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Chilkoot Trail

By Gerda Eck
 

The Trails Club of Oregon offers a variety of hiking opportunities, from midweek 4 mile day hikes to all out adventures. In July 2004, 12 experienced members enjoyed a multi-day backpack on Alaska’s Chilkoot Trail. This trail is the historic gold rush trail from Skagway, AK to White Pass, BC. In the late 1800’s, thousands traversed this mountain range to access the headwaters of the Yukon River and floated to Dawson City hoping to make their fortunes in the gold fields. Now this is a National Trail maintained by Parks Canada and the U.S. National Park System. Backpacking it requires a permit and the trail has limited access. The instruction booklet from the Parks office makes no bones about the difficulty of this terrain and that only well seasoned backpackers should attempt this strenuous trail.

First off is Saint’s Hill, so named because it is so steep immediately, that if you can climb it without cussing, you’re a saint. We were blessed with excellent weather; the rain forest on the first day was lush and trail improvements to the muddy trail included wooden planks. Suspension bridges are now installed to traverse the raging rivers. Huge rocks and hefty roots made for very uneven footing. This challenged the hikers who each had to carry their own pack with food and gear for 6 days.

This is bear country: at each camp we were required to leave our food and all smelly stuff, such as toothpaste and sunscreen, in the designated bear box or hung on bear poles. Only tents and clothing were allowed in the camping area. We visited the old Canyon City site to view the ruins: a huge iron boiler, rusty remnants of cans, a stove, even shoe soles are still visible. The first night we were awakened by screeching animals chasing each other. Not knowing if it was the dreaded bear we started making noise. The fighting or mating soon stopped, but we didn’t sleep well for the remainder of the night. Inspecting the tracks between the tents in the morning was inconclusive, we thought perhaps raccoons.

The second day is only 5 miles – we were still deep in the valley, however, waterfalls and glaciers high above us were now in view, eagles were soaring and it was a delightful change of the scenery. At Sheep Camp we relaxed and the ranger visited to review the conditions of the trail for the next day, the most strenuous of the trek. It would take the average hiker 12 hours to hike the 8.7 miles. We asked if there were raccoons in the area – no, he’s been the resident ranger for several years and he has never seen raccoons. Well then, what was outside the tent yesterday? Perhaps porcupines?

Day three - Parks Canada suggests traversing the summit before noon to avoid slushy snow, so we ate breakfast before daybreak and we were on the trail by 5:30 am. Boulder hopping and crawling at times was necessary even before we reached the scales. This section is where the challenge of this trip was the most intense. The Golden Stairs were a virtual rock fall; car size rocks made finding a path next to impossible. Orange poles point to the best possible traverse. We took many breaks but trudged uphill at a steady pace. The false summit provided a panorama of the glaciated mountaintops. It was simply spectacular. Steadily we kept climbing, over 3,500 feet on difficult terrain. Finally we reached the pass, stopped and rested at the Parks Canada warming hut before continuing over snowfields along Crater Lake. We encountered lots of snow melt and water, crossing many rivers and again boulder hopping and finding rock cairns to point the way. The trail was still difficult, but at least it was downhill. We finally arrived by 6:30 pm, tired and happy to be at Happy Camp.

Our fourth day greeted us with zero visibility; the rain didn’t start until after we broke camp. A trail runner whizzed by with merely a water bladder and a waist pack. We heard that he was trying to break the record of 6 hrs and 42 minutes for the 33-mile Chilkoot. The rain gear and pack covers made everyone look different; our sweep could no longer recognize each member of the party. Deep canyons, tremendous waterfalls churning over the gigantic rocks, one lake after the other and best of all, a display of wildflowers second to none. Skywards the clouds covered all the glaciers. This was a pretty miserable hiking day; we were so grateful we climbed the most difficult part of the trail yesterday. Arriving at Lindeman, we discovered that only a portion of the camp was available for hikers because the firefighters were using the rest. The helicopters came and went to the nearby Yukon Territory. A wood stove kept everyone warm in the hut; probably 30 hikers were drying their wet clothes….ah! the smell of steaming socks and underwear!

The last day on the trail, with beautiful blue sky again, we encountered completely different terrain. We now had sandy soil, smooth hiking trails, lovely alpine vegetation and hazy scenery. The smoke was blowing in from miles away. The lunch spot was at a wonderful clear lake. We lingered much longer then necessary to enjoy the serenity of this beautiful country. A few more miles and we arrived at Bennet Lake, our final camp. The setting was stunning. Knowing we have to go back to civilization the next day, we made use of the lake. This used to be a city with shipbuilding facilities and lots of trade; the only buildings left were the church and the train station. A First Nation family resides here; some lovely Indian gifts are available. The historic White Pass Yukon Railroad took us back to Skagway the next day.

For more information on the Trails Club of Oregon, visit the web site: www.trailsclub.org

Or request information by writing to P.O. Box 1243, Portland OR 97207

(Go to Alaska 2004 Photo Gallery for pictures of this adventure.)