Weekly Blog #11 - Lessons of Superior Hiking Trail - Part 3
Full Blog Archives are here.
posted: Saturday, July 11th, 2026
Part 3 (the FINAL installment) of lessons Sponge took from the SHT!
This will be Sponge's final blog on lessons he took from the Superior Hiking Trail. Just like the last two blogs, there will be three valuable lessons learned, totaling 9 lessons. But hey, we always learn more from mistakes than triumphs, right? Right???
Lesson #7: Your feet are your #1 asset.
Sponge doesn't want to knock anyone over with this feather of reality, but without functioning feet, most hikers won't get too far. Setting aside those hikers with prosthetic limbs (many of whom can conquer obstacles the rest of us can't dream of) - you need to take roughly 2,000 steps to get one mile down ANY trail. That's 1,000 steps from each foot, as they are equal partners in your progress.
So, you need to safeguard your feet at all costs. Or hike over.
Sponge THOUGHT he learned this lesson already from the Appalachian Trail, where he was punished by 4 straight days of rain in June 2025. And to a certain extent, he did. He knew the increased importance of dry socks. He brought 2 extra pairs of Darn Toughs - one for sleeping and one for daily wear - upping his sock collection to 4 pairs total.
But as the SHT dished out it's own combination of wet, challenging conditions, Sponge again became the student. The first 50 miles left him with obvious blisters as his softened feet rubbed hard against his trail runners. Attempts to patch these hot spots with leukotape and band-aids partially back-fired when one bandages toe rubbed against its neighbor, causing a blister Sponge would battle the remainder of the trip.
Still, Sponge did make some good 'strides' with his foot education. He picked up a pack of thin Hanes ankle socks (with a 100% polyester blend) and combo'ed those with the Darn Toughs to eliminate the heel friction damage. And he learned (through trial and error ) how to cushion a bad blister to keep going.
But just like failing to pack mosquito spray (Part 1, Lesson #3), Sponge left a game-changer at home: webbed socks, Having never developed toe blisters on his 110 miles of the AT, he left these unique, thin socks that cover each individual toe behind. Painful lesson learned, at long last.
Lesson #8: Don't lose sight of the victories.
The easiest way to quit ANY long trail is to convince yourself you can't do ANYTHING right on it. And on the SHT, there were some tense conversations in Sponge's head that questioned just this. But it's important to give yourself credit for the successes...and not just slam your head into tree trunks about the screw-ups.
Yes, making to a 'goal' camp or a hitting your daily mileage 'goal' can be such a victory. But there's a problem there: in the morning, there will be more miles and another camp to reach. Instead, each hiker needs to find personal victories in what they have done right and how they have improved. Only then will that nagging voice of doubt in your hiker head quiet down a bit.
For Sponge, much of this revolved around gear, and mini lessons he learned on the fly. Much of his gear - upgraded or selected after his experiences on the AT worked well on the Superior Trail. His new hiking poles, bear bag and 2-man tent were all-stars. His clothing, including new pants, Crocs, trail runners and rain jacket took the wet, muddy abuse. Even luxury items, like a mini Bluetooth speaker and electronic air pump worked seamlessly.
And there were small discoveries to add to the "win" column. Grocery sacks became an incredible tool to keep muddy items isolated in his tent. Bread clips worked perfectly to hang items in his tent. His pre-made dehydrated chicken salad recipes were almost good enough to make Sponge wonder if he could ditch a stove on future trips.
Sure, mistakes will ALWAYS be made by Sponge. He's a clumsy human afterall. But mentally, those tiny victories helped drown out the "what are you doing?" worries and pushed him on.
Lesson #9: It's OK to tone down ambitions.
Sponge's saved his BIGGEST lesson for last. For the second straight year he set out on a long trail with a specific goal of how many miles he wanted to hike. 200 miles. Why that number? Well, because he only made it to 110 on the Appalachian Trail (even though his goal there was 220). But after three grueling (and somewhat repetitive) days into the SHT, Sponge came to a simple realization:
Short of doing a full thru-hike of a trail, what does the mileage matter?
Given his tight teacher-timeline of summer hikes, he would never do hikes that take months and cover thousands of miles. Unless he spends a decade or more doing them one section at a time.
And as he constantly asked himself if he had already taken a picture of this fern-bordered trail or this lake on the Superior Trail, he began to feel a little deja vu. On the AT he had similar feelings with mountain overpasses - many of which seemed similar.
Was it worth 2-3-weeks to hike hundreds of miles of a trail? Or could Sponge just simplify and do 100 miles over a single week?
The brain kept grinding. One week would mean more time with friends and family. It would likely reduce the stress of reaching supply boxes and completely eliminate a need for zero day hotel reservations. And if he truly kept at this for a decade, Sponge could do 10 DIFFERENT trails and 1,000 miles total - picking and choosing the absolute best segments of longer trails.
On his final night on the SHT, Sponge talked about this new approach with his constant trail companion: Griffin. This younger hiker had also toned down his own plan to reach the northern terminus and instead slow his pace to enjoy fishing along the way.
Griffin offered: "You have to enjoy the trail, afterall."
Sponge couldn't agree more. Next summer - a new trail for 100 miles over one week.
Next week? WHICH trail in 2027?