Superior Hiking Trail
Group Trip Highlights 2022
After hosting an incredible group trip along the Superior Hiking Trail in 2021, I was so thrilled to be back with another group of amazing hikers for 2022.
We had a fantastic crew of 10 people plus myself, some from the area & some from out of state. And together, we spent 4 days and 3 nights in beautiful northern Minnesota.
Grab one of the last spots for my 2023 Superior Hiking Trail trip!
Read: SUPERIOR HIKING TRAIL BACKPACKING CHECKLIST:
EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR 3 DAYS ON THE TRAIL
Day 1: Arrive in Lutsen
On the first day of the trip, we all made our way up to Lutsen! I had a full car of ladies as we roadtripped along the beautiful North Shore. We stopped for delicious fry bread tacos & jalapeno cheese curds at Hungry Hippie Tacos in Duluth (which I highly recommend!) before checking in at the Mountain Inn.
That night, we had our welcome dinner, got to know one another & went over all the backpacking information for the days to come.
In the evening, we had a campfire and the hotel prepared for us adorable s’mores kits!
We went to bed early to get ready for our big hike!
Day 2: Oberg Mountain to Mystery Mountain Camp
The next day we set off for the Oberg Mountain trailhead at 8:45 am so we could be hiking by 9am! Originally, the fall color finder said we were going to have 0% fall colors due to the unseasonably warm couple of weeks we had been having. But the moment we hit the trail, we saw that wasn’t true.
The Oberg Mountain Loop was colorful as always! We were all so excited to catch our first peep at the stunning fall colors. We took extra photos during this section because everything was just perfect from the weather to the lighting to the views.
After we hiked this scenic spur trail, we continued on to the official Superior Hiking Trail.
Along the way, we filtered or treated stream water for drinking, had lunch along the trail after a lengthy uphill section and took plenty of photos of the fall foliage.
In the past I’ve made it to camp around 4:30pm but we were cruising and made it to Mystery Mountain campsite just a little after 3pm. Once at camp, we changed into our pajamas and camp shoes for the night. It was a blast hanging out and cooking dinner. Once we were done eating, we went to do our bear hangs. I showed the group how to use some rocks in a sock with a rope and a waterproof bag to keep their food safe from any wandering bears or critters.
We knew rain was in the forecast around 7pm so we all got set up and ready to be in our tents before the rain hit.
Holly and I were all cozy playing Wheel of Fortune while we listened to the rain fall on our tent. It was a really nice night at camp.
Day 3: Mystery Mountain to Lake Agnes
The next morning, we waited for the rain to stop and fortunately at 9am, it did. Despite the weather saying it would rain all day..we got very lucky!
So we had breakfast at the campsite before heading out on the trail. The stretch from Mystery Mountain to Lakes Agnes is absolutely beautiful.
Although it was muddy, our spirits weren’t damped and the rain almost entirely held off.
The group was so positive and fun to be with, I felt so fortunate to be hiking with such an awesome group of people.
Highlights of the day included hiking alongside the Poplar River, lunch at Glove Overlook and winding views of the river from above.
After a winding uphill section, we were rewarded with this beautiful view overlooking the foliage. Although the mist was dense, it added to the ethereal feeling in the woods.
Late that afternoon, we arrived at Lake Agnes. We laughed that it was the “Ritz Carlton” of campsites because of the “fancy” latrine (fancy by backcountry standards that is!!) and the recently installed metal bear hang device. This contraption made it a lot easier to do our bear hangs at the end of the night. The rain continued to hold off and the group built a blazing fire.
That night we stayed up around the campfire swapping scary stories, talking about ghosts and deciding on trail names for one another. I went to bed blissfully exhausted from a long day of hiking and good company.
Day 4: Lake Agnes to Caribou Trail
On our final day, Abbie & I went down to see the sunrise over Lake Agnes. And although it was too overcast for much of a sunrise, the lake was beautiful in the early morning light.
We got cozy in our tents again as it rained from about 7am-9am. But suddenly the blue skies appeared and the rain halted completely. From there on out, we had beautiful weather while we hiked.
This day was our shortest length of hiking. But the trail is a lot of fun. It started alongside the lovely Lake Agnes which was peppered with spectacular fall colors.
From there, we crossed over mossy log stairs, huge rocky sections of trail and we ended with the stunning White Sky Rock spur trail. Not to mention, we saw countless funky
mushrooms along the way.
We hung out at the White Sky Rock view point and had a small snack lunch before catching our shuttle back to Oberg Mountain.
Our shuttle driver Harriet is something of a Superior Hiking Trail legend! She’s spunky and fiesty and makes the brief shuttle back super memorable. So we just had to grab a photo with her once we got back to the Oberg parking lot.
Some of our group had to hit the road so we said some goodbyes while the rest of us went to ride the Lutsen gondola up to have lunch at the spectacular Mystery Mountain overlook.
We toasted a beer to an amazing weekend and had some food before hitting the road. I can’t thank everyone on this trip enough for making it such a special weekend.
Stay tuned for more backpacking trips on the Superior Hiking Trail. You can grab one of the last spots for the 2023 trip here.
Superior Hiking Trail Group Trip Highlights 2022
You can shop all my exact backpacking gear on my Amazon storefront here.
