Upside down on the Superior Hiking Trail

Trees are reflected in a pool of sky-blue water along the Superior Hiking Trail. (Sam Cook photo)

I spent a couple of hours on the Superior Hiking Trail near Castle Danger Tuesday afternoon and evening. This week marks the 25th anniversary of the trail, which runs through Duluth and from near Two Harbors all the way to the Canadian border — a total distance of 282 miles.

I plan to write a column for Sunday’s Outdoors section about the trail, and I just needed some time out there to get my thoughts together. I took a notebook, a camera, a little food and a yellow Lab. I walked for a couple of hours, starting at Lake County Road 617 and heading northeast. It’s a segment of the trail our family has hiked often when we need to get out of town but don’t have time to drive farther up the shore.

It was a beautiful afternoon, cool and sunny. The dog flushed a couple of grouse, and I flushed one. Little brooks were running full. The sun-baked pine needles on the forest floor infused the air with their resinous aroma.

What happened out there on the trail is what always happens. You slip into the easy rhythm of walking and let your eyes and ears and nose sift through the sensory offerings along the way. You can take a lot of hurry with you to the trail, but after a short time, it all dissipates. You discover — one more time — that three miles per hour is the ideal pace for moving through the world. A couple of hours later, you come off  the trail bearing a sense of calm that you had forgotten was attainable. The yellow dog has black feet. She’s happy, too.

All that from a little walk on a long trail.