Chilkoot

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A Useful Item to Pack for a Summer North of ’60

Coming north for a summer? Buy a sleep mask!

Night is slowly returning to the north, sneaking in through smoke and adding just a drop of darkness at a time to the day. I’ve needed to turn on a light to read in bed for about a week now and I’ve finally been able to put away the sleep mask I bought in Whitehorse.

I think that a sleep mask is a must-have item for anyone visiting the north who cannot sleep when there is light out. I bought mine at Walmart, figuring that it would be easier to get used to wearing the mask than to try to jury-rig curtains at my cousin’s. The mask was also useful on the Chilkoot seeing as it never really gets dark in a tent.

Unlike some people, I didn’t go crazy trying to darken my home this summer, just blocking off the overcab area, but leaving the rest of the rig as is. The mask was more than sufficient to block out light and I noticed that my sleep improved considerably. It didn’t take long for me to get used to wearing it.

Now that I know I like using a sleep mask, I’m going to look for a better model made of a breathable fabric. A nylon mask on a hot night did not stay on long. 🙂

I’m going to miss the sun, but it’s good to see the moon and stars again.

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The Cost of the Chilkoot Trip

Several people have followed my link to the Sea to Sky website page about the Chilkoot hike and commented that the cost for the trip is very high. Someone even used the word ‘exorbitant.’ I couldn’t disagree more; the trip was a bargain!

In cold hard numbers, the trip cost $1569.75 and covered essentially eight full days, for a total per diem of $196.22.

Just think, I had no responsibility whatsoever beyond getting my personal items together. Everything else was taken care of for me, from coordinating train schedules to gathering together the necessary permits to putting together meals. This enabled me to focus on getting in shape.

All meals except for the dinners in Skagway and Whitehorse were provided, including an additional snack for the train ride to Alaska. We were extremely well fed, with fresh produce every day, and tons of treats being brought in for us at Lake Bennett. I met a couple on the trail who were eating freeze-dried food exclusively and going through about $80 worth of the stuff each per day, for a total of $160 that closely reaches Sea to Sky’s per diem!

We had two guides for a group of five guests when the industry standard is one guide for five guests. I chose to help them out on occasion with meal preparations, doing dishes, or hauling water (they were, after all, only human and as tired as the guests!), but I didn’t have to, which turned a very strenuous hike into something more closely resembling a ‘vacation.’

All transportation from Whitehorse and back was included and we even did a 5K detour on the way back to drop me off at my cousin’s place (I hiked out to the South Klondike Highway on the day out).

Finally, the hike required some equipment I don’t have and didn’t feel I could justify purchasing for this one trip when storage is at such a premium in the RV, so Sea to Sky provided me with a larger pack, an inflatable sleeping pad, a tent, and a hiking pole, saving me hundreds of dollars.

In short, it’s easy to look at a number like the one on the website and blink, but when you add it all together, it’s surprising that the cost for the trip is so low!

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Bareloon Lake to Bennett and Out

The meanest miles didn’t give up once. The final stretch of the trail is uphill through sand. Never was I so happy to see a church steeple as I did when we reached Lake Bennett, our final campground!

We stopped just before the campground to look out over the lake. There were two floatplanes there. Flying out is another option when finishing up the Chilkoot and the one chosen by a family of 8 (including two young children) who had paralleled our trip, but pushed on to Bareloon when we stopped at Lindeman. We took a moment to wave them off as they flew into the wild blue yonder. Clichéd, I know, but the pictures will prove the cliché true.

We were met just before Bennett by another Sea to Sky guide who kindly brought in our last dinner, breakfast, and lunch so we’d have less to carry. Dinner that night at Bennett was an event, with caesar salad, mini-pizzas (assembled on site), pasta, wine, and cheesecake!

There is a lot to see in the Bennett area, so I explored a bit during the evening. What struck me the most was the amount of debris, mostly glass and rusted cans, which cover the site. They are all that remain of the hotels and saloons which covered this site during the gold rush.

Bennett is a strikingly beautiful location, a turquoise lake resting against grey mountains and rimmed with purple fireweed. Lake Louise doesn’t hold a candle to it! Mark was right when he said that hikers who take the shortcut from Bareloon miss out on something extraordinary.

We had another leisurely morning the next day and the guys made us pancakes for breakfast, a real treat after almost a full week of oatmeal and breakfast bars! We then went for a walk, sans pack, to check out the Bennett cemetery and also to look over the rapids that separate Lindeman and Bennett Lakes.

Lunch was veggie quesadillas and then it was time to start getting serious about packing up as more hikers were coming off the trail and in need of our sandy tent sites.

We left Bennett at 3PM on a train headed for Skagway that would drop us off in Fraser, where we’d left our van. It was strange to move forward without effort and I actually felt a bit queasy on the hour or so ride!

En route back to Whitehorse, we stopped briefly in Carcross to pick up our trail completion certificates and to poke around the tiny community. Our day, and our journey together, ended in Whitehorse, at the High Country Inn, where we had dinner without even changing or showering first. We ate out on the patio. 😀

My journey over the Chilkoot Pass is one I will carry in my heart forever. It was a week that blended history, ecology, and exercise; one that took me from lush Alaskan rainforest to British Columbian desert in the footsteps of men and women who shaped the modern Yukon territory. It was the trip of a lifetime.

I was happy to top up my water bottle from this beautiful stream.

I was happy to top up my water bottle from this beautiful stream.

A trapper's cabin just before Bennett, with Victor for scale. In case it's not clear, it's the cabin, not Victor, that's short. :)

A trapper’s cabin just before Bennett, with Victor for scale. In case it’s not clear, it’s the cabin, not Victor, that’s short. 🙂

the meanest miles now throw sand at us

the meanest miles now throw sand at us

Lake Bennett, with a floatplane in the foreground.

