Nearly every morning, I check the conditions on the trail via email and at http://www.shta.org/Conditions.php. The news hasn't been great. One person in the Superior Trail Hiking Yahoo Group was hoping to start in April, and a chorus of locals chimed in to tell him the trail would be rough, if not impassible, even at the end of April. There's a lot of speculation about how late the trail will be ready to hike, which is causing me some consternation since I'd like to leave as soon as possible after graduation.
April 10, 2014: Here are some snow depths on the SHT measured on April 9th out from these trailheads: Castle Danger 25"; Split Rock River Wayside 20"; Caribou River Wayside 24"; Finland Recreation Center 35".
Finland is about 2/3 of the way up the trail. Who knows how much snow is left further north.
A week later, the news was a bit more hopeful:
April 17, 2014: Spring melting has started but there is lots to go. Rivers are starting to open up. Gooseberry Falls opened last Friday. Snow depths are still anywhere from 12" to 30". It will likely be mid-May before the trail is dried out enough for hiking. In the north, Jackson Lake Road and Otter Lake Road are not plowed in the winter so until the snow melts you cannot get to the northern end of the trail.
Since there was some talk that the trail would be nearly impassible until later in May, this mid-May date sounds better. I'm trying to thread the needle between snow melt/mud and major bug season. There may not be much time between the two this year, so I may have to pick which will be worse for me--mud or bugs. Hiking in mud isn't great for the trail. Hiking in bugs isn't great for my sanity. I have to be off the trail by the end of the third week of June so I can go to a conference. Decisions, decisions.
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