The Trail

Service writes of the struggles of the Chilkoot in the verse "Trail of Ninety Eight";

We tightened our girths and our pack-straps; we linked on the Human Chain,
Struggling up to the summit, where every step was a pain.
Gone was the joy of our faces; grim and haggard and pale;
The heedless mirth of the shipboard was changed to the care of the trail.

These days, although following approximately the same route, the trail ain't that tough. Although challenging in spots the modern day backpacker can easily cover the distance between Dyea and Lake Bennett in four days. So what was all the fuss all about?

Well folks, we live in an era of goretex, aluminum tent poles and freeze dried meals. Who Service wrote of in his Yukon ballads were men of canvas,wrought iron and beans. Karen and I carried a mere 75 pounds of gear between us. Those bravos of the gold rush hauled, pushed or floated a ton of goods in their quest for gold. They fought cold, heat, snow, ice, wind, water and often themselves on their way to the Klondike. They packed their outfits in relays, often covering 80 miles for every trail mile. For the most part those argonauts of the rush were not outdoorsman. They were men of the cities and farms thrown into a strange environment to live out one of the most amazing events in North American history. All along our hike, as well as our trip to Dawson we remarked, how the hell did they do it? But the other question that plagued us was, would we have had the courage in to have tried?

The trail is still littered with evidence of the great stampede. The bulk of artifacts are gone or covered over, but there is a spirit that remains. Putting history aside, and that is tough to do, the Chilkoot Trail is one of the most scenic trails on the continent. It covers every imaginable environment as it meanders to Lake Bennett. I would hike it again in a heartbeat just for the wonderful scenery. But it is the history and the human interest which makes this trail truly special.

Day 1

Our destination today is Canyon City. From Dyea the trail follows the East bank of the Taiya River. The actual trail of the gold rush would more accurately be on the opposite shore of the river, or the river itself. (During the winter months sliding goods on ice was much easier then trudging over land.) The trail starts off with a very steep climb, but soon levels off and we are rewarded with many nice views. This portion of the trail is in a rain forest environment. The landscape here is moss and lichens which covers anything that does not move. One is never far from a cushy seat on this portion of the Chilkoot. ***

Karen is ever on the lookout for large fur-bearing mammals. Bear phobia has struck! Armed with a canister of Bear-be-gone, a last minute purchase in Skagway, Karen still feels better if the bears are aware of our presence. My job in this is to sing, yell or yodel my way down the trail. After covering every song I knew, I start to recite Robert Service. His words seem to fit in well with the wild scenery along the Chilkoot.

We had a bit of lunch at Finnegan's Point, a pleasant spot. During the Rush a Mr. Finnigan and his sons put up a corduroy road through this marshy area and charged a $2.00 toll to use it. As the numbers of stampeders swelled, poor finnigan was ignored and no one paid his toll. (Gee, I wonder if we could do this at those pesky Illinois toll booths?) After lunch we shouldered our packs and continued our hike to Canyon City. The Canyon City campsite consists of a nice cabin with a porch which serves as a common cooking place, a couple of privies and a bear pole for hanging food.

We had perhaps 15 other campers to converse with, most we would be seeing on and off for the next three days. Some had connections to the trail. For instance,Wesley had a grandfather who was in the Rush, he helped dig out avalanche victims. A Canadian had an Uncle who, after striking it rich was on his way to board the ship Priccess Sophia with his partners. He injured his ankle on the trail and had to miss the ship.

The Princess Sophia was headed to Seattle loaded with well to do Klondikers who wanted to go outside for Christmas. On October 25, 1918 the ship sank in the Lynne Canal. All 379 men women and children aboard died as the vessel slipped off a reef and split apart. The lone survivor was a small dog who managed to swim to shore. And so it goes the past and the present come together on the Chilkoot Trail.
For a web site on the subject go to: http://mmbc.bc.ca/sn97/passenger/p4d.html

(An interesting Robert Service connection to the Princess Sophia is that one of his most famous characters was drowned that fateful trip, Lulu Johnson, a well known dance hall girl, was aboard the ship. Service based his character of Lady Lou in the "Shooting off Dan Mcgrew" on Lulu Johnson.)

With no lack of sunlight, we decided to take a walk after dinner. We hiked down to a suspension bridge which forded the roaring Taiya River and explored the actual Canyon City town site. Many artifacts can be spotted including a cook stove, odds and ends and the grand daddy of all trail artifacts, the giant tram boiler. We ponder this huge hulk of metal, what a chore it must have been to get it to this spot! The tram hoisted stampeder's gear, for a price of course, up the trail. In 1898 the trams on the Chilkoot were extensive and were themselves a feat of technology. They were short lived however. When the White Pass and Yukon Railroad was built the company bought out the tram company and dismantled the apparatus. We returned to camp and after entertaining the camp with a few Service recitals we toodled off to our little tent for the evening.

