Yours truly, all but modeling for Superior Wilderness Designs. Admittedly, their Long Haul 40 is a pretty flawless pack.

With the trail still fresh in the memory, I thought a rapid-fire review of some gear and planning decisions might be of use if you’re thinking about the SHT or another long hike in the near future. So here goes:

5-star gear

• Tarptent Aeon Li. Could not imagine a better shelter for the weight—bombproof and so many clever design decisions (magnets??) at only a pound. For an in-depth review, check out what Cam Honan has to say.

• Superior Wilderness Designs DCF Long Haul 40 pack. Likewise, beyond reproach or suggestions for improvement.

• Montbell Rain Trekker jacket. A few ounces heavier than the lightest rain shells, but feels very stout and has big pockets and pit zips for versatility. Mags has a nice review.

• Superior Fleece hoodie, aka the Minnesota Melly. Comfy, durable, odor-resistant, chic. Purchased from Great Lakes Gear Exchange in Duluth (go there!).

• Trail Designs 700mL caldera-cone-style cook system. Perfect for one person cooking once a day, and super light even with fuel weight thrown in (I counted on 25 mL yellow HEET per boil and it was more than enough). Stored the fuel in Listerine travel-size bottles.

• Ursack Minor food bag. Kept the squirrels and chipmunks out, as it has for 5,000+ miles now. Just don’t do something stupid like hang it in a tree, and the bears won’t get into it either.

4-star gear

• Western Mountaineering Flylite sleeping bag. Zipper is finicky, thin 10d fabric doesn’t resist moisture well. Would fare better in an arid climate, but northern MN ain’t that. Still ridiculously light and compact for the (claimed) 34F temp rating.

• Altra Timp shoes. Comfortable, surprisingly durable, but resulted in identical blisters on top of my big toes, which many other reviewers have noted. Clear design flaw.

• Black Diamond Distance Carbon FLZ trekking pole. Perfect except for the foam handle, which isn’t as kind to the skin as cork would be. As those Mainers back in 2011 told me, “You can’t beat the feel of the real coahhk. It just don’t feel right with the rubbah.”

• Gossamer Gear waterproof pack liners. One picked up a quarter-sized hole somehow, one stayed fully intact. Still quite durable and waterproof through some awful rain.

2-star gear

• Sawyer Squeeze with Platypus SoftBottle as a dirty water bag. It takes an extremely deft touch, or just blind luck, to get the threads to seal flush when screwing a filter onto a Platypus; most of the time it leaks. A better dirty water bag would’ve been a CNOC Vecto but I forgot to bring mine. I refuse to use the Sawyer-provided dirty water bags because they’re so flimsy and hard to fill in a shallow stream.

My full gear list for this hike is here if you’re really really curious what else I was carrying.

Planning

For planning and navigation I saw no reason to use anything beyond the SHTA Databook and an offline Google Map of northeastern MN on my iPhone, and that was more than enough. The databook was only seriously remiss on mileage once, at the Gooseberry-Gitchi Gami State Trail roadwalk, but that’s a situation that is in flux so I can’t be too critical about that. The SHTA’s website has all the resupply planning info you need. I sent a box to Cove Point Lodge in Beaver Bay and one to Sawtooth Outfitters in Tofte; both had only kind and helpful folks working there!

I understand why hiking southbound is easier logistically, but northbound sure has a more rewarding conclusion. Everything between the Encampment River and Martin Road toward the southern end of the trail is very uninspiring, and that’s the most charitable way I can phrase it. If considering a thru-hike of the SHT, I’d research shuttle options (look up Harriet Quarles on the Facebook page) to see if a nobo hike is feasible to you.

Cell reception was hit and miss, mostly miss in the last several days up north. I have Verizon.

If you stumble on this and have any further questions, ask away in the comments!