Seeking input for multi SHT bike shuttle hikes

I'm not really a "biker" so I can't comment on the aesthetics of the biking part but I've never had a problem with any of those trail heads. I'm sure it happens but I've been on the hiker yahoo group for about a decade and there has never been many reports of theft/damage at trail heads. Granted most are way off the beaten path but in general the north shore community is a pretty safe bet. The only thing I can say that would give me pause is the Caribou Wayside trail head. I maintain the section between there and Crosby Manitou and see a lot of traffic on the Wayside trail head in the tourist season. It's really exposed right there next to Hwy 61 so you may want to stash a bit back in the woods. I guess you can take that as a general rule on the trail, if you're hitting the trail head of a popular falls (about 5 or 6 along 61) it will be heavily traveled. If you're not on the hiker yahoo group you should join up and post this question there. You would receive a wealth of information, huge group of dedicated (some would say obsessed) SHT hikers. (I'm looking at you Kim) Best place by far for the most up to date info on the trail.

No way! There's trail punks hiding behind about every 100th tree just waiting for chances to do mischief!

OK, I've filled my quota of snarky remarks for the day;-)

I've bike shuttled several times without any problem. I do what Glenn plans to do … bike locked and out of sight. The only issue I've had is critters chewing on my helmet strap … for salt maybe? Remove strap during storage or carry the helmet?

If you ride a road bike, some of the trailheads are on gravel roads. IIRC, Otter Lake Road is particularly bike unfriendly but a mtn bike would be fine … or just plan on going slow and walking occasionally.

If cost is not critical and your three days/week happen to include Fri, Sat or Sun you could also use the Superior Shuttle, or Harriet Quarles shuttle service any day.

Excellent replies, just what I was looking for! I'll have to look into the yahoo group thing, sounds like just the thing I need. I work weekends, so all my little adventures are during the week. It's great when I have the parks and trails all to myself, but makes group resourcing a bit problematic. Should make those popular wayside TH's a little quieter though.

Good tip on the helmet strap, i'll have to give that some thought. I have a few different bikes, so I kinda figured the roads would be less maintained and more gravel/sandy, the further north i got, and would do things a little different each trip. Hence the inquiry I posted here. I have it mapped out so the second campsite is only a mile or two from the last trailhead, so I'll have have the whole third day to hike out, bike back and still drive back to the Cities. Sandy roads aren't much fun, but nothing new. Thanks for the warning there though. Ooooo, maybe I can buy a fat bike this year just for that reason? Sounds like the perfect excuse to me!

As Jim said make sure to check out the Superior Shuttle, it's an amazing resource. It just got bought by another company (Trikes for Life) that is going to extend the times to all days of the week and expand coverage to the entire trail. Very exciting for me because I prefer to take trips through the week when the trail is less crowded.

I glanced over a shuttle website a while back, not sure which one, some link off the SHTA site. I had dismissed it since it only ran weekends and the cost seemed a bit prohibitive considering I'd need it to cover multiple TH's at a time. Sounds now like it might be worth looking into further, especially if they run weekdays. I'd still prefer to be self-supporting and I do really enjoy biking, but with a list of 8 different legs, a shuttle might be a viable option for certain occasions. Thanks for the tip guys.

I also signed up to that Yahoo group, awaiting approval. I threw your name in, Shawn, sort of as a reference, said you sent me there. Hope that's alright.