This summer, I am loving life as a tour guide in Skagway, Alaska. The views are always great, my passengers are interesting and the tips are fantastic. But one of my favorite parts of each day is when I teach my passengers about the Klondike Gold Rush and the historic journey the Klondikers made from Dyea along the Chilkoot Trail. Then, I tell my passengers that I hiked the trail, too! Here’s my story for you.

Gold Fever

In 1896, four prospectors were poking around for gold near Dawson, in the Klondike region of Yukon, Canada. One day, as the story goes, they were doing their dishes in a stream when they found some nuggets scattered on the bottom. They pulled a lot of nuggets out of that stream, and its tributaries, and eventually put all those nuggets on two different ships. Those ships headed down the Yukon River, around Alaska, and all the way to San Francisco and Seattle. When those ships arrived in 1897, with a combined value of 30 million dollars worth of gold, it created a mass hysteria. The country was suddenly gripped with “gold fever” which ignited a stampede of hopefuls heading for the Klondike. During 1897 and 1898, it is estimated that 100,000 men (as well as some women and children) poured onto steamships along the west coast, traveled up the Inside Passage and flooded onto the flats of Skagway, making it the “Gateway to the Klondike.”

Stampeders arrived in Skagway to collect 2,000 pounds of provisions before heading 600 miles north into the Yukon.

A Ton of Goods

About this time, the Canadian Mounted Police were getting quite alarmed that all of these greenhorns planned to cross the mountains into Canada during the winter. They surmised that these prospectors would surely die if they didn’t have enough provisions. So, Canada mandated that each prospector carry 2,000 pounds of goods and grub, basically everything they would need to survive a year in the Klondike. The 2.000 pounds included cans of beans and bacon, bags of flour to make bread, wool blankets, canvas tents, rubber boots, coats, pick-axes, shovels, buckets, whipsaws and gold pans. Can you imagine the bulk and heft of the 2,000 pounds they had to carry up and over the mountains?

Two Routes to the Yukon: the White Pass and Chilkoot Trails

Next, the prospectors had to decide which route over the mountains they would take. There were two choices. First, there was the White Pass Trail which was lower in elevation, but the narrow trail, knee-deep mud, and precipitous rocks were deadly to pack-horses and humans a like.

Two routes to the gold fields: the White Pass Trail, and the Chilkoot Trail

Alternatively, there was the Chilkoot Trail, an Indian trade trail that left from the town of Dyea, a few miles north of Skagway. At 32 miles in length, the Chilkoot Trail was shorter by comparison, and it boasted a couple of different camps along the way with restaurants, saloons, and hotels. But the problem with this trail was the ascent.

As you can see from this graphic, the first 13 miles didn’t have much elevation gain – just a lot of slippery rocks in the rainforest. But then, between Sheep Camp and the Scales, the trail climbed up the dreaded “Long Hill”, ascending 1,600 feet in elevation. From the Scales, where they literally weighed their loads to cross into Canada, they ascended the “Golden Staircase” which was 1,500 steps carved in the ice up a narrow avalanche chute. Stampeders trudged up the steps in a single line, stooped under the weight of their 50-60 pound loads. Each trip could take up to six hours and over the weeks of shuttling all their supplies, the Klondikers had to repeat this journey 20-30 times.

During the winter of 1897-1898, tens of thousands of prospectors slogged up the Chilkoot Trail all in a race to the gold fields in the Klondike.

“It is impossible to give one an idea of the slowness with which things are moving. It takes a day to go four or five miles and back; it takes a dollar to do what ten cents would do at home. . . . [Stampeders] have arrived here with outfits and means of transportation; they have thought their expenses ended, but they have only just begun. Where a party has calculated on getting over in days, it is taking weeks. . . . The valley is filled with great water and ice-worn boulders. The trail climbs from one to another of these. . . . The trail enters a cul-de-sac, climbing higher and higher. The valley seems to end; a precipitous wall of gray rock, reaching into the sky, seems to head off farther progress, seaming its jagged contour against the sky—a great barrier, uncompromising, forbidding—the Chilkoot Pass.”

-Tappan Adney “The Klondike Stampede,” 1900

By the end of the winter, industrious entrepreneurs offered to carry loads, rent out sleds or provide complete transport services on newly constructed tram lines – all for a hefty fee. But only the wealthiest could afford those luxuries. For the rest, it would take three to six months slogging their supplies along this section of trail and over the border into Canda. As weariness set in, some supplies were cast off along side of the trail, never to make it to the Klondike. Some of the prospectors never made it to the Klondike either.

On Sunday April 3rd, 1898 – Palm Sunday, a large avalanche occurred on the Chilkoot Trail between Sheep Camp and the Scales. This was the deadliest event on the trail, killing 65 men in its path.

The Chilkoot Trail Today

I’ve known about the infamous Chilkoot Trail for many years and have always dreamed of walking in the footsteps of those iconic Klondikers. This past July, I finally got the chance. Unfortunately, due to a variety of different reasons, hikers are currently not allowed to cross the international border on the trail. So, I took three days to tackle just the American side, then took the train up to Canada and hiked a few miles of the Canadian side, too.

Thanks to the Klondike Gold Rush International Historic Park, I was able to plan my trip, secure my permits and get thoroughly trained on Bear Safety!

I finally was hiking the historic Chilkoot Trail!

From the beginning of the trek, I reveled in the green of the Pacific Coast Rainforest. The trail was in great condition and the forest landscape was magical!

The National Park Service has done a fantastic job building and maintaining infrastructure along this historic trail. I felt so pampered sleeping on wooden platforms and using provided lockers to store food away from the bears. I also loved all the interpretive signs keeping the history of this trail alive.

Climbing was the name of the game on the Chilkoot, but once above tree line the views opened up to showcase distant mountains, glaciers and waterfalls all around.

Finally, up near the Scales, I really started seeing the detritus left behind from 128 years ago. This is the reason the Chilkoot Trail is considered the longest museum in the world.

Ascending the Golden Staircase was nothing like I had imagined. Of course, I wasn’t trying to scale this rocky chute in the dead of winter while in a “race” to the gold fields. For me, it was a beautiful summer weekend and I was only carrying a light day-pack from my base camp, so the rock hopping was fairly easy all the way up to the International Border. I made it to the summit of Chilkoot Pass and looked down onto the lovely lakes of Canada.

As I sat looking into the distance, I contemplated whether or not I had all that it took to be a Klondiker in 1898. They were financially desperate, spurred on by the get-rich-quick stories and the “fever” of the time. They were often young men, eager to make their mark in the world, and after hearing about the great strikes in California during the rush of 1849, they too, wanted their turn at adventure. Knowing all of this, I probably would have considered joining the “stampede”, too. But for me, the getting there would have been much more fun than the mining.

The Canadian Side

Bennett City and Lake Bennett sit at the north end of the Chilkoot Trail. From then on, Klondikers built boats and paddled an all-water route the rest of the way to Dawson City, Yukon. Today, Bennett City is a remote ghost town with the only access being on the historic White Pass & Yukon Route Railway. So, in order to hike the Canadian section of the Chilkoot Trail, you have to take the train!

Hiking by train is really fun, but the timeframe is a little stressful. I only had a few hours from when the northbound train dropped me off and the southbound train circled back to pick me up. Therefore, all I had time for was a quick but lovely day hike along Lake Lindeman. The Canadian Yukon is breathtaking.

I feel so lucky to have experienced at least some parts of this gorgeous and historic trail. Stay tuned for my final Skagway post where I show off some of my other hiking adventures!