40 Years Ago: What was the North Shore like before the Superior Hiking Trail?
Welcome to Blazing Trail: 40 Years on the Superior Hiking Trail! In Episode One of this limited-series podcast we meet some of the early trail blazers including Jim Shinners, Denny Caneff, Dennis Rhysdahl, Jo Swanson and others, including a few stories from Tom Peterson (pictured below), an SHT pioneer who helped plan and build many beloved sections of the Trail.
Podcast producer Staci Drouillard explores what outdoor recreation on the North Shore looked like before the SHT existed, and how the trail has become part of the North Shore experience for residents and visitors over the past 40 years. Includes archived audio from the Superior Hiking Trail Founders Video. Learn more at https://superiorhiking.org/
Tom Peterson, an early trail blazer. Tom passed away in 2021.
Laid-off steelworkers who helped build the SHT. Photo by Tom Peterson, 1988.
Early trail advocates share how laid-off steelworkers from Silver Bay helped build some of the early sections, as well as how Finnish farmers were recruited to help build the bridge over the Devil Track River.
Crew including Finnish farmers builds the bridge over the Devil Track River. Photo courtesy of the SHTA.
