Andy is in the home stretch, with under 50 miles to go. He's been up the shore for 24 days now, sleeping on the ground and eating his meals outdoors for all but three of them. He's feeling some of the aches associated with constantly bending down to set up and take down camp, cook on a low surface, and keep a campfire going, and he's a little grizzled after not having shaven for a week, but otherwise, he looks hale and hearty. On this last stretch he's met quite a few people who are working on hiking the length of the trail in bits and pieces, but not any other through-hikers. He met one young solo hiker, a woman who had never done anything like it by herself before. What a different world. The food ... read more

Andy had a little change in plans last night. He discovered that if he were to stay at the Chapins Creek campsite, he'd have to share it with about 15 other people, including some lively kids, so he pushed on to Split Rock, where things were a little quieter. It meant he ended up traveling 19 miles yesterday, five more than originally anticipated. It did include a little detour when he missed a turn on the SHT and walked about a half-mile on a snowmobile trail before he realized his mistake and headed back to Blue Blaze Territory. Someone is looking out for this hiker. Last night's rain wasn't too bad, so his feet just got a little wet, and today was cloudy but dry. He reached the part of the trail that requires a detour ... read more

Andy was treated to two more days of perfect fall weather. He walked 12 miles yesterday and camped at West Kennedy Creek, not too far from the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center. So much for a peaceful evening; oh, but there's nothing like the sweet voices of children reveling in the wilderness. He didn't say if he saw any rock climbers when he went past the steep rock cliffs of Section 13. When he called mid-day today, he was approaching Mt. Trudee, covering lots of rough but very beautiful terrain. This part of the trail goes through the lovely Tettegouche State Park and past two sweet little lakes, Bear and Bean Lakes. Tonight's destination was the campsite at Penn Creek. This one should be a little quieter than last night's.... read more

Hi - this is Andy again giving my ghost writer Maureen a few days off. She was kind enough to come north to resupply me and take me off the trail for a few days of rest and relaxation. She picked me up at the Finland Recreation Center which is about 142 miles into my journey and leaves about 123 to go. We headed for Grand Marais to pick up some supplies, go to the laundromat and have lunch. Our lodging is in Lutsen, which puts us in close proximity to some pretty areas of the SHT for a day hike. We decided to head up the Caribou Trail and hike to the Caribou Lake overlook and then east to Lake Agnes to check out the campsite and overlook with trail log. We read some of ... read more

Thanks to spotty reception and work interference (darn it, some of us still have to punch a time clock), today's report was unsatisfyingly brief. Andy is forging ahead despite the blisters that continue to plague him at a rate of 14-15 miles a day. The word "dramatic" doesn't appear very often in the parts of the guidebook that describe the terrain he's hiking today and tomorrow. Reassuring descriptions like "relatively level hiking" and "gentle ascent" appear here, along with "two spectacular inland lakes." One of the lakes, Sonju Lake, can be reached by boardwalk. The other thing that came across in our short phone conversation was an urgent request to send him yesterday's Twins double-header scores via text. He does have his priorities. Keep your fingers crossed for a better signal tomorrow and a meatier report. ... read more