Day 2

We wake up stiff, as even with our foam pads tent sleeping takes some getting used to. As we break camp in Canyon City a hiker named Dee comes through. She stops long enough to say hello. We ask where she started from that morning. She says Dyea, and she is headed for Sheep Camp today. Humbled by this whirlwind hiker, we shoulder our packs as she flies ahead . . . Ah, Youth! Slow as we are, we have a pleasant day ambling on this beautiful stretch of trail. We cross many streams flowing into the Taiya, all have bridges across or are small enough to rock hop over. We reach Pleasant Camp for lunch. If we had more time to spend we would camp at this lovely spot, but we're on a schedule and the Pass beckons. The only artifact we run across is telegraph wire which runs along the trail. We trot into Sheep Camp in late afternoon, the day is so beautiful we wish it was earlier and we were fresher so we could tackle the pass. But hoping for the same weather the next day we make camp and have an early dinner. after dinner we hike ahead on the trail unburdened by our packs. Wildflowers and nice views are rewarded us as we hike to near timberline.

Sheep camp was the one of the main supply spots on the trail. During its heyday Sheep Camp had a post office, two dance halls, three saloons, five doctors, thirteen supply stores, fourteen restaurants, sixteen hotels and two business districts. Pic Very little remains, all taken back by nature.

This is a reassuring aspect of the trail. The stampeders in their rush to reach the Dawson area cut a swath through the wilderness. Now, a hundred years later very little remains of the rush. Most of the artifacts on the American side of the Chilkoot is covered by lush vegetation. It's nice to know Mother Nature cleans up after our messes.

Sheep Camp has two cabins and is a rather large camping area. Most hikers including ourselves choose Sheep Camp because the next camp is a grueling 8.5 miles away over the pass. At night the camp is visited by a ranger who explains a bit of history and cautions campers if there is any dangers ahead. I recite "Salvation Bill" for some interested campers. We retire to our campsite next to the Taiya River, we are hoping for another day of good weather tomorrow.

Day 3

We awake to find the weather has taken a turn for the worse. The clouds have rolled in and a drizzle is falling over the camp. We wish we had another day to lay over and wait for the weather to clear. We break camp early as we know from our last trip to the pass it is going to be a l-o-n-g day. In a mile and a half we run out of the ever dwindling timber. From here to our next camp seven miles away we will be on rock, ice or snow. As soon as we get to the tree line the wind cuts into our bare legs and we stop to don long pants and a jacket. The sky looks threatening but the rain holds off. We pass familiar items from out last hike, A tremendous sprocket from the tram sits besides the trail. After a stiff uphill we reach the scales.

Here stampeders who chose to pay others to haul their gear had their outfits reweighed, the price of transport usually went up. The stampeder either paid up or had to rely on his own brute strength to get his ton of provisions up over the pass. Many artifacts are here but there is much more snow now than when we came four years ago and most are covered. We see the pederson trail straight ahead. This trail was often the return route for the miners who would climb up the golden stairs and slide down the pederson route. The trip up took hours, the slide down a few minutes. We turn to the left and start the ascent.

There are steps up the steep snowfield but the snow is on the soft side and slick. Karen does not appreciate the slope and feels uncomfortable with a pack. Pic I kept picturing that most famous of all Klondike scenes, the human chain. Pic We struggle on and finally reach a false summit. Our weather is quickly getting worse and the wind starts to pick up. Our visibility has been decreased but there in nothing to do but go on, there will be no dramatic views from the pass today. We struggle up between a rock wall and the edge of the snowfield, sometimes having to turn sideways to squeeze through. The winds are reaching gale force now, luckily to our back. We meet a ranger who is hiking down to Sheep Camp and have him snap a picture for the White Family Archives. ***We hike on and see the Canadian Station and a warming hut which we waste no time in going to as we both could do with a place out of the wind.

We share the small warming hut with four other hikers from Ottawa . We decide to have lunch, the Canadians heat up a billy of tea which they share with us, I add a bit of Drambuie to buck up our spirits. We found out that another party before us got held up above the scales by a grizzly sow for nearly a half an hour. Karen is glad we got a late start and missed all the excitement.

I think of what it would have been like here in 1898 with thousands of outfits cached here waiting to be taken on another relay towards Lake Lindeman. Imagine the chaos, and to their credit very little pilfering of goods happened in those two years. Credit has to be given to Canadian Mounted Police for keeping order in amidst the madness. Unlike on the American side which was much more wide open the Canadians understood the need for the enforcement of rules.

after warming up in our cozy abode we decide to push on to the nights camp at what would surely be "Happy Camp". The Alpine scenery between the summit and the Deep Lake is spectacular. We are greeted with a parks signs that state that there is avalanche danger and to keep moving. I remark that if an avalanche has our name on it is will not matter how fast we travel. The wind is amazing through this section. As long as our packs blocks itthe wind is tolerable, when we turn around it is a torrent of icy air. ***

