In 2010, I asked Joe Houle if I could marry his daughter Caroline. “You both sound happy—sure!” He sounded enthusiastic.
Overtime, we took Joe and his wife Carla on trips into the Boundary Waters, to Alaska to visit the area where Joe was stationed in the Air Force in the 50s, and to Europe, where we lived. Joe and Carla, despite their ages, were easy and fun to travel with. They felt like parents to me.
When 2020 rolled around, I asked Joe, age 90, if he was interested in hiking the 310-mile Superior Hiking Trail. “Sure,” he immediately replied with a sparkle in his eyes.
In September of that year, we began our quest to hike the trail from the northern terminus on the Canadian border. I am 33 years younger than Joe. I had thru-hiked the trail in 21 days when I was a young man. It is a difficult trail, with rugged terrain, rocks, and roots to deal with. Fortunately, my wife and I were living on the Arrowhead Trail in Hovland at the time, which allowed Joe and me to go home each night after our hike. We slept and ate well.
Each day we knocked off another section of the trail. We grew stronger. Joe averaged a little over a mile an hour. I let him lead and set the pace. Occasionally, friends of mine joined in our hikes, and expressed amazement that a 90-year-old man could hike such a rugged trail. On the flats Joe was a very fast hiker. He really seemed to enjoy the trail, the experience, and back at my home we would drink stout beer and recount the day’s events and scenery.
I started posting our daily hikes on the Superior Hiking Trail Facebook page and quickly developed a large following. My computer sounded like a pinball machine with all the hits on my posts. I gave Joe the trail name Mo Joe.
Thousands of hikers piped in enthusiastically: “You inspire me, Mo Joe.” “So amazing.” “I want to be like you, Mo Joe.” “What an amazing man.” I shared photographs and quotes from Mo Joe.
Our trail motto became: “Keep on keeping on,” or “KOKO.”
One day on the trail near Carlson Creek we encountered two attractive female hikers. “Is that Mo Joe?” they asked me, as Joe kept hiking, head down.
“Yes, the one and only.”
“He is amazing.”
I caught up to Mo Joe and told him what they had said. “Jeez, why didn’t that happen to me when I was a young man,” he joked.
Two weeks into our hike, Mo Joe tripped on a root next to the Brule River in Judge Magney State Park. He fell face first and when he sat up, his face was bleeding. I helped him clean up and he was adamant that we should continue the day’s hike. That night at the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic in Grand Marais we found out he had broken a bone in his hand and his eye was badly bruised. Mo Joe wanted to continue.
A couple days later I called off the hike for the season. “We will pick up where we left off next year, Joe.”
Later, I received a book in the mail titled Rocks and Roots: Reflections on the Superior Hiking Trail by Pastor Frank Johnson. He mentions meeting us in the book.
In 2021 the pandemic hit, and our hike was put on hold. I also suffered a serious back injury, leaving me unable, at times, to walk. It was a dark period.
Later that year, Mo Joe and Carla did the 3.8-mile section at the start of the Superior Hiking Trail on the Minnesota/Wisconsin border.
My back troubles continued into 2022, and I began to wonder if I would be able to complete the hike with Mo Joe. In November of that year, Joe and Carla came to visit us. It was decided that Caroline would accompany him on the trail. Caroline is an accomplished hiker, and I was thrilled Mo Joe could carry on with his quest to hike the entire SHT, and with his daughter. They picked up the trail where Mo Joe and I had left off on the Caribou Trail to Lutsen section. It would be a hilly 6.4-mile section. I dropped them at the trailhead around noon.
It would turn out to be an epic experience for both. Being in the middle of hunting season, they wore bright orange and bundled up. It was slow going and the weather turned fickle, alternating between drizzle, sleet, and snow. The sun set. Back home, Carla and I were worried sick about them. I received a few random text messages from Caroline. Joe had fallen and was throwing up. They were too far into the hike to turn around or seek help. Caroline managed, using a head lamp, keeping Mo Joe hydrated, and keeping his spirit up. He dug deep and finished in Lutsen. It had been a herculean effort by both. I was very proud, yet sad, that I hadn’t been with them.
In 2024, Mo Joe was 93 years old and was keen to continue his SHT quest. My back issues had improved and I thought it was possible to join him and Caroline for parts of the trail. On the first hike of the season, Joe hiked to the Cascade River with Caroline. He was still hiking strong, though slower, and more careful of each step taken.
“I have two issues. I must avoid blowing out my knee, that will be the end of the hike. Two, I cannot fall and hit my head—I am on blood thinners and it would kill me.” He was mindful while hiking.
On the southern end of the trail, Moe Joe and Caroline hiked from Wild Valley Road to Magney-Snively Park. I joined them for the first hour of the hike. Mo Joe averaged 6 miles a day and 1 mile an hour, despite the hot and muggy weather. Mo Joe had completed one third of the Superior Hiking Trail—a truly amazing accomplishment and inspiration for so many. I felt like my entire worldview had changed watching Mo Joe hike onward, despite his age and 93-year-old body. As Mo Joe would say: “Stay busy, be happy, and find something that you love to do in life.” Amen.
Fast forward to 2025. The “Dynamic Duo,” Mo Joe and Caroline “Siffy,” have surpassed the 200-mile mark on the Superior Hiking Trail. Mo Joe is now 95.5 years old. This father-daughter team seem unstoppable and have been consistently knocking out 6-plus mile sections back-to-back. On the harder sections Mo Joe averages .75 miles an hour. If the terrain is not too rugged, he can travel over 1 mile per hour. This makes for long days on the trail. They are both extremely curious people and make many stops to explore tracks, flowers, listen to the birds, and pick mushrooms for dinner. As Caroline is a geographer and cartographer, they rarely get lost. Mo Joe has the occasional fall and Caroline bandages him up like a nurse would.
The other day I received a text from Caroline.
“Pa is moving very slow. He is tired. We had to cross a stream, and his boots are waterlogged and heavy. I’m not sure when we will be done.”
Caroline always goes the extra mile to ensure her father is hydrated, eats good trail meals, and is safe.
“She is the perfect guide,” he always boasts after each hike. “I could never do this without her.”
I will also add that Mo Joe lives in Forest Lake, Minn., and drives up to our home in Duluth alone, without a phone, to start the next round of hiking. He also works at the fire station in Forest Lake, grows a large garden, and chops and stacks cords of firewood. I would say he is a phenomenon.
“You have to keep on keeping on” is his motto.
A few weeks ago, Mo Joe hiked for four days and did an overnight camping trip at Spruce Creek. Caroline carried the equipment and prepared all the meals—she’s one tough gal. According to Caroline and Mo Joe, there were several comical moments getting in and out of the tent they shared. It rained and was bone chilling cold for Mo Joe, who has zero body insulation, yet his determination makes up for it. It was a tough 9 miles and two days.
“Each year I get slower,” he said.
Back in Duluth I fixed them a large roast dinner and poured them their favorite stout beer from Earth Rider Brewery. Joe took a long hot shower to warm his weary bones. “That felt so good. I am warm again.”
Afterwards, the maps came out and Caroline tallied the mileage to date. Mo Joe has hiked 222 miles over rugged rocks and roots on the Superior Hiking Trail. Only 88 miles left to go.
“I believe you are going to do this Mo Joe,” I said with enthusiasm.
“I think so too, Tor. I just have to keep on keeping on, as you like to say.”
I am so proud of this father-daughter “Dynamic Duo” and the energy they bring to life on the Superior Hiking Trail.