Fabulous Fall Hikes

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I’ve been swallowed inside a kaleidoscope.

Above me the deepest red I’ve ever seen contrasts against a black spine of tree trunk diverging into lace fingers that splatter crimson intensity against a brilliant blue sky. At my feet, the tiny leaves on hundreds of struggling young maples shimmer, tinged with subtle variations of green turning to yellow turning to red.

Rotating my gaze, the colors change positions, bouncing off of each other, spinning, swirling, creating delightful chaos while simultaneously mesmerizing me into saturated satisfaction.

While many tout eastern states as the capitals of color in autumn, Lake Superior shores provide numerous chances for hikes – leisurely or challenging – with spectacular contrasts of colors balanced by dark evergreens or endless expanses of blue water. The predominant colors and color-displaying trees vary depending on time of year and location along the lake’s 1,300-mile circle route.

I’ve hiked many parts of the lake country and would like to take you along a few of the trails that turn most brilliant in the fall on the lake’s four shores.

In Minnesota on its north shore, late September and early October generally top the color charts. Lead among hiking options, of course, is the Superior Hiking Trail that spans more than 300 miles from Duluth to the Canadian border.

Oberg Mountain and its two-mile loop on the trail richly deserve the reputation as a premier fall destination. Nine overlooks offer grand views eastward across Lake Superior while on the back side of the mountain, striking views cast downward into the Onion River Valley and across to Leveaux Mountain. Oberg Lake nestles in the lowlands. The cliff on the northeast gives a dizzying view 250 feet straight down to treetops below.

On the day of my visit, Oberg Lake reflects the blue sky. A spruce bog nearby creates a dark contrast of green and a backdrop for the maples. A smattering of birches and poplars, still soft green and not yet outfitted in their full golden glory, add more depth.

My friend Andrew Slade guaranteed that a color hound like me would find autumnal satisfaction on a late September day atop Oberg Mountain, but the brown landscape on my way up the shore almost dissuaded me. There was nothing to make a color hound howl.

“Be patient,” Andrew had cautioned. “You’ll be yapping soon enough.”

Indeed, I am yapping and realizing that Andrew, editor-author of Guide to the Superior Hiking Trail, certainly should know this trail.

“Look to the ridges for brilliant maples,” Andrew advises for fall visits. Sugar maples need deep soils and a relatively warm climate. The ridge tops along which the Superior Hiking Trail follows are ideal.

Geologists believe that the last glaciers scoured the valleys but dropped their soil-producing till on ridges between retreating glacial fingers. Valleys collect sinking cold air during critical transitions in spring and fall. This, combined with the relative warming effect of Lake Superior’s unfrozen water in winter, yields warmth on the ridges closest to the lake. Sugar maples thrive.

To catch the brilliant reds of maple and the golden hues of poplar and birch, you must visit twice. Maples peak late in September, birch in early October. Some lucky years, an overlap features all the colors the last week of September.

From the top of the Bear Lake cliffs at Tettegouche State Park in October, one marvels as the rich mixture of hardwoods including oak, adds a deep bronze-to-purple tinge to the dominate yellows of birch and poplar in Palisade Valley. Not far away, the deep red of Juneberry accents Marshall Mountain at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center.

In Ontario, plans will someday stretch Voyageur Trail from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste. Marie and beyond, though currently it covers 300 miles in spurts along Lake Superior’s northern coast. Different sections bear different names. Some portions remain quite wild, perhaps requiring bushwacking, while other stretches pass abandoned gold mines and cabins, fossil deposits and caves adorned with ancient pictographs.

Near Rossport, the 32.6-mile Casque Isles portion of the trail ruggedly ascends high ridges for stunning views year-round. At the Whitesand River, the trail follows the multiple cascades of Rainbow Falls. In fall, the usual yellows of birch and aspen are sprinkled with the oranges of occasional small mountain maples.

Trees are not the only colorful autumn events along the Casque Isles trail. “Lake Superior seems to be a little more active then,” says Dan McGrath, president of the Casque Isles Hiking Club. “There’s more wind in October and November and you can see the big rollers from the trail.”

The Algoma Highlands outside of Sault Ste. Marie constitute another great color destination and Agawa Canyon surrounds hikers with the brilliance of maples and towering canyon walls. The Algoma Central Railroad’s 280-mile round trip excursion there ranks among the 10 Best Train Rides in North America by EcoTraveler Magazine.

Maple splendor and mountainous landscapes stretching to the horizon are the reward of an arduous 6 1/2-mile hike on the Awausee Trail within Lake Superior Provincial Park. The trail leads to four overlooks 600 feet above the Agawa River valley that inspired Canada’s famous Group of Seven artists. Squint … and imagine the view as oil on canvas.

In Michigan, autumn colors are synonymous with Lake of the Clouds in Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park and on the road to Brockway Mountain in the Keweenaw Peninsula.

The Upper Peninsula fall kaleidoscope also showcases golden birches atop 200-foot white sandstone cliffs that drop into turquoise waters of Lake Superior along the coast of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

While the road to Miner’s Castle offers a glimpse of this bold glory, the far better alternative is to stroll the Lakeshore Hiking Trail (a segment of the North Country National Scenic Trail). Twelve miles of the trail follow the upper edge of the cliffs. The thunder of waves exploding in caves and arches below can be an awesome reminder of Lake Superior’s power.

