ALASKA SUMMER 2015, PART 4: SKAGWAY
After
returning from Sitka we spent one final rainy evening in Juneau. We ran some errands in preparation for the
final two parts of our trip. First we’d
take a ferry to Skagway. After spending
a day and a half there, we would spend 3 days backpacking the Chilkoot Trail. The Chilkoot Trail is one of the routes that were used during
the Klondike gold rush of 1898.
After
finishing our backpacking trip we’d take a train on the White Pass & Yukon
Railroad back to Skagway. Then we would
rent a car to drive up into the Yukon.
We planned to visit Whitehorse and Dawson City and hike in the Tombstone
Mountains and Kluane National Park. We’d finish the trip by driving down to
Haines, where we’d catch a ferry back to Skagway and on to Juneau.
Our
final night in Juneau would be in a different hotel, close to the airport. That meant that we had to take all of our luggage with us.
That was an unpleasant reminder of just how much stuff we’d
brought. There is something to be said
for traveling light!
MISS KITTY
The
ferry ride from Juneau to Skagway started out rainy, but conditions improved as
we went. By the time we reached our stop
in Haines the clouds were beginning to break up. The final cruise up the Taiya Inlet was
lovely, with views of mountains and glaciers and dozens of massive waterfalls
cascading down the walls of fjord. As we
approached Skagway I noticed that the mountains to the east were emerging from
the clouds. I hadn’t originally planned
to hike on our first afternoon in Skagway, but I’d learned not to pass up on
good weather in Alaska. I quickly began
planning a hike that would take advantage of the rapidly improving
conditions. My pick was Upper Dewey Lake
and the Devil’s Punch Bowl. The
trailhead was in town, so it would be easy to access. However, the one way hike would be just over
4 miles, with 3,600’ of elevation gain.
Ouch! Christy decided to skip it.
We
were spending our two nights in Skagway at the Historic Skagway Inn. The inn was originally a whorehouse, back in
the gold rush days. So yeah, I picked
our accommodations just so I could tell people that we spent two nights in a
whorehouse. There were some other
advantages though. Our stay included a
free pickup from the ferry, and a free drop off at the Chilkoot
Trailhead in Dyea.
That’s 10 miles away, and we wouldn’t have a car for this part of the
trip. Free breakfast was also included,
along with luggage storage while we were on the trail.
The
owner, Karl, picked us up at the ferry and took us to the inn, which was maybe a
mile away. The inn is quite nice, though
our room was pretty cramped. All of the
rooms are named after former employees, and we were in Kitty’s room.
Christy
decided to spend the afternoon relaxing and poking around town. By the time we had everything situated it was
4pm, so I needed to get on the trail if I wanted to finish before dark.
I
walked through town to the trailhead, which served as a pleasant warm up for
the steep ascent ahead. A stout climb brought
me to Lower Dewey Lake, which is in heavy forest 500’ above Skagway. This first section of trail was quite busy
with hikers and tourists, as it is a fairly easy destination. The trail from there to Upper Dewey Lake is
longer, steeper, and was much quieter. I
only saw a few people after leaving Lower Dewey Lake.
The
climb to Upper Dewey Lake was relentless.
The trail followed cascading Dewey Creek, which was a nice
distraction. I rarely hike for speed,
but this was an ideal time for that approach.
I’d gotten a late start, and I knew that Christy would be waiting for me
for dinner. Plus, I wanted to make it
all of the way to the Devil’s Punchbowl before heading down. I ended up doing the 3 miles (with 3,100’ of
elevation gain) to Upper Dewey Lake in less than an hour and a half.
Upper
Dewey Lake is quite scenic, as it sits in an alpine basin backed by rugged
mountains and a small glacier. It is
situated at treeline, so the views are nice, but
there is still quite a bit of vegetation.
Although it was somewhat cloudy, there was enough blue sky overhead to
qualify this as some of the best weather of the whole trip. There are two cabins here. The nice one is available for a fee, and
reservations are required. It is right
on the lake. The free hiker’s shelter is
back in the woods. I had a break and a
snack on the deck of the nicer cabin since there wasn’t anybody around.
