Chilkoot: Day 1

I have spent seven summers in Skagway, Alaska, and have always wanted to hike the Chilkoot Trail. This is the trail the stampeders trudged through as just part of their journey to GOLD.

Skagway is known as the "Gateway to the Klondike Gold Rush." Back in 1898 hundreds of thousands of men and women journeyed up the Lynn Canal of Southeast Alaska, landed in Skagway, and hiked for 33 miles to Lake Bennett then took a boat over six hundred miles to Dawson City, Yukon and the gold fields.

Nowadays, backpackers hike those 33 miles up over the summit of the Chilkoot into British Columbia. Not for gold, but strictly for the experience. I've wanted to hike the trail, but my best friends in town have never run in the "outdoorsy-type-crowd." I like hiking and picnicking and a little bit of park and camp. I haven't felt a backpack on my back since I was 14 when I hiked three miles downhill for church camp. I have certainly never experienced any hike as extreme as this.

Lucky for me, I now have a boyfriend who is in love with outdoor adventure, and chose to live in Alaska strictly for opportunity for exploration right in our backyard. I mentioned to him that I might want to hike the Chilkoot one day, and he started studying, planning, preparing, and gearing up for our hike. He definitely made it happen. Just hours before our chosen time of departure the weather turned ugly and a layer of fresh snow at the summit induced warnings and worries from even our most seasoned hiker pals. But Jeff was confident that we were prepared, and even though I was scared sick, I wasn't afraid that he would keep us safe.

Here we are at the trailhead. We are layered in wool and Capilene and rain gear. After a couple of miles on the trail, we had to shed some layers.

We signed into the official trail registry.

We stumbled upon so many artifacts and remnants from the last century.

After about seven miles of hiking, I got into a groove, and realized that I could probably (dare I say it?) LIKE backpacking.

Happily standing on a tent platform at Finnegan's Point.

During the Gold Rush, Canyon City was the base of tramway the miners could use to carry their goods over the Pass.

This big piece of machinery was used for that tramway.

We didn't see any bears or moose. We did see a lot of animal tracks, bear scat, and some crazy looking mushrooms.

Thirteen miles of hiking brought us to our stop for the night-Sheep Camp. Luckily, we were hiking in the off-season, so we were allowed to sleep in the warming cabins. This was a nervous night, because the next day was the day of our summit hike. The 45-degree climb up over the pass. The rock climb in the snow. The "Golden Staircase."