The colors are certainly not bad, either.

“We have yellow, orange and red and every conceivable color in between. It is just outrageous,” says Gregg Bruff, the chief of heritage education at the national lakeshore.

The fall palette comes mainly by grace of the sugar maples, red maples, American beech, aspen (big tooth and quaking) and white birch,  although as Gregg says, “the list goes on and on.”

The last two weeks of September and the first two of October tend to be the “showoff” times.

At Porcupine Mountains, meanwhile, several trails within the park offer great fall hikes. Park interpreter Robert Sprague quickly lists two of his best bets for fall.

“One of my favorites is up along the escarpment. In the fall, you’re going up there to see the colors.”

A four-mile hike (one way) gets you to an overlook above the Little Carp River and surrounding hills.

“It’s pretty remarkable and gorgeous just because of the panoramic view,” Robert says.

He also suggests a slightly shorter round-trip on a 6-mile loop that travels several of the state park’s trails. Starting with the Summit Peak overlook, travel along the tower trail up to the 40-foot wooden viewing tower. From there, take the Old Summit Peak Trail about a half mile down to the South Mirror Lake Trail, then 2 miles in to Mirror Lake. After checking out the beautiful scenery here, Robert says, take Little Carp River Trail 2 miles through the old-growth forest then connect and return on Beaver Creek Trail, about 1 mile to the starting point.

What Robert likes best about the loop is that from the beginning, on Summit Peak, you see the hills into which you will then hike.

In Wisconsin, the rolling hills make for lovely country driving along the lake. Those who like to stop and hike can easily find many spots worth sampling.

The Washburn district of the  Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest has especially intriguing non-motorized trails enjoyed by runners, hikers, bicyclists and an occasional horse.

Teresa Maday, assistant ranger for lands and recreation in the national forest, suggests two possible hiking areas.

On the south side of the Washburn district, the Teuton trail has the steepest hills with three loops that vary in length from about 2 to 3 1/2 miles.

“Because of the oak and hardwood forests,” Teresa says, “you’ll see a lot of colors bursting out toward Washburn and Cornucopia.”

On the Valkyrie trails to the north, red and jack pine dominate the forest make-up but intermingle with hardwoods and give a green depth of color during fall peaks in late September through early October.

“You’ll get reds early and then you’re going to see a burst of yellow and then we have a lot of sugar and red maple, so you’re going to see red. We’ve got a beautiful patchwork.”

These national forest trails are criss-crossed with ATV trails, but the trails most used by hikers remain off-limits to the motorized traffic.

Back on Oberg Mountain as I contemplate all of the possibilities for brisk hikes through the blazing color variety of Lake Superior’s autumn, I become aware that the riffle of the leaves overhead fills the air with a subtle, soothing sound. Like the persistent white noise of a waterfall, the sound sometimes seems far away and at other times it comes in so close that I imagine myself standing in the falls with “water” roaring past my ears.

From between my feet, where the forest floor is both a burst of new color and, here and there, the fading brown and purple of yesterday’s fallen leaves, comes the pungent decaying odor of new earth in the making.

I shuffle-kick, becoming my own kaleidoscope as the leaves are crushed, twisted, bent and pulverized and release scents soaked up by attentive nostrils.

I bend for a closer whiff, then lie down on the crackling autumn ground to get a full blast of this lake season, a festival not just for the eyes, but for all of the senses.

What Changes?

When we see brilliant reds, oranges and yellows in autumn, we are often seeing colors that are in leaves all summer but are masked by the green generated in the tree’s food-making. This process takes place in leaf cells with chlorophyll, the source of the green. From sunlight, chlorophyll absorbs energy to transform carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates, such as sugars and starches. As the days shorten and temperatures drop, leaves stop making food and prepare for “hibernation.” Chlorophyll breaks down, the green disappears and the color array becomes visible. Violà, fall splendor!

Other chemical changes occur, forming additional colors through development of the red anthocyanin pigments. Some mixtures give rise to the reddish and purplish fall colors of trees such as dogwoods and sumacs, others tint the sugar maple brilliant orange and still others turn oaks mostly brown. These colors are mixtures of chlorophyll residue and other pigments in the leaf.

How intense the colors are and how long they last depends on light, temperature and water. Low temperatures above freezing favor the formation of anthocyanin, producing bright reds in maples. Early frost weakens the brilliant red. Rainy or overcast days can increase the intensity of fall colors, but the best time to enjoy the colorful fall feast  would be a clear, dry and cool (not freezing) day.

– Source: State University of New York

Randy “Rudi” Hargesheimer’s photographic work has been published in newspapers, books, magazines and calendars, including those of Lake Superior Magazine. He manages Midwest Mountaineering in Minneapolis, has served as president of the Superior Hiking Trail Association and is on the board of the Parks and Trails Council of Minnesota. He also owns every issue of Lake Superior Magazine. “Yes,” Rudi acknowledges, “I love Lake Superior!”