THE GOLDEN ROAD
When
we first decided to spend our summer in southeastern Alaska, there were just a
handful of places that we had to visit.
We wanted to visit Glacier Bay National Park, and I really wanted to
hike Mount Edgecumbe on Kruzof
Island near Sitka. The other compelling
destination was the 33 mile Chilkoot Trail, which
follows one of the routes used to get to the Klondike during the 1898 gold
rush. Aside from its historical
significance, the Chilkoot Trail offers spectacular
scenery with rain forest, rugged mountains, glaciers, and alpine lakes.
The
Chilkoot Trail was our first multi-country
backpacking trip. The trail starts in
the ghost town of Dyea, near Skagway, Alaska. At Chilkoot Pass it
crosses into British Columbia, Canada.
The trail ends at the ghost town of Bennett. There are no roads to Bennett, but the White
Pass & Yukon Railroad passes through there.
The train is the only realistic way to return to Skagway (unless you
want to hike the trail twice).
Unfortunately the train does not operate every day. That created some logistical challenges for
our trip. Ultimately the Chilkoot Trail was the first part of the entire vacation
that I planned. This was partially due
to the need to reserve a permit well in advance.
We
would start our hike on a Thursday morning and finish up in Bennett around
mid-day on Saturday. Reaching Bennett at
lunch time would be critical for a couple of reasons. First, the train back to Skagway was scheduled
to depart Bennett at 2:10PM. We needed
to be on it, as it was the only train on Saturday, and there were no trains
scheduled on Sunday or Monday. Also, we
had pre-paid for a luncheon at the Bennett train station prior to departure. We figured that a hot meal would be enjoyable
after 3 days in the wilderness. Since we
paid for it in advance, we didn’t want to miss it!
Most
people take 4-5 days to do the hike. We
planned to do it in 3, though really it would be 2 ½
since we had to be in Bennett for lunch on the final day. The Chilkoot Trail
is advertised as a strenuous hike, but it is also popular with trekkers from
all over the world. My guess was that it
would no worse than a moderate hike for us.
We should be able to handle 10-11 miles each day without any problem,
and reaching Bennett around noon on the last day would be doable with an early
start.
When
I reserved our permit I booked us at the Sheep campsite on the first night and
the Deep Lake Campsite the second night.
That meant 12 miles of mostly easy hiking on the first day and 11
challenging miles on the second day. We
would have a 10 mile hike the final morning, but that would be on the easiest
stretch of trail. Most of that final 10
miles is flat or gradually downhill.
We’d simply get up for sunrise (which comes very early even in late
July) and get going.
We
got up before 7 on Thursday and had breakfast in the Inn. We stored our luggage there, which was a bit
excessive. We had a lot of luggage and
they have a small closet. I felt a
little guilty about that. I do wish we’d
made do with less stuff on this trip.
Karl
shuttled us over to the trailhead at 9am.
We were the only hikers on the shuttle.
Three girls were supposed to join us, but one of them got sick the
previous day. They decided to reschedule
their hike. All of the other folks on
the trail had started a day or two earlier in order to catch the train back on
Saturday. This worked out nicely for us,
as it meant that the trail was much quieter than it would’ve been if we’d
started a day or two earlier. The
campsites we ended up at were the most popular ones though, so those areas were
still busy during our trip.
It
was raining when we got up on Thursday morning, but it had stopped by the time
we reached the trailhead. Most of our
hike was under overcast skies, although there was some partial clearing that
afternoon. Karl took our photo at the
trailhead before we headed into the woods.
The first 12+ miles of the trail follow the Taiya River closely. The river starts at Chilkoot
Pass and flows into the Taiya Inlet at Dyea. Early on we climbed steeply above the
river. After crossing a ridge we
descended back to it. The footing was
awkward, and this first mile was pretty tough.
Fortunately most of the rest of the first day was easy. Most of the first day was in the rain forest,
with occasional views of the river. We
crossed the river twice on bridges, and followed boardwalks through swamps
several times.
The
Chilkoot Trail is considered an outdoor museum. There are lots of artifacts and areas of historical
interest along the trail. Early on we
passed the remains of a cabin. There was
a moonshine barrel out front, along with some tools and other artifacts. Later we had lunch at the Finnegan Point
campground. We’d covered 6 miles that
morning. A lot of hikers spend their
first night here, before hiking another 6 miles to the Sheep campground on the
second day. When I planned the trip I
didn’t see any advantage to doing that.
