Spur of the Moment Detour

I was all set to take the noon fast ferry to Haines so I could continue my ride back up towards the interior of Alaska. I had a few hours to kill so I went in the National Park hiking center to find out how I would need to reserve a spot to hike the Chilkoot trail, the next time I was in Skagway. The ranger looked at me and said, "Why don't you do it now? Do you think there's much of a chance that the next time you come back here, you will have this great weather?" I went back outside, pondered my maps and decided he was right. I went and rented a pack and hiking poles and a few hours later was getting a ride to the Dyea campground, which is right next to the trailhead, with Dyea Dave. Sam was locked in Dave's sister's back room back in Skagway. The next day I hit the tail.

I had signed up for a three day hike so my first campground on the trail was at Sheep Camp, about 12 or so miles up the trail. Now, in the Cascades in most places, I would consider twelve miles a short day. The Chilkoot is not like the tame Cascades trails I'm used to. It is full of rocks and roots that I had to pick my way through. There isn't a single switchback on the trail. If there is a hill, the trail goes straight up over it. Some sections felt like I was on a stairmaster.

I finally got into Sheep Camp in time for the ranger's trail report and history talk. It had been a hot, muggy day and the next day was also going to be hot so we were encouraged to get an early start. There was a group of boy scouts from Seattle, a Kiwi, a couple of teachers from Wasilla, Alaska who didn't seem too thrilled with their association with Sarah Palin (no, they can't see Russia from their house), three women from the Yukon, and me.

The history of the gold rush is all around the trail. There are bits of metal, shoes, clothes, a steam engine, stoves, pieces of old boards, horse bones, pots, etc. Here is a woman's boot.


I'm definitely a history buff but I've never been somewhere like the Chilkoot where I got to experience the past in such a direct way. Everyone, including the boy scouts, who were loving the trail, spent hours each day thinking about the experiences of the Stampeders as we slowly picked our way through the trail. The further we went, the more impressed we got with the tenacity of those people.

Day two was the tough one with the climb to the Scales and then over the Golden Stairs. The Scales was the last flat section of trail. Here, the porters hired by more well to do Stampeders weighed their loads on a set of scales set up on a wooden frame and, in a lot of cases, raised their rates. I suggested to Mike, the scout master, that he should hire out his scouts as porters and, in the interests of historical accuracy, raise their rates at the scales. He could call it a fund raiser.

The Golden Stairs is a steep boulder field that we had to climb our way through. The photo isn't great but you can see two tiny hikers on the snow field. The pass is the second notch from the left. (I have better photos on my nice camera.)


Here is a view looking back south with a rusting pipe of some sort.


Most Stampeders crossed the pass in the winter, which is much easier to do since it becomes a steep snow field instead of the jumble of boulders that are there during the summer. Remember that each person had to haul 2000 pounds of supplies up the trail, something that required between 40 and 50 round trips. Here is a photo from the Skagway museum of the recommended pile of supplies each person crossed the pass with.





Going up the boulder field was challenging with a pack. Coming down, even with an empty pack would be pretty bad. At least in the winter, one can glissade (slide on the butt) back down.

Some of the stuff that was hauled over the pass was just amazing. I saw a huge saw blade maybe 4 feet across several miles past the pass. The ranger at sheep camp told us that an entire steamship was taken apart, carried over, and reassembled on one of the lakes. An entire brothel, complete with employees, was also carried up.

After the pass, there was still some tough going left but it slowly got easier. The second night, I spent at Deep Lake. Here is the view from my dinner spot.


The last day, I hauled out the final ten miles to Bennett where I had lunch and then took the train back to Skagway.

What was amazing about the gold rush was that few people died despite the incredibly harsh conditions. This can mostly be attributed to the Canadian Mounties who kept order (they had a machine gun set up on the pass to ensure that everyone behaved) and required that each Stampeder have adequate food and supplies. They even inspected the boats that were built by Lake Bennett after they saw what a few of the early Stampeders were doing. One guy showed up, made a raft, and off he went. That was fine. Another guy showed up with a dog sled, tied his dogs to the side of the sled for floaties, shoved the whole thing in the lake and sailed off. 'Oh man, these people are all gonna die' the Mounties thought. That's why they did boat inspections and even required a boat sailing test before Stampeders were allowed to sail down the lake.

I'm now in Haines and am hanging out on the beach by the campground watching some bald eagles fish.


Tomorrow, I'm back on the bike heading for Haines Junction. The weather is supposed to hold with only a day or two days of light showers in the forecast. Otherwise, Days are in the 70s and evenings are in the low 60s.
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