GRAND MARAIS – Matt Knudsen, 16, of Escanaba started out from Taquamonen Falls on August 7 and backpacked to Grand Marais along the North Country Trail in five days.

The more than 50 mile backpacking trip with his Boy Scout Troop took him through the burned area of the Duck Lake Fire along Lake Superior. The fire burned more than 21-thousand acres in 2012.

“I thought it was really neat,” Knudsen said after the trip. “After awhile you kind of get tired of it because it is the same thing. You saw these trees that were dead and it was the same sight for a long ways. When we finally got to green again, it was nice.”

It took a day and half to walk out of the burn area. Much of the North County Trail is unused. Knudsen said at times, it simply disappeared.

“There were a lot of parts where you had to search for the trail but we made it,” he said. “We had a lot of opportunities to see really beautiful sites over the lake and really neat areas.”

Knudsen said the best part about the trip was the accomplishment.