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Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Mesabi Hike - Madden Creek to Kekakabic Trailhead

 
Saturday, August 16, 2009. This was a gold star day for us. All of our legs were working pretty well, and we finished a major connection known as "the back of the arrowhead."

Every scene just screamed "north country." And those weren't the only reasons we were happy. It was also our shortest hiking day.

wetland

It was still all road walks, but it's hard to complain about it being too civilized. I liked this tree a lot, along Fernberg Road. North Country Trail enthusiasts know this road name well. It's the only way to connect from the Kekakabic Trail (the Kek) to Ely.

tree

And here we are at the Kek. This is where, just three months earlier. Five of us hiked through from the east to end that hike at this very same location. Lots more green stuff in August.

Kekekabic Trail head

Kekekabic Trail head

And the next stop was also the same on both hikes- the Chocolate Moose in Ely. Talk about good food!

Chocolate Moose

After that we had a date with a big guy. A really big guy. At the Voyageur Motel.

voyageur statue

We had to get things washed and sorted and repacked, because this hike was not over. Yes, we finished this section of the trail, but my goal was to complete all my unfinished North Country Trail miles in Minnesota. This meant a drive back to the north shore of Lake Superior, and a switch to backpacking on the Superior Hiking Trail/NCT.

I did do a number of blog posts about that hike, so I think tomorrow I'll just give an overview of those next few days and direct you back to those other posts if you want to see them. I showed a lot of pictures, but didn't give much continuity, so I'll focus on providing that.

"Back of the Arrowhead" completed: Chippewa National Forest to Kekekabic Trail, 8.8 miles that day, 182.2 total.

See Ely to Madden Creek
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