In Episode Six of Blazing Trail, we meet Chaz Gallet, medical advisor for the Superior Hiking Trail who also helps manage the hiker logbook program. We also talk to Donna Siska, a trail helper who assists hikers with unexpected situations on the trail, such as broken water filters, supply drops and even aggressive grouse on the trail. The final portion of the episode is a discussion with Peter Smerud, retired director of the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center, which has a land-sharing agreement with the Superior Hiking Trail. He tells us about how the trail is used to teach children and adults about North Shore and Lake Superior ecology and how the two organizations' missions overlap.

In this teaser for Episode Six of the Blazing Trail podcast we meet Chaz Gallet, the medical advisor for the SHT who also collects and manages hiker logbooks along the trail route. Donna Siska is an SHT volunteer who assists hikers with unexpected situations, thru-hiker resupply and other tasks that make the hikers' trail experience as good as it can be. We also hear from Peter Smerud, former director of the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center, a non-profit outdoor school that utilizes a section of the trail that intersects the Wolf Ridge campus to teach children and adults about forest ecology and Lake Superior. 

In Episode 5 of Blazing Trail: 40 Years on the Superior Hiking Trail, we meet Myrtle Turnquist, her husband Eric, their son Ray Moose and Ray’s girlfriend Chloe Banken, who were preparing to hike to the Pincushion Overlook near Grand Marais, Minnesota as part of a day-long community hike and celebration on June 6th, 2026. SHTA Director Lisa Luokkala talks about the many ways the trail brings people together, including the celebratory hike organized by the SHTA to commemorate 40 years on the trail. 
Over 400 hikers participated in the community hike, including Mike Ward, a section adopter and former SHTA Board Member, as well as several other trail enthusiasts who hiked a section of the trail, or attended one of four birthday parties along the route. 

In this teaser for Episode 5, we meet Myrtle Turnquist, her husband Eric, their son Ray Moose and Ray's girlfriend Chloe Banken, who were preparing to hike to the Pincushion Overlook near Grand Marais, Minnesota as part of a day-long community hike and celebration on June 6th, 2026. The day of hiking was organized by the Superior Hiking Trail Association as a way to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the SHT. Over 400 hikers took to the trail that day, and we hear from a few of them in this community-focused episode of the Blazing Trail podcast.

The full episode will be available on July 2nd, 2026.

The Superior Hiking Trail provides great opportunities to connect people of all ages with wild spaces. In Episode 4 we meet Jody Nonnemacher, a North Shore grandmother who has established the tradition of hiking with each of her grandchildren when they turn five-years-old. She talks about how to prepare for a hike with young children, and the importance of creating healthy habits related to walking in the woods together.
In the second half we talk to Henry Downing and Erin Soderberg Downing, a mother and son who tackled 100 miles of the SHT while Erin was doing research for her middle-grade novel "Just Keep Walking." The hike inspired the storyline for the book and deepened the real-life connection between the two of them, proving that families can do hard things and that connections made on the trail sometimes last a lifetime.

Episode three of Blazing Trail, is all about volunteers! In this teaser, we meet Steph Hoff, a competitive trail runner and volunteer crew leader for the SHTA, Monica Shoberg, founder of Unruly Women, an all-femme organization that partners with the SHTA on group trail projects, and Barbara Budd, volunteer coordinator for the SHTA.

In Episode 4 of Blazing Trail: 40 Years on the Superior Hiking Trail, we talk with Jody Nonnemacher, a North Shore grandmother who established the family tradition of taking each of her eight grandchildren on a SHT hike when they turned five years old, with more hikes planned.
We also had a nice conversation with Minnesota author Erin Soderberg Downing and her son Henry Downing about a 100-mile hike on the SHT they tackled while Erin gathered research for her book "Just Keep Walking," a middle-grade novel published in 2024. 
The full episode will be available on May 25th!

Episode three of Blazing Trail, is all about volunteers! We meet Steph Hoff, a competitive trail runner and volunteer crew leader for the SHTA. After that, we discuss "finding your inner wild," with Monica Shoberg, founder of Unruly Women, an all-femme organization that partners with the SHTA on group trail projects. And, to close out the episode, we speak with SHTA Volunteer & Education Coordinator Barbara Budd, who shares news about upcoming volunteer opportunities, and reflects on the role of volunteers, as we near the 40th Anniversary of the Superior Hiking Trail. (Photo courtesy of Monica Shoberg)
More information at:  superiorhiking.org
or unrulywomen.org

This episode is all about finding love in its many forms on the Superior Hiking Trail. We meet Beth Kaszynski and George Dahm, a couple fell in love while volunteering for a trail rehabilitation project near Lutsen. We also hear from Katie and Josh Belanger, who planned a thru-hike on the SHT for their first wedding anniversary. The trip itinerary didn’t go as planned, but the hike still serves as a formative part of their relationship with each other, and with the SHT. Finally, sisters Lynn, Krista and Cheryl planned a hike together during the COVID 19 pandemic. After an injury on the trail set them back, the three sisters tried for a second time, reaffirming sisterly love, pride in each other, and a love for the trail, after the loss of their father.

The February episode is all about finding love in its many forms on the Superior Hiking Trail. In this Episode 2 teaser we meet Beth and George, a couple fell in love after volunteering for a trail rehabilitation project near Lutsen. We also hear from Katie and Josh Belanger, who planned a thru-hike on the SHT for their first wedding anniversary. The trip itinerary didn't go as planned, but the hike still serves as a formative part of their relationship with each other, and with the SHT. Finally, sisters Lynn, Krista and Cheryl set out on a hike during the COVID 19 pandemic. After an injury on the trail set them back, the three sisters tried again, reaffirming sisterly love and a love for the trail, after the loss of their father.