I'm going to be heading up there on June 1st and at the moment I plan to go from the Caribou River wayside up to Cascade River SP which by my math is about 56 miles. Since I have not hiked that section I'm wondering if this a good plan for an 8 day trip on that section.

I'm in fairly good shape hiking wise. I'm just feeling like this trip is too short for that many days but can't decide if I should start further south or travel further north or just stick with it.

What would you do??

Can't answer that question for you but I'd expect to get farther than that for myself. What sections are you familiar with?

Here's a quick summary of that stretch plus more:
* the first mile or so from Caribou wayside is up hill but then it's relatively easy hiking until Cross river (about 13 miles)
* fairly hilly from Cross River to Briton Peak (about 8 miles)
* very easy hiking from Briton Peak to Oberg (about 5 miles)
* quite hilly from Oberg to a mile past the Caribou Trail (about 12 miles)
* relatively easy hiking the rest of the way to Cascade
* the first 4.5 miles after Cascade River are quite hilly on the east side of the river, I have not hiked the west side
* it's been a decade since I hiked from there to Grand Marais but I was a less fit hiker then and don't recall any great difficulties.

One issue for the average daily distance you are proposing (7 miles) is the 9 mile stretch between the South Cross River campsite and the next campsite at Springdale Creek (unless you reserve a site at the Temperance River car camping campground)

For comparison, I'll be with a not SO strong hiking group going from Finland to Temperance river (about 34 miles) in 4 days next weekend. That includes driving there on day 1 and driving back on day 4 (from the twin cities). Half of our route overlaps your's.

Sounds like you are finishing up on a Friday, if you are planning to leave your car at Cascade River you could use the Superior Shuttle to get you back to the car if you end up going past Cascade (shuttle runs on Fri, Sat and Sun)

I'm mostly familiar with everything up to Section 13 and around Cascade River SP.

But since creating this thread I found an excel spreadsheet which shows the distance to each campsite. I don't know how current it is but from what it says I have figured out a better plan.

Night 1= Leskinen creek 5.2 miles

Night 2= Aspen knob 12.7 miles

Night 3= Dyers creek 15.6 miles

Night 4= Springdale creek 15.7 miles

Night 5= West Poplar River 12.5 miles

Night 6= Spruce creek 8.5 miles

Night 7= North Cascade River 9.4 miles

Total mileage= 79.6 miles

I honestly never realized I could go past my car and take the shuttle back to it. That's kinda funny. I'm planning on taking the shuttle from Cascade River SP to County road 6.

Thanks for your help Jim!

Just a couple comments:

* Aspen Knob to Dyer's creek includes about 4 miles of hilly trail that rival Silver Bay to Section 13 which you are familiar with. But I can't visualize more workable itineraries that don't involve an additional day between Aspen Knob and Springdale.

* I've never camped at Spruce Creek but I've enjoyed several long lazy lunch stops there. Nice spot!

* The shuttle stops at the trailhead near North Cascade only by reservation. But I'm guessing you will be hiking back to catch the shuttle an Cascade River trailhead on day 8.

Hey Jim thanks for telling me about that 4 mile section. It is good to be prepared beforehand. I'll be parking at the Cascade River trail head so I will hike down to that area on Day 8. Had to push it to Saturday so I will be getting out on the 9th. I'll then post some pictures and a trip report once I get back!!