The first 12 miles are mostly easy anyway, and adding a day to the trip
just meant carrying more food in a heavier pack.
A
mile or so after Finnegan Point we reached the side trail to the ruins of
Canyon City. Christy decided to wait
while I did the 1 mile round trip to the former settlement. This was nice, since it meant that I didn’t
have to carry my pack! The ruins
included the remains of some cabins, an old stove, and a giant boiler. The boiler powered a tram that hauled gear,
food, and supplies up to Chilkoot Pass. Use of the tram was expensive though, and
most of the prospectors couldn’t afford it.
They had to haul their supplies on their backs. Those prospectors had to make about 50 round
trips to get all of their supplies over the pass.
I
rejoined Christy and we continued up the valley. Another moderately difficult stretch of trail
brought us to the Pleasant campground.
There isn’t much here, and there wasn’t anybody around. Most hikers continue another mile to the
Sheep campground, which is the last one before the pass. That is a more strategic location, but people
that prefer to camp in solitude should consider the Pleasant campground as an
alternative.
The
final mile of trail to the Sheep campground was easy. Sheep is a big campground, and a busy
place. We caught up to most of the
hikers that had started on Wednesday here.
Christy waited with our packs at the cooking shelter while I searched
for a campsite. The campground was
mostly full, but somehow the best site was available. It was at the far end of the campground, away
from the other occupied campsites and close to the river. All of the sites at Sheep are on wooden
platforms to protect the vegetation. I
set up camp there and we stashed our food in the bear boxes.
It
was late afternoon, but we suddenly had blue sky overhead. I was cautiously hopeful that the improving
weather would last through Friday. That
would enable us to enjoy the views from the alpine country around Chilkoot Pass. I
wasn’t inclined to count on it though.
The Sheep campground is located just below treeline. It was evening, but I still had a couple of
hours of daylight. I decided to take a
quick hike up to treeline to take in the views. Christy decided to skip it, opting for a nap
in the tent. So, while everyone else in
the campground was cooking dinner or relaxing, I hit the trail.
It
took longer than I expected to get above the trees. Along the way I passed a huge pile of fresh
bear shit, which was a nice reminder that I was hiking solo in the evening in
grizzly country. Not long after leaving
the campground I was treated to views of a series of waterfalls cascading down
the canyon walls. A few minutes later a
large glacier came into view high on the mountain above. I passed some cascades in the river, which
had dwindled to the size of a large creek.
A bit later I reached a tributary stream that looked difficult to rock
hop. The sun was already down and the
sky was beginning to get colorful from the sunset. I decided to stop there, as that spot featured
a fine view back down the valley. Once
the color faded I started back. I kept a
fast pace on the return, and the typically long twilight meant that I was
almost back to camp before it was completely dark.
I
woke Christy up at 10:30 and we made dinner.
We were eating when a ranger stopped in for a chat. She provided everyone with an overview of the
trail ahead. To summarize, the climb to Chilkoot Pass would be a tough boulder scramble. There were several stream crossings where we
would probably get our feet wet, and a couple of stretches of trail were still
covered by snow. The hike down to the
campsites on Lindenman Lake would take most people
all day. Lindenman
is the most popular campsite for the final night because it is only about 7 miles
from there to Bennett.
After
she finished we cleaned up, stored our food, and went to bed. We were determined to get an early start the
next morning.
CHILKOOT
We
were up at first light (5:15) on Friday morning. We left camp at 7:15 and followed the trail
upstream. It wasn’t terribly long before
we reached the spot where I’d enjoyed sunset the previous evening. It was an overcast morning, but the clouds
were high enough that we could see the surrounding mountains, glaciers, and
waterfalls. Although the visibility was
decent it was chilly and there was occasional light rain.
I
was taking photos and Christy got ahead of me.
An errant trail marker caused her to get off the route. She rock hopped the river and started to
ascend the wrong valley. I wasn’t sure
what had happened to her. Luckily she
realized her mistake and doubled-back.
We
followed good trail up to the scales, where goods were loaded onto one of the
trams leading up to the pass. There
isn’t much left of those trams except for some wooden support towers that are
still partially standing. From there we
followed good trail through patches of snow to the base of the Golden
Stairs. The 1898 gold rush started in
the winter, and the prospectors carved steps in the snow all of the way up to
the pass. I imagine that was much easier
than the conditions we had to deal with.
