Beginning of this month I finished up my section hike of the SHT that I started 3 years ago. Really my first experience backpacking and the SHT treated me well. Looking forward to next year I find myself in need of actually picking a new trail instead of just opening the guidebook and looking for a stretch I had not done. So I am looking for recommendations for where to head to next.
SHT was all done in 2 or 3 night sections mainly because I made the great decision to start overnight trips when I had a baby at home. Now have a 4 and almost 2 year old so my wife is coming around to the idea of a longer stretch, lets say a week and I can bargain with her later. So pretty much anything 2-7 nights in length. I am in Minneapolis but happy to drive a couple of states over if the location and duration seem appropriate (Mountain Wanderer's recent video definitely got me thinking about Montana. I feel like the natural progression from the SHT (especially since I ended at the north end) would be to just keep going onto the Border Route Trail or the Kekekabic Trail. Did a bit of light searching and watched a few videos and not sure that is the kind of challenge I want to move into right away. To quote Shug on the BRT, "It is VERY OVERGROWN in many places and for long stretches... We agreed on 90% Challenge and 10% fun." While I might want to push through all that someday the SHT has probably left me on the spoiled side of having a maintained trail. Plus both the trail maintenance trips for the BRT were cancelled this year due to COVID which I imagine will make for an extra rough year next year.
A lot of people I talked to on the trail recommend Isle Royale and I have seen that also be popular on these forums. Badlands over in South Dakota also sound appealing, though I have the sense I may need to leave the hammock behind for an adventure there. Other folks on the trail also mentioned the Porcupine Mountains and Governor Knowles State Forest. I have also really enjoyed Shug's shorter BWCA videos so maybe look for trails there.
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