Since
I’d made great time to Upper Dewey Lake, I decided to continue on to the
Devil’s Punch Bowl. I had a little
trouble following the route, as I lost it in a maze of boulders on the ridge
above Upper Dewey Lake. Once I regained
it the rest of the hike was easier. I
strolled up a grassy ridge overlooking the Taiya Inlet and the town of Skagway,
which was 3,600’ straight down! Clouds
were billowing up out of the fjord to race across the mountains. The best view though was back across Upper
Dewey Lake. As is often the case with
alpine lakes, the best views are from above them. Even better, the entire ridge I was on was
blanketed in delicate golden flowers. I
did a lot of rock hopping to avoid trampling them. Those flowers were the only vegetation, as
this ridge is well above treeline.
I
walked over to a perch where I could look down on the Devil’s Punch Bowl. It is a neat little tarn in a rocky
defile. It was getting late, and I
didn’t see any advantage to scrambling down to the shore. I took a break there before beginning the
hike back. I took my time and savored
every view back down to Upper Dewey Lake.
From there, I kicked it into overdrive to get back down to Skagway.
We
had dinner at the Skagway Brewing Company, which was excellent. Christy was pleased that they had quite a few
gluten-free options, which is unusual for a brewery. I was pleased that they had a really good
IPA. Afterwards we retired to Miss
Kitty’s room. My original plan for
Wednesday was a killer hike up AB Mountain.
That one requires climbing 5,000’ in 5 miles! Unfortunately the weather forecast looked
marginal. Instead, we planned to explore
around Skagway.
GOLD!
We
slept in a bit and enjoyed a nice breakfast at the inn. Then we walked downtown and took care of some
errands. We picked up our tickets for
our train ride back to Skagway, from the end of the trail at the ghost town of
Bennett. Then we stopped in at the Parks
Canada office to pick up our backpacking permit. The Chilkoot Trail
is unusual in that half of it is in the United States and the other half is in
British Columbia, Canada. The trail
crosses the border at Chilkoot Pass, and there is
even a Canadian customs office there.
The Canadian Parks System handles all of the permits for the Chilkoot Trail.
After
that we stopped at the visitor’s center which features a small museum. We even watched the movie to gain a better
appreciation for the historical significance of the trail we would be
hiking. During the gold rush, the
stampeders each made about 50 trips to carry adequate supplies over Chilkoot Pass. Most
of them went in the winter, too! Once in
Canada, they traveled the rest of the way to the Yukon by boat. The towns of Dyea
and Skagway sprang up overnight to serve as bases for the stampeders. There isn’t much left of Dyea,
but modern-day Skagway owes its existence to the gold rush.
Here
is some background info: http://www.nps.gov/klgo/learn/goldrush.htm
The
park website also has information about historic Skagway: http://www.nps.gov/klgo/learn/historyculture/skagwaydistrict.htm
We
spent all morning in town. Skagway is
crazy from mid-morning through mid-afternoon due to the daily influx of
tourists from the cruise ships. There
were 3 cruise ships in port while we were there. We found Skagway to be much more enjoyable
early in the morning, and in the evening after the tourists scurried back to
their lairs.
After
a nice but busy lunch at the Red Onion Saloon we took a short hike out to the
Gold Rush Cemetery and Reid Falls. Along
the way we passed by the White Pass and Yukon rail yard so I could check out
the trains. I had a great view of AB
Mountain from here, which was lost in the clouds. It looked like I’d chosen wisely.
The
Gold Rush Cemetery features the grave sites of many of Skagway’s most famous
and most notorious citizens. My favorite
was Jeff “Soapy” Smith, who was an outlaw and con man, before he was killed in
a gun fight. More info is available
here: http://www.nps.gov/klgo/learn/historyculture/upload/GOLD-RUSH-CEMETERY.pdf
The
cemetery was interesting, and Lower Reid Falls was definitely worth
seeing. Afterwards we walked back to
Skagway. Christy decided to do a little
shopping while I did another short hike out to Yakutania
Point and Smugglers Cove. This is
another hike that is easily accessible from town.
I
walked down past the airport towards the dock and then crossed a footbridge
over the Skagway River. From there I
followed an easy trail out to Yakutania Point, which
features nice views of Taiya Inlet and the surrounding mountains. The clouds had lifted somewhat, making for a
pretty ending to an otherwise overcast day.
I continued on around to Smugglers Cove and scrambled a bit on the rocks
there. Smugglers Cove offers similar
views. From Smugglers Cove it is
possible to continue on up AB Mountain, but I didn’t have time for that. Instead I headed back so that we could get
organized for our backpacking trip. That
evening we had dinner at the Skagway Brewing Company again. We headed to bed early, as we would be
getting an early start the next morning.
Back to Alaska
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!