Minong Section 4: Hike from North Desor to Windigo

This is the Minong Ridge Trail at its most uncompromising — thirteen miles of raw, primitively maintained wilderness that will test your navigation skills as much as your legs. You'll push through the charred aftermath of old wildfires where new growth fights through blackened trunks, then descend into boggy lowlands where beaver dams serve as your trail and trekking poles become a third leg. The terrain rolls relentlessly along Lake Superior's spine, with rocky ridgelines giving way to root-choked descents, then climbing right back up again. Cairns replace blazes in exposed sections, so your map and compass better not be decorative. The payoff is Windigo itself — that satisfying feeling of having crossed some of the most remote terrain in the Lower 48. This stretch is for backpackers who consider a well-groomed trail a personal insult.