The Chilkoot Trail

Last weekend Titan, Star, Brian, and I hiked the historic Chilkoot Trail from Dyea, AK (former boomtown during the Gold Rush just around the corner from Skagway) to Lake Bennett in Canada.  I was hoping to hike the trail before the end of the season as it’s sort of a rite of passage for anyone spending the summer in Skagway.  On Friday morning, I casually asked Brian if he’d be interested in doing it over the weekend and then we went our separate ways to work without making any concrete plans.  After work, seeing a solid forecast for the weekend, (we’ve been experiencing a lot of rain and fog recently) I headed over to the trail center to see if there were any permits.  There were!  I purchased our permits, went to the store and bought all of our food for the trip, biked home, began packing, biked back to town and met Brian for our trail orientation, biked back home to finish packing, organized rides for the beginning and end of the trail, drove into town to pick up our ride Anna, drove to the trailhead, and began hiking.

All ready!

Unfortunately, we didn’t begin hiking until 7:30 PM.  Earlier in the summer, this wouldn’t have posed a problem as it was almost never completely dark, even in the dead of night, but now that fall is on it’s way the sun sets much earlier- 9:19 last Friday.  According to our permit we should have been hiking all the way to Sheep Camp, 13 miles in, on the first night.  We hiked earnestly until dark, pulled out our headlamps, and hiked for three more hours in the dark.  We reached Pleasant Camp around midnight, still three miles from our intended stopping point, and said “good enough.”   

   

We had a casual morning on Saturday, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, and set out on the trail.  Today’s hike would include the famous Golden Staircase, a boulder field that climbs 1200 feet in 1/4 mile.  We hiked up and over Chilkoot Pass and were greeted at the Canadian border by lifting fog that revealed a bright blue lake and sunshine behind it.  We had a nice lunch on the sandy beach at the lake, and continued on.  We hiked all day long and after 16 miles made camp at Lindeman City.  We enjoyed a delicious dinner of chicken, gravy, and mashed potatoes, played half a game of cribbage, and fell asleep.  

Selfie time!

Still on the US side, before the pass

High clouds on the US side of the trail

The Golden Staircase

Wow!  The clouds parted and revealed this once we reached Canada

The dogs were really happy that there was some snow around

Taking a quick break

Titan enjoying the wind in his ears

Brian and Star admiring a glacier and a lake

A nice section of trail

Everything was so bright and colorful

Wildflowers!

Another great view!

Admiring the clear water

Glacier and a lake!

Titan checking out a little waterfall

Dinner time!

Weirdos

The next morning we were up a bit earlier as we had to meet our ride, Sam, at 2:00 PM.  We knew it was 7 miles to the end of the trail and some other hikers informed us at breakfast that it was another 8 to get back to the road.  Yikes!  I thought it might be more like 5!  You see, the trail ends at Lake Bennett and if you have done your planning well, you can catch a train there that takes you all the way back to Skagway.  The train doesn’t run on Sundays and as we only had Saturday and Sunday off we figured that it wouldn’t be a big deal to hike out on the tracks (plus we weren’t even sure if dogs were allowed on the train).  Knowing we had 15 miles to complete by 2:00, we strode out of camp purposefully.  We quickly made it to Lake Bennett and enjoyed a celebratory lunch before heading for the tracks.  Hiking out on the tracks was pretty brutal, super exposed in the sun, hard to walk on the ties without doing funny stutter steps, and seemingly never-ending.  At 2:15, we hopped off the tracks at the parking lot of Log Cabin Peak where Sam and Brooke were waiting for us with doughnut holes! 

Nearing the end

Lake Bennett just ahead

The dogs at Lake Bennett.  They were rewarded with lots of Zuke's treats

We did it!  Now for the tracks...

I couldn’t believe how breathtakingly beautiful the trail was.  I was in awe the whole hike of all the glaciers, lakes, and lovely terrain surrounding us.  It was fantastic that the dogs could come on the trail even though it is in US and Canadian National Parks.  I would love to do this hike again and would enjoy taking a lot more time on it next time.  Because we only had two days off, we completed all 41 miles in just under 43 hours of elapsed time!  The dogs had a blast, we had a blast, and I can’t wait for more adventures and less working!

