July 12, 2024

Stewart River Campsite to Fox Farm Pond Campsite

20 miles

In the morning I have a relatively quick coffee and pack up as fast as I can. We have a big day, our first and maybe only 20 miler of the SHT, and it’s time to get to it.

The latrine at this campsite is extremely nice, if a little buggy, and I say so aloud as I walk back to the fire ring, where Machine is talking with the hiker from last night.

The hiker seems a little more rested and we find out that his name is Glen. He’s already pondering ending his hike, or possibly going up and hiking around Grand Marais and spending a few days in town. “Maybe thru hiking is just not for me,” he says. We reassure him that even though it is hard up ahead, there are some really beautiful parts. But we are equally as reassuring that spending some time in Grand Marais would be fun too, given that we almost quit and went there.

He asks us to look out for a hiker up ahead named Elliott and to tell him that he’d either be at the campsite or the road. We agree to do so, wish each other good travels, and we’re on our way.

The entire day is flat, forested, and dry. After the first mile, there is hardly any mud all day. But the trade off is that the mosquitoes are absolutely bonkers and it’s ridiculously hot and humid. Also there are no views at all. 100% green tunnel. And we both find ticks on us at various points. Yet again the SHT cannot just relax and let us enjoy anything! It must be difficult and cause some kind of suffering at all times! But I do enjoy the walking especially in the morning. It’s soft path and still very cool and we alternate between pine and maple forests. We do come across Elliott, talk about our respective hikes, and pass along Glen’s message. It feels like real thru hiking for just a minute as we exchange pleasantries with a hiker going the other way.

We take a hot break at the first campsite, and after that the terrain is a little less nice but still nothing compared to the slop of the other night, just kind of dry and grassy and hot. I go into kind of a trance as I listen to Gone Girl. This book makes my skin crawl, but it definitely hooks me.

As I’m getting close to the road where we planned to have lunch, I hear Machine calling me. We both walked right over the last water and realized it too late. So we have to scoop some from a semi-stagnant bog-brook. Our poor filters.

We eat lunch on a gravel road in the shade next to a trailhead parking lot. We lay our tents out to dry in the sun and spread out on our groundsheets to eat. We both packed too much food for this section so we can pig out. After lunch we both try to lie down and have a nap, but the mosquitoes won’t leave us alone, even with the breeze and the DEET, so it’s not very relaxing. Eventually we both give up and continue walking.

The afternoon is more of the same: some forest but mostly grassy, hot in the sun and marginally less comfortable in the shade. It’s like NorCal, except with humidity, mosquitoes, and no Mt. Shasta to look forward to in the distance. Ok, so not very NorCal at all. Ugh. This trail is making me miss the terrain of the PCT like crazy. I used to defend eastern hiking but man, now I am Team Hike In the West Where it’s Dry and The Trail is Actually Trail. I guess that’s not that fair because today is really quite trail-like compared to the rest of the hike, but still.

We have another gravel parking lot break and then finish the final push to camp. Fox Farm Pond campsite is buggy but large and empty. We set up our tents side by side and dive inside, where we sit just breathing and enjoying being out of the mosquitoes and the head net for once.

So close. So close to being done with hiking this very not-for-summer trail in this miserable summer.