Our ascent was up a steep pile of boulders. This would’ve been tough without packs
on. I was carrying most of our gear, and
the climb was grueling. My mysterious
leg injury started squawking at me, too.
We were part of the way up when I got the toe of my boot caught under a
rock. I didn’t realize it, and tried to
bring my foot up onto a rock. The upper
part of my leg went as instructed, but the lower part didn’t. That hurt!
I was afraid I’d seriously injured myself, but I was able to shake it
off.
We
took a break part of the way up to enjoy views back down the valley. The valley was filling up with clouds, but we
were above them. Although the sky was
overcast, the surrounding mountains were all still in view. Then we spotted a group of hikers with a dog
below us. They were moving fast and they
caught up with us quickly. They were an
extremely friendly group of Canadians from Whitehorse. After chatting a bit, they asked us if we
could keep a secret. Of course we
can! They told us that they found out
about a secret stash of canoes on a previous hike. They’d encountered a ranger who had let them
in on the secret. They were going to
check them out, and asked if we wanted to join them. Um, yeah!
We
followed them off-trail through the snow.
Before long we reached a gully that was full of ancient canvas
bags. There must’ve been a hundred or
more. Each bag contained lumber. Apparently the prospectors brought the lumber
to assemble into canoes once they crossed the pass. Below the pass is a series of alpine lakes
that eventually run into the Yukon River.
The journey from Chilkoot Pass to the Klondike
would be much faster and easier on the water!
However, Canadian customs didn’t let the prospectors bring the lumber
across the border. They would have to
buy their boats once they got into Canada.
Since the lumber was useless, the prospectors dumped it all in this
canoe graveyard. It was fascinating.
We
continued beyond the canoe graveyard to a lofty perch with a great view back
down the valley. From here we could see
all of the peaks and glaciers, along with a river of fog winding its way up the
valley below. We took turns taking
photos of each other and we thanked our new friends for letting us in on the
secret.
We
returned to the trail and resumed the climb.
We passed more artifacts, including wheels from the old tram
system. We also spotted a couple of
ptarmigans along here. Some more boulder
scrambling led to an old stone tower.
Beyond was one more climb. We
crested it, and reached the edge of an impressive snowfield. Ahead we could see the Canadian flag flying
from the ranger station / customs office.
Woohoo! We’d reached the pass! Just as we reached the Canadian border the
sun came out. What a pleasant surprise!
We
hiked over to the ranger station and dropped our packs on the porch. There wasn’t anyone there except for our new
Canadian friends. The office has a
woodstove, and it was wonderfully warm inside.
We had lunch there before strolling through the adjacent meadow to the
brink of a cliff. From there we had an
excellent birds-eye view down to Crater Lake.
Crater Lake is a true beauty, as it is dotted with dozens of small,
rocky islands. It reminded me of
Thousand Island Lake in the Sierra Nevada.
Crater Lake features a beautiful backdrop of mountains and glaciers,
too. The views from near the pass back
down the Taiya River valley had been great, but this vista was completely
different. It was more wide open and
alpine. Between those two views, the
hike had been extremely rewarding.
It
was hard to leave the warmth of the ranger station. The sky was darkening to the south
though. The weather looked threatening,
so we decided it was long past time to get down off the pass. We descended through boulders, meadows, and
snowfields to the shore of Crater Lake.
The views along here were stellar despite the marginal conditions. We passed waterfalls and fields of
wildflowers, while massive glaciers tumbled down the mountainsides surrounding
us.
Crater
Lake goes on and on, but we eventually left it behind. We descended along a river valley before
reaching the Happy campsite at 6pm. Most hikers stay at Happy after descending
from the pass. That wasn’t an option for
us though, as Happy was too far from the end of the trail at Bennett to be realistic
given our time constraints. We took a
late afternoon break there and enjoyed a snack.
We were both tired, but we only had a few more miles to go to reach the
campsite we had reserved at Deep Lake.
We
resumed our hike and enjoyed more nice scenery above Long Lake. We descended to the shore
of Long Lake and then continued down to Deep Lake. The rain finally caught up to us on that
final descent. This was no drizzle. It was coming down hard, and it was cold,
too. It couldn’t have been much above
freezing. We were worn out, and the
weather was demoralizing. Fortunately
our campground was just ahead. We
reached it at 7:45.
