Hiking the Chilkoot Trail
We embarked on the historic Chilkoot Trail for a five-day journey that would take us back in time to the years 1897 and 1898. This trail is the dominant symbol of the Klondike gold rush where 40,000 people attempted to get across the 3,000 foot Chilkoot Pass but only 10,000 were successful in doing so.
As we hiked, we found it difficult to comprehend why so many people would risk their lives in desperate hopes of finding gold. The first two days of our hike were fairly easy. We saw many artifacts, such as an abandoned steam boiler that was used to power the tramway to the summit. The tramway was used strictly for carrying cargo to the summit. We also saw an abandoned cookstove as well as cooking utensils, collapsed cabins, cans, bottles, etc.
Day 3 was the grueling day of climbing to the summit and then hiking another 4 miles to Happy Camp. The first 3.5 miles were a relentless uphill climb at a mild to moderate grade. This was appropriately called "Long Hill". At mile 3.5, we reached the Scales, which were known as "one of the most wretched spots on the trail". The Scales was a place where gold rush stampeders would reweigh their loads. They were required by the Canadian police to have at least a year's supply of food and goods. Once at the summit, the stampeders would cross into Canada and were turned away if the 1000 lb. criteria was not met. Many stampeders became discouraged and turned back. The last .5 mile to the summit is a treacherous boulder and rock climb at a 45 degree angle. In the winters of 1897 and 1898, two entrepreneurs carved steps into the snow, which made the climb much easier for the stampeders. These entrepreneurs charged a fee for use of the "Golden Stairs". It would take the stampeders 1-6 hours per trip to the summit and it sometimes took 30-40 trips to the summit to get all of their provisions across the summit. Luckily, our packs weighed only 25-35 pounds and we only had to do it once - thank goodness! :)
By the time we reached Happy Camp, we understood why it was called by that name because our feet were barking and we were exhausted from our trek. We find that each day we are on the trail has a cumulative fatigue effect. Day 4 & 5 we assumed would be easy since we had just completed the most difficult portion of the trail, but due to our fatigue, the steep but short and rocky climbs seemed like mountains to us. We made it to Bennett, our destination, where we took the train back to Skagway via the White Pass route, another less popular route to Bennett. When the railway was completed in 1899 from Skagway to Whitehorse, Bennett lost its purpose.
Bennett was, for awhile, a place where 20,000 people accumulated to build boats to carry them via the Yukon River to Dawson City, the gold rush town. We were able see the remnants of some of these boats as well as abandoned boots and skeletal remains of some pack animals.
The impact that the stampeders had on the trail is amazing and experts believe that it will take about 300 years for one of the camp areas on the trail to return to its pre-rush condition. It was a great hike and to see the remnants of this historical event was incredible.