This was a section of the Kab Ash Trail that lived up to its billing as "the place where hikers go to get lost." I made the short drive down to Salmi Road and promptly hit the trail
entering a maze of old logging roads. Surprisingly, there were a few asters still in bloom.
Overall, its starting to look like the start of our long, northern Minnesota winter.
Though there were lots of roads leading in every which direction, I discovered that if I looked hard enough I would find a blue Kab Ash Trail marker to point the way.
Soon I headed into some of the thickest, darkest forest I'd been into in a long time. It reminded me of some of the forests I would see up in the mountains of North Carolina. Then, I left the deep mossy forest and entered into a bright, grassy beaver meadow.
From there the trail led into a cedar glade.
I crossed the Arrowhead Trail,
a snowmobile trail and then into a recently logged area.
Finding the trail through the logged area was simply a guessing game on my part, but soon I found a gate across an old road. The gate was marked with National Park Service boundary signs. I would finally cross into the park and immediately found a rusty stove
and some debris alongside the trail. Perhaps, this was what was left of an old logging camp or hunting camp. I headed back into some cedars
and then the trail got really swampy. Just like during yesterday's hike at Franz Jevne State Park, lots of colorful fungi decorated the forest floor.
Soon I came to the most interesting part of the hike. It was a large, active beaver pond.
There were chomped down trees everywhere near the trail
and one of the most massive beaver lodges I've ever seen.
A lot of the fallen trees had fresh piles of wood chips alongside, but I never did see any of the resident beavers. As I headed further east the trail soon reached a long section of boardwalk.
A lot of time and effort went into this trail, yet the trail was in terrible shape. It was very overgrown.
After splashing through more wet areas, I found myself at a stream, Daley Brook.
The trail followed along the banks of Daley Brook, crossed it on a snowmobile bridge and then followed the banks again on the other side.
I knew I was nearing the park boundary when I saw a sign that said "No hunting or trapping". Sure enough, I soon found myself outside the park
and followed a trail to the parking lot on Ash River Trail. I did not have a fun experience on this section of the Kab Ash Trail and decided that I did not want to walk it back to the car. Instead I walked a portion of the Ash River Trail past some golden tamaracks,
and then turned right onto the Arrowhead Trail
(which wasn't nearly as swampy as the Kab Ash Trail) to make my way back to the car.
I have spent some time,(a full winter), hiking and camping the backwoods of the Kab Ash Trail,(Beginning at Salmi road). Most of the trails at this end are rustic at best, Not much maintenance going on in this section of Voyageurs. This sort of off trail hiking is for the real "wilderness" enthusiast. No real way to get lost out here, All you really have to do to get back to civilization is to head north till you reach the Ash River, Depending on which end you are at, you can follow the river either east or south to find relatively close roads, Following the river west you will run into Gamma road, NW and you will run into either Gamma or Gappa road, and South/ SE you will run into HWY 53.Very fun and solitary area, There are bears, moose, deer and what I am pretty sure are either wild dogs or coyotes,(You will likely hear them in the distance)....None of which ever gave me any worry. One rather large moose followed me around for about an hour before becoming bored.
ReplyDeleteI'll suggest that any food or scraps be either well burned or taken with you whereas there are those animals who will take advantage of anything left out....Never had to worry about the large predators...but had to constantly watch out for the thieving chipmunks or the field mice...They are rather pesky and insistent little creatures....I had chipmunks dropping things on my tent all of the time...and once found a half dozen dead field mice crammed into my boots stuffed into my boots by a clever little weasel. All in all I very much enjoyed my time out at Kab Ash...Will be going back in a few weeks.
I'd like to add, PLEASE leave the area in as good or better condition than you found it Please do not leave your litter...and if you can, please pick up any litter that you see....I and every other outdoor enthusiast thank you for preserving this beauty for everyone else.
I would like to add, Though rivers and small lakes are plentiful, you'll want to either carry your own water, or bring a filter with you, The water quality here is drinkable, but definitely needs filtering to be safe.
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