Friday Night Camp Out

The sub-alpine zone here in Alaska has quickly become our favorite place to explore.  The glacially carved landscape makes for easy exploration and all the lichen in the area are fascinating.  There is no shortage of little lakes to jump in, streams to drink from, and amazing scenery to stare at.  After a hot day in town, I was not looking forward to sleeping in the van so I suggested to Brian that we drive up the pass and go camping.  He said he needed a nap first (it was 7 PM) which greatly lowered my expectations that we would actually go.  I made dinner and when Brian woke up I fed him and convinced him that it would be awesome.  While we were driving up the pass it started pouring rain.  Fortunately, when we reached the summit the rain had already passed and we quickly packed up our bags.  We set out around 10 PM, took a short hike over the ridge, and found an incredible spot to pitch our tent for the night.  The dogs got to run around and explore and we had a refreshingly cool evening for sleep.  In the morning the dogs romped around while we slept in and then we all jumped in a lake before heading back to town for a yummy breakfast out.

Our Little Orange Tent

We were about two weeks in to our first big road trip in 2010, 3.5 months traveling the west to climb, when signs for the Sierra Trading Post Outlet starting popping up on the side of the road.  I love gear.  And I love a good deal.  I suggested we stop.  Of course I wanted to browse, but I also really wanted a new tent.  The tent that the four of us (Chelsea, Star, Titan, and myself) had been using for the past two weeks was a little two person tent that I had bought from a friend.  At the time I bought it, it only needed to house Titan and I.  Now, I was realizing that it was a bit small for four beings on an extended trip.  Yes, you read that correctly, we were sleeping with two humans and a 60 and 75 pound dog in a two person tent, and planned to do that every night for three and a half months straight.

I found the tent section and there were a bunch of orange Marmot tents.  Orange is my favorite color, so I didn't need any convincing on which brand I would buy, and there was a three person tent called the Titan.  I may be biased towards things named Titan.  I bought it.

The little tent spent its very first night pitched at the base of the Grand Teton.  Titan and Star unfortunately were not able to be present for the tent's inaugural use, but they were happily running around on a large ranch while we climbed the Grand.  After a rewarding summit and a long descent, it was comforting to see our little orange dome beckoning us in the distance.  Our new home.  

Over the last five years, the tent has traveled everywhere with us.  Although we have been primarily sleeping in the car and now in the van for the more recent years, it still sees plenty of use.  It is not a lightweight backpacking tent, but it comes on all of our backpacking trips.  It has spent 14 days on the Tahoe Rim Trail, five days in the Wind River Range, and eight days on the Denali Highway this year.  It has a few bends in its poles from tent-flattening winds in Indian Creek and the Denali Highway.  It has a couple leftover blood stains from squashing bird sized mosquitoes in it in Cape Breton National Park in Nova Scotia.  One side of it is primarily Tenacious Tape after a tricky repair following Star's attempt to jump through the tent wall one morning.  It has kept us dry in countless nights of rain and snow.  It has traveled from east to west and north to south and been pitched in all of our favorite sports in between.  On clear nights, we enjoy leaving the fly off and looking through the mesh at the stars.  

It is a great tent.  It feels like home.  

Ode to a Pit Toilet

If pooping, talking about pooping, or toilets make you feel uncomfortable, you probably shouldn't read this post.

Pit toilet, I love you so!
When I see your brown facade and your chimney in the distance, I thank my lucky stars
I hike faster, bike stronger, send my project quickly, so I can run to your thick brown door
If I'm lucky, the lock works
and there are many rolls of toilet paper, their tails flapping in the wind as I whoosh the door open
If not, no matter, I brought my own roll
Yes, pooping in the woods can be nice, very lovely indeed
But after many days, my quads tire of squatting, and my shovel begins to dull
a seat would be so nice
For some reason, not everyone understands the signs:
"Please close the lid to reduce odor" "Close the lid to prevent flies" "Be sweet and close the seat"
But I will never let you down, I will not let the odor escape or the flies congregate!
In every pit toilet across America, someone has eaten a bad meal before visiting
I cannot understand how this occurs so frequently, but hopefully someone comes to clean you soon
Every once in a while, you provide me with a hand sanitizer dispenser as I walk out the door
and sometimes there is even hand sanitizer in it!
You shelter me during storms, offering your sturdy walls against the wind and the rain
Thanks for your support.  You rule.