Lake Bennett, with a floatplane in the foreground.

Lake Bennett

Lake Bennett

waving goodbye to stranger-friends from the trail

waving goodbye to stranger-friends from the trail

I made it!

I made it!

last camp

last camp

gold rush cans

gold rush cans

St Andrews church

St Andrews church

close up of the steeple

close up of the steeple

this washing machine was only one of several interesting artifacts found near the beach

this washing machine was only one of several interesting artifacts found near the beach

a gold rush bottle depot (don't walk barefoot around Bennett!)

a gold rush bottle depot (don’t walk barefoot around Bennett!)

ah, the taste of civilization. :)

ah, the taste of civilization. 🙂

Lake Bennett

Lake Bennett

gold rush marker indicating that rapids are coming up (on the stretch of river between lakes Lindeman and Bennett)

gold rush marker indicating that rapids are coming up (on the stretch of river between lakes Lindeman and Bennett)

the rapids just before Lake Bennett

the rapids just before Lake Bennett

the end of the trail, or the beginning if you're crazy enough to hike it backwards

the end of the trail, or the beginning if you’re crazy enough to hike it backwards

waiting for the train out

waiting for the train out

coming full circle as the train passes Log Cabin (former site of a NWMP outpost), our first stop on the way to Fraser

coming full circle as the train passes Log Cabin (former site of a NWMP outpost), our first stop on the way to Fraser

the is the oldest continuously operating store in the Yukon (Carcross)

the is the oldest continuously operating store in the Yukon (Carcross)

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Lindeman to Bareloon Lake

I didn’t feel very good during our last morning of hiking, so the climb to Bareloon Lake is remembered as being very harsh. It probably wasn’t that bad, but it was a climb and a half over one ridge after another. We arrived at Bareloon at about 11 and decided to have an early lunch that stretched into a two hour break complete with a siesta.

Bareloon Lake was an incredibly beautiful spot on the only swimmable (ie. not freezing) lake on the trail. The campground is built on a granite cliff and has an open sided lunch shelter. It is the only campground without bear lockers.

Some hikers choose to go straight from Happy Camp to Bareloon and then take a shortcut from Bareloon to ‘Log Cabin’ where there is a parking lot. Others will race from Bareloon to Bennett to catch the 2PM train back to ‘civilization.’ Sea to Sky opts instead for an extra night on the trail at Bennett, meaning that there is no rush to get there, which explains our leisurely lunch at Bareloon.

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Bareloon Lake

Bareloon Lake

Bareloon Lake (and proof that I was there)

Bareloon Lake (and proof that I was there)

overview of Bareloon Lake campground

overview of Bareloon Lake campground

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Deep Lake to Lindeman City

The afternoon’s hike was super easy. In fact, this day was the only one that I would qualify as being effortless. It was a real treat!

Shortly after leaving Deep Lake, we came upon the remains of an old canvas boat as well as a sled. It was here that we began to leave the alpine terrain behind and began to head down into boreal forest.

We arrived mid-afternoon at Lindeman City, the largest campground of the Chilkoot Trail. There are two tenting areas, we stayed at the upper near the warden’s cabin. Lindeman City is a lovely spot on a turquoise lake and it’s flat, something not very common on the Chilkoot Trail!

Lindeman City felt like ‘civilization.’ There is a warden’s cabin on site as well as a museum. Moreover, we arrived on the eve of Parks Canada Day, so we were treated to a Robert Service recital after dinner! The warden also served up treats of cookies and fruit salad. We had had fresh vegetables every day, but no fresh fruit. Canned fruit mixed with fresh apples was quite possibly the yummiest thing I have ever eaten!

After the ‘show’, several of us went for a walk to see the cemetery above Lindeman City and also to visit the lower campground. We saw a family of ptarmigans en route. They are silly birds who are not afraid of people, hence why they were such a popular food source during the gold rush.

old canvas boat and a sled

old canvas boat and a sled

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big country

big country

first glimpse of Lake Lindeman

first glimpse of Lake Lindeman

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cabin at the upper campground

cabin at the upper campground

picnic table with view over the lake

picnic table with view over the lake

a cute little new friend of mine

a cute little new friend of mine

soaking my sore feet in icy water (I twisted the left one going over the pass and it was pretty big by this point!)

soaking my sore feet in icy water (I twisted the left one going over the pass and it was pretty big by this point!)

the river, the lake, the fireweed, the mountains, the majesty of it all...

the river, the lake, the fireweed, the mountains, the majesty of it all…

I asked Victor if he needed help whipping the mousse. No, no, thanks! But a minute and a half later, he handed me the bowl. So much work, but such yumminess!

I asked Victor if he needed help whipping the mousse. No, no, thanks! But a minute and a half later, he handed me the bowl. So much work, but such yumminess!

the interpretive tent at Lake Lindeman

the interpretive tent at Lake Lindeman

this guy knew his Robert Service and also had no inhibitions...

this guy knew his Robert Service and also had no inhibitions…

a slightly less traumatizing costume

a slightly less traumatizing costume

bury me here...

bury me here…

a grave at the cemetery overlooking Lake Lindeman

a grave at the cemetery overlooking Lake Lindeman

early morning at Lindeman

early morning at Lindeman

Mark started each day with a Robert Service poem. He saved the best for last and is here reading 'The Cremation of Sam McGee'

Mark started each day with a Robert Service poem. He saved the best for last and is here reading ‘The Cremation of Sam McGee’