A hiker wrapping up the tent portion of a Superior Hiking Trail (SHT) thru-hike has logged nearly 100 miles in two weeks, and day 14 delivered a mix of quiet northwoods scenery, small-town trail logistics and one memorable near-miss with an ATV.

The day started slow and peaceful. With a shorter mileage day planned and her husband due to meet her in the afternoon, she left camp around 9:20 and walked a lonely stretch past Beaver Pond and Fault Line campsites without seeing another soul. Rather than firing up the stove, she improvised a trail version of cold brew — instant coffee shaken with stream water mid-morning, no stove required. Steep ups and downs through what looked like textbook moose habitat followed, before the trail dropped toward Beaver Bay.

Then came the comedic highlight. Stopping at a latrine near the Beaver River campsites, she discovered — slightly too late — that a trail runs within feet behind it, just as an ATV approached. She managed to finish and dress in the nick of time, and notes it's the second time on this trip that an SHT latrine has been less private than advertised; at East Gooseberry Campsite she was once the awkward bystander instead.

The route then threaded closer to civilisation: road crossings, a pass near the Silver Bay golf course and a stretch on the Gitchi-Gami, a paved non-motorised trail along the Lake Superior shore. Her husband met her on trail about a quarter mile from Penn Boulevard — the biggest trailhead she's seen on the entire SHT — where the truck and camper were waiting with an electrolyte drink ready. After nearly two weeks of tent nights, a hot shower, a bed with an electric blanket and a zero day at Lamb's Resort near Schroeder are next, with the rest of the trail planned as a series of day hikes from that campground base.

For travellers, this stretch is a good window into why the SHT works so well as a flexible trip: it brushes right past real towns like Beaver Bay and Silver Bay, so resupply, pickup points and comfortable campground bases are never far from the wilderness sections. You can thru-hike it in one go, or do exactly what this hiker is doing — base yourself at a lakeside campground and tick off sections as day hikes, camper and electric blanket included. Just scout your latrine's sightlines before you settle in.