25 years on the Superior Hiking Trail

• Ely’s Peak

A group of hikers stand on Ely’s Peak in Duluth in 2005. The Duluth section of the Superior Hiking Trail is the latest section completed in the 25 years since the trail began as an idea by outdoors enthusiasts along the North Shore. The trail is 275 miles long after starting with just eight miles. Forum Newspapers
• Bushwhackers

Some of the earliest bushwhackers and builders of bridges for the trail were workers laid off by Reserve Mining in Silver Bay. The pay was in the $5-6 range but was an appreciated alternative to no income in bleak economic times along the Shore. SHTA file
• Gayle Coyer

Gayle Coyer, executive director for the Superior Hiking Trail Association, is busy this month at the Two Harbors office planning the May 6-8 annual meeting at Wolf Ridge in Finland. The event marking the 25th anniversary of the trail will kick off a “Seven Summits Challenge” offering prizes to those who climb the highest peaks along the 282 miles of trail from Duluth to the border with Canada. The association isn’t resting on its birthday laurels. It still needs plenty of volunteers in the coming months and years to help blaze and maintain trails and trailheads. Mike Creger

Talk about it

Saying “it seemed like a reasonable thing to do,” Lee Schaar put pen to paper in 1985 and wrote down what fellow foresters in the Tofte area had known for years: There could be a nice hiking trail along the ridgeline overlooking Lake Superior on the North Shore.

Schaar’s “Thomas Jefferson” moment eventually led to today’s Superior Hiking Trail that runs from Duluth to Canada with just a 17-mile gap left to blaze.

With the general idea on paper, organizers went to work in 1986. This year marks the 25-year anniversary of the first carvings of the trail and the formation of the association that keeps it a Minnesota treasure.

Memories from the many volunteers and agency leaders who helped gather funding and momentum for the trail – and those who went into the wild for flagging, blazing, and building bridges – hold fond memories of what has been called a “synchronicity of events.”

Today and next week, we take a look at some of the early trailblazers who helped on the ground and in organizing the Superior Hiking Trail Association, which today consists of more than 3,500 members, 300 active volunteers and 282 miles of carefully maintained trail.

Learn how a national disaster marked the first meeting for the association, how tough economic times were leavened by work on the trail, and why hikers can find what can seem like unusual twists and turns along the way.

There were many characters who played parts. We offer a small sampling as the Superior Hiking Trail marks 25 years in May at the association’s annual meeting in Finland.

Check out the full story of the trail in this week's print edition of the News-Chronicle. There will be more stories next week.

Tags: two harbors, lake county, silver bay, outdoors, news