, permits), history of the trail, geology and scenery, habitats, birds of Lake Superior,  animals along the trail, North Shore history, all information for backpackers, and a guide to low impact camping.

All of this can be found in the front of the book. The majority of the book is the trail guide. This guide is a must have to go on your excursion through the trail! Very detailed and helpful talking points made reading the book at night fun and informative for the next day.

 

0 to 296 Miles

The best and purchase worthy section of this book is the trail descriptions. Each segment of trail from trailhead to trailhead is meticulously written out with mile by mile descriptions of what you will encounter along with exact mileage of distance to next feature. It is also accompanied by a detailed map showing parking lots, trailheads, campsites, and surrounding streets and cities.

Each section is written with easy to navigate directions to the parking lots at the trailhead and facilities you will encounter at each specific trailhead including bathrooms, water, or stores.

Also notable are the mileage markers next to each description. The first mileage, 0.0 is the distance traveled on this section. The second mileage, 9.1, next to the description is the miles to go to the next trailhead.

There's a lot of information inside each section. Pulling apart this information will help you plan your hike down to the last 1/10 of a mile.

Breakdown

This is how each section reads from Trailhead to Trailhead inside the Guide to the Superior Hiking Trail version 2013. We will be showing a clip of the first section we hiked.

___________________________________________________________________

Castle Danger to Gooseberry Falls State Park

9.1 Miles

Section description: Lake Co. Rd. 106/Silver Creek Township Rd. (West Castle Danger Rd.) to Gooseberry Falls State Park Visitor Center

Access and parking: Directions to beginning trailhead: at Hwy. 61 miles post 36.6 turn left on Lake Co. Rd. 106/Silver Creek Township Rd. 617 (West Castle Danger Rd.) and go 2.4 miles to trailhead parking lot on right. Overnight parking okay.

Facilities at starting trailhead: none

Designated campsites on this section: five

Synopsis: This section starts with a short but steep climb to the ridge line and Wolf Rock. It is the quickest way on any section of the trail to get to outstanding ridge line views. After descending from the ridge line and going through mixed forest, the trail ascends once more to Mike's Rock with more scenic vistas. The true highlight of the section is four miles of trail along the Gooseberry River, with its meandering course and a series of dramatic waterfalls.

____________________________________________________________

Mile-by-Mile Description

0.0 (9.1) Silver Creek Township Road 617 Parking lot

SHT departs right side of parking lot and climbs steeply through cliffs. This is one of the most dramatic first half-miles of the SHT as the trail winds up to top of Wolf Rock with its pine-clad rock outcrops.

0.5 (8.6) Wolf Rock

Great views at 1,200 feet of Lake Superior, Crow Creek Valley, forests, etc. On ridge, SHT passes through mile of private land. Trail turns away from the valley as the woods alternate from open understory to dense growth. decomposed lava looks like gravel on trail bed.

           ▲ Crow Creek Valley Campsite

           ---------------------------------------

           Tent Pads: 5

           Water: From small stream, unreliable in dry conditions

           Setting: In maple woods on small tributary of Crow Creek

           Next campsite: 3.4 Miles

____________________________________________________________

For the rest of the description please purchase the Guide to the Superior Hiking Trail HERE

*We do not own any of the above text. It is referenced from the Guide to the Superior Hiking Trail 2013 for review purposes only. Please purchase your own copy. No copyright infringement intended*

Full Confidence Minus One Thing

Our only drawback to the guide book is that they leave some things to common sense when it comes to intersecting trails. Many times the book would start and stop their comments about the trail at the sections without being precise on how to link up with the SHT. Again, we say common sense was our best friend, but when you’re tired and new to a trail you don’t want to be playing ‘guess which trail is yours!’ The book uses references like across, continue, or crosses trail which can be misleading with signs pointing in multiple directions. The easiest fix is to use your compass on the map if you're questioning which direction to move in.

We only encountered this a handful of times within our 60 miles but a few too many of them were in the pouring rain where our book wasn't exactly accessible!

 

Synopsis:

Rating: 9 out of 10 
Would I recommend these to a friend: YES

The guide was one of the best We've seen in terms of ease, detail, and descriptions. It gives serious detail that was correct in all cases including trail description, campsite description, and major features to check out.