Coming to Crater Lake, which is the head waters to the Yukon, we are struck by the stark beauty of this forboding environment. We hike along this spectacular lake, the sound of water can be heard and the lake and ice field explodes into Spring runoff. We slog on in the snow past Blue Lake and a couple of deep blue crevasses which we skirt at a safe distance. Finally "Happy Camp" is reached and we are lucky enough to find a snow free patch of ground to pitch our small tent. Exhausted and cold, but elated we sit on the cabin porch which looks to the North. The weather has cleared for the evening and the view is to die for!! An hour goes by, it is cold but we choose to cook and eat our dinner on the porch and continue enjoying the view. Later we join the party indoors and talk with the other hikers of shared experiences. Never was a place so aptly named as "Happy Camp". ***

Day 4

We depart our camp and immediately find hard going on the rocky path. The trail cannot decide which way it wants to proceed so we pick our way carefully, mostly on talus, climbing up and over in one spot to avoid a bad piece of ice near the river. Soon the trail climbs in earnest and we are rewarded with sweeping vistas of long lake. The trail stays high until we drop down to Deep Lake where we loose most of our snow cover. Quite a few artifacts are encountered now. *** We push on following Moose Creek. Soon we encounter "The Gorge". This canyon where Deep Lake drains is truly awe inspiring! I take out may camera to take a photo but put it back. I knew no angle I could take it from would capture this place, as no words written could describe it's majesty. We stood in awe!We Slowly push on along the canyon rim, this gorge seems to get deeper and wilder as it goes. This section remains one of my favorites.

We continue until we reach Lindeman City. Here artifacts are everywhere, and we decide to have our lunch in an open clearing. I take a hike around to inspect the many piles of discarded relics. Many boats were made here and then lined to Lake Bennett through a narrow lake outlet. The rapids in this outlet were a major obstacle so building a vessel on Lake Bennett was preferred. We explore the old cemetery which is perched on a hill overlooking the town site. We should have continued down to the lake but the afternoon is getting late so we push on toward our destination which is Bear Loon Lake. From Lindeman the trail again climbs steeply. It is hot and we did not take our advantage to fill a water bottle at the creek and so we trod on thirstily. Finally after much dusty walking and scenic vistas we reach Bear Loon Lake.

The camp is quite crowded but we find a small area to pitch our tent. After drinking our fill of water we take a short hike before dinner. Our final dinner on the trail is Freeze Dried Beef Stogenoff,a strong pot of tea and what is left of our Kendal Mint Bar. I look at my dwindling supply of Drambuie, its the last night on the trail so it too becomes history. Enjoying the evening but with steadily increasing mosquito swarms we choose to retire.

Day 5

We are awakened to the sound of rain, but it soon subsides. We get an early start as we want to have time to explore Lake Bennett. With only three miles to go and not having to catch the southbound train to Skagway till 1 pm. We slowly make our way down to the lake. Towards the end of the trail the terrain is very sandy. This adds one more of the many terrains we have hiked through. After passing an old cabin we come to the town site and spot many artifacts. We visit the old cemetery in which many Mounties who died during the rush are buried. Many of the markers are still legible and perhaps because of the ties to RCMP is in a very good state of repairs. Then rounding a bend we see the St. Andrew's Church and we know our hike is completed.***

The St. Andrew's church serves as sort of a memorial to all those brave gold seekers who mortgaged their lives in the south to come north in their quest for riches. During the rush it served the community as multi denominational church as well as a meeting hall.

We arrive quite early and so took a long walk by the lake, freed from the burden of our packs. Glass and pieces of rusted metal litter the shores of Lake Bennett, old pilings can be seen. Funny how nice gold rush artifacts are to gaze upon and how ugly modern day litter looks! I washed my face in the cold lake, and feel refreshed yet saddened that our adventure has come to an end.

For those argonauts of the rush however their adventure was only half over. Now upon reaching this lake they put to work building boats which would transport them and their provisions 600 river miles to Dawson and the fabled gold fields. After building their boats they waited. Waited for the ice to go out and to see if their boat would float. Shipbuilding was not a skill that most of these men possessed. But Hell, after packing a ton of goods over the Chilkoot Trail they must have figured this too was possible.

Epilogue:

Every step we took on the Chilkoot Trail brought more admiration for those who made this path famous. If the television networks are looking for a sure fire reality based series they should look to the Chilkoot. Let the contestants begin with a ton of provisions and see how many finish the trail let alone build a boat to float to Dawson.

Today the trail is filled with modern day backpackers. Any reasonably fit person would have little trouble with this short 32 mile hike. Except for the pass the terrain is not particularly tough. I would recommend the hike to anybody who appreciates great scenery and history.

When I hike the Chikoot again I will plan for 2 more days to better appreciate the trail. I would make my camps at Canyon City, Sheep Camp (with a layover day in case of bad weather for the pass), Happy Camp, Lindeman City and Lake Bennett.

Now that the Chilkoot has been hiked Karen and I will board the famed White Pass and Yukon train and ride the rail which put the Chilkoot Trail out of business a mere two years after the Rush was at its peak.***

Click Here to Continue Tim's Travelogue

Some interesting modern trail photos can also be found at this website:

http://members.tripod.com/~merlo/chilkoot/

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