Most
of the campsites along the Chilkoot Trail have
cooking shelters. Deep Lake is not one
of them. Deep Lake is near treeline, too, so there wasn’t much natural shelter,
either. When we arrived it was pouring,
and the prospect of pitching the tent and cooking dinner in the rain wasn’t
appealing. Our other option was to continue
a couple more miles down to the Lindenman Lake
campsite. That is a bigger campground,
with a cooking shelter that is heated with a woodstove. Hiking a couple of additional miles wasn’t
appealing, but the lure of the shelter and the woodstove was too much to
ignore. Plus, continuing to Lindenman meant a shorter hike out on Saturday.
Those
final miles were a downhill slog in the rain, but it was worth it. We reached Lindeman at 9:30, shortly before dusk. The ranger had been right – it had taken us all
day. We were on the trail over 14
hours. We’d taken a few breaks, but most
of that time had been spent hiking. The
heated cooking shelter was as wonderful as advertised, and the rain stopped
just before we arrived. It was
delightful sitting in that heat, and we were even able to dry out our clothes
somewhat that night.
I
found a decent place to pitch the tent that wasn’t underwater, and we went to
bed shortly after dinner.
The
hike out was pretty easy, despite sore legs.
There were some ups and downs above Lindenman
Lake, which is quite pretty. The weather
was decent on Saturday, with mostly overcast skies but no rain. We passed the last campsite at Bare Loon
Lake, which had also been quite busy the previous evening. Due to the train schedule, everyone had
camped at one of those two sites the final evening.
The
final mile or two was quite sandy. We
finally reached a nice view of Lake Bennett and strolled into the ghost town. There isn’t much left of the town, except for
a restored church and the train station.
The train station features two dining rooms – one for cruise ship
tourists that had come in on the train that morning and one for hikers. Obviously the railroad doesn’t want those
people to be intermingled, because one group tends to be stinky. There’s nothing worse than the overwhelming
stench of perfume while you’re trying to eat lunch!
The
hiker’s dining room was overflowing. We
had to wait for someone to leave to get a seat, but nobody seemed interested in
going back outside. A few other hikers
came in after us, and we spoke to one of the servers. Eventually somebody made an announcement and
some folks cleared out. We enjoyed a
nice meal of hot stew (beef and vegetarian) along with rolls, pie, and lots and
lots of really great coffee. I had
requested a gluten-free meal for Christy in advance, and they had made the
veggie stew without gluten just for her.
That was really nice, and for $10 each we definitely got our money’s
worth! I think I drank $10 worth of
coffee. I also got two rolls and two
pieces of pie since Christy couldn’t eat them.
The
train ride was fun. Two of the train’s
cars were designated for Hiker Trash, while the remainder was set aside for
tourists. The first part of the ride, up
to White Pass on the British Columbia / Alaska border, was pleasant. We passed an endless string of alpine lakes,
but the views were only marginal due to the overcast conditions. The most exciting moment during this part of
the ride was seeing a black bear. It was
only the second bear we’d seen during the trip.
After
a brief stop at White Pass we began the long, slow descent to Skagway. This part of the ride was extremely scenic,
with mountains, glaciers, and canyons, and waterfalls on all sides. At one point we could see all the way down to
the valley to the Taiya Inlet. We passed
through at least one tunnel and crossed numerous trestles, too. I rode on the platform at the back of our car
for most of this section so that I could get photos.
We
pulled into Skagway right on time, at 4:45.
That was a relief, as I had to pick up the rental car from Avis before
they closed at 5. Missing that would’ve
thrown a monkey wrench into our plans for the final week of the trip. Unfortunately we had to endure a passport
check on the train before we could disembark.
Luckily they made that quick. I
jogged the 2 blocks to the Avis office while Christy waited at the train
station.
I
got the car with minutes to spare and drove back to the station to pick Christy
up. Then we returned to the Skagway Inn and picked up our luggage. We stopped at the Skagway Recreation Center
to take showers, picked up groceries, and had dinner at an Indian
Restaurant. Then we headed out of
Skagway, back towards White Pass and the Yukon.
During the gold rush of 1898, the prospectors spent months hiking and
canoeing to the Klondike. We were going
to drive it in a day!
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