We thoroughly enjoyed hiking from Castle Danger to Highway 1 and can't wait to hike the SHT again next summer from Canada to Grand Marais!

See you on the trail!

Review: Merrell Men's Moab Mid Waterproof

Through the Ups and Downs

     When it comes to footwear and hiking there can be no substitutions. Being a former Marine I cannot stress enough the importance of maintaining proper foot care and making sure you are comfortable from the ground up. The Vibram sole and Merrell’s claim to waterproof shoes was a great start for me. I purchased the Merrell Moab Mids for the retail $119.99 from Dick's Sporting Goods and felt that I received a good shoe for the money.

    I hiked 75 miles in three weeks doing three long day hikes and a many 5k walks during the week. Between streets and paths, hills and flats these shoes held up great and were very comfortable. The cushion in the shoes feels great and offers a lot of support, even after long miles when you can feel the pain in your feet starting.

    The overall wear on the outside of the shoe was very minimal and the soles look as new as the day I bought them.

     After hiking another 60 miles on the Superior Hiking Trail for a total of over 135 miles my feelings toward these shoes hasn’t differed! The wear on them is minimal, the comfort is snug and plush, all the while offering great support because of it’s mid-size ankle support.

    The one major drawback to these shoes, and hiking in general, is blisters. I had quarter size blisters on the inside heel of each shoe. Is this my own walk? possibly, but I’ve had many shoes and only a few have given me blisters. The thing that I found to be a saving grace was after popping the blisters and cleaning them the next two days of hiking (over 15 miles each day) there was no pain or irritation at the site of the blisters.

    These shoes were tested over class 5 paths, city streets, prairie grasslands, rocky hills, root-covered forest floors, and, my personal favorite, 1700 ft worth of elevation changes of drastic switchbacks.

Define Waterproof 

    Now for the issue of waterproofing: it is always a wonky topic so I will elaborate by examples. I filled an Igloo cooler with water and stepped in…no water in the shoes. Waited…still no leakage. After this I felt very confident to take them out on a week long hiking trip on the Superior hiking Trail. The test: 10 hours of torrential downpour. Not exactly standard or fair, but nonetheless that was what they received. I stepped into the pouring rain and walked for several hours. It wasn’t until I had to walk riverside to fill my Nalgene that the shoes became saturated.

    The shoes, I noticed, were still offering the cushion and snug feeling…just filled with water. I was very impressed by this, although, not happy that my shoes were sopping wet. I would give these shoes an 8 out of 10 for staying waterproof for several hours, offering support, very comfortable, and losing points for blisters but not many because of the minimal irritation caused afterward.

Synopsis:

Rating: 8 out of 10   
Would I recommend these to a friend: YES

You can purchase these shoes here

We're always looking to try new product and see how it holds up being used as it was intended on the trail. If you have any suggestions, comments, or questions please let us know!

See you on the trail!

Go breathe the wild air!

-FCFP

How to Grade Gear

Sifting Through Opinions

  
 With all of the reviews out there help is never very far away or, conversely, there is never more murky advice to sift through as you make a decision that could leave you out in the cold, literally.

    Here at Flowing Creeks to Frozen Peaks (FCFP), Blake and Maurina will give a man and woman's perspective while including an elaborate list of functional and practical uses for the products. All of this will culminate into a realistic rating of the fail-safe 1-10 scale, 1 being the worst and 10 equaling the best, most recommended.

    FCFP always gives the benefit of doubt to the manufacturer that they want to make a quality product; however, we know that this does not mean a quality product was made. Blake and Maurina will scrupulously look at the affordability, warranty, practicality, weight consideration (for backpacking gear especially), and never forgetting the most important, durability.
   
    All of these factors will be brought into mind and applied to the CLAIMS OF THE PRODUCT. I cannot stress this last point enough. We here at Flowing Creeks to Frozen Peaks are not here to trash any products or company, rather we are here to keep products and companies honest to their claims. Therefore we will test and report back our impartial feedback of how the products did in their test trials and how they did in our expectations. We hope you gain the proper knowledge about the products from us and make an educated purchase.

See you on the trail! 

Go breathe the wild air!

-FCFP