Thursday August 26, 2010

Up at 6:00 packed luggage and moved to B&B storage area. Had breakfast. Shuttled to the trail head by Carl, the owner. Talk on the way included some local history of Dyea, a town that no longer exists. There is a large tidal flat that faced Dyea and steamboats would pull in as far as they could and drop off the passengers gear and kits. The passengers then had 6 to 8 hours to transport their goods the distance to the town. I imagine that many failed in this endeavor and much was soaked and damaged. City fathers has great hopes for the future of the town and Chilkoot trail as the main route to the Klondike and started to build a wharf 1 – 3 miles long that the steamboats could tie up to and unload their passengers and cargo. Unfortunately, the railroad up White Pass, or Dead Horse Pass, was finished by 1889 and and Dyea, a town that had thousands, died a quick death and within days was abandoned.

I arrived at the trail head a little after 9:00 A.M. And before I could even unload my gear, I was alerted to the fact that there was a grizzly bear at the bridge, I grabbed my camera and quickly proceeded to the bridge and started taking pictures of the bear. The bear was aware of us and occasionally looked us over as he ambled up river. The bear passed under the bridge and looked at us probably wondering what the big deal was. At times this bear was within 30 yards of me. Magnificent and immense, this bear appeared to be taking his time, but he covered distance quite quickly with muscles and fat rippling like a work of art, reminiscent of a race horse when watched in slow motion, exuding nothing but brute power. Cool, I thought, I got the bear sighting out of the way.

I started up the trail, on my big adventure and felt good about it. I was relaxed, and constantly scanning my surroundings looking for bear and other wildlife; this type of awareness really opens the eyes to the natural beauty that surrounds you as you walk through the forest. Shortly after entering the trail, I came to a hill, actually it seems to be more of a cliff, with steps carved out of the hillside. About ½ a mile into the hike encounter three women out for a day hike, and they offer to take my picture. I continue on down the trail to mile 1.6 where there is a right turn to go to Finigin's point, where I plan on having lunch. A couple hundred yards past the junction, I come upon fresh bear scat and I look closely to see if it is black or Grizzly scat; I see no bear bells and determine that it is fairly fresh black bear scat – it is not steaming, but it hasn't dried out and there were very few insects crawling over it – so I figure it is fresh, but the bear has had time to travel on. I confidently move forward scanning the area around me, forward, left, right and even behind, to my shock, up the trail about 50 yards are two black bears. I stop and wonder, “oh, darn – what am suppose to do now?” I would like to say that I wasn't scared, but I can say that I didn't have to change my underwear. I took about 3 steps back and then remembered my training, do not walk away unless you know the bear hasn't seen you, as that can cause an aggressive reaction from the bear. In my mind I had a short conversation about turning around and returning to Skagway, especially if I was going to keep encountering bears.

The conversation quickly ended when I said I had spent too much money to turn tail and run at this time. Part 2 of training kicked in and I remembered I was suppose to make sure the bear had seen me and that I wasn't dangerous. I made some noise and one of the bears turned and looked at me and the two bears turned to the right and went up the hill.

I waited a bit in order to give them time to move on and then proceeded on down the trail, talking to the bear, thanking them for letting me walk peacefully through their home. I had a tin mint can and I took it out and started shaking it to make a rattle noise. There is something else that I wanted to do “Someday” and that is loudly sing, “The Sound of Music” in the forest. That is now accomplished.
The weather started out cloudy with a light mist, and even a light shower or two; however,I got wetter from my own exertions than from the elements. The sun came out about 1:00 and has been out since then, a beautiful day.

A National Park ranger passed me on the trail, she was heading in to Skagway, her multi-day at Sheep Camp was finished and she had some time off. I showed her my bear pictures and she was impressed, she said she hadn't seen any for months. We continued on our separate ways and awhile later I heard a voice call out from behind me, alerting me to her presence. This was the relief ranger heading to Sheep Camp. She kept up a fast pace and soon left me behind. (This will become a common theme in the coming days.)

Part of the hike is over a boardwalk that seems to stretch on forever, across a swampy area. The pair of 10'x1'x3 or 4” planks are laid end to end and when you are walking on the center of the plank many of them bow and slap the water. Some worse than others and they make you feel as if you may end up in the somewhat stagnant water. One of the planks was broken and it made me wonder if someone had fallen in.

Lunch consisted of a Cliff Builders bar.

The rest of the days hike was uneventful, except for the occasional crash in the woods; that is if you think walking through lush rain forest across babbling brooks and raging rivers are uneventful.

I was first to arrive at Canyon City campground and had my choice of sites. Shortly after I arrived I heard voices and the two women I had briefly met yesterday had arrived.

Awhile later a Canadian family of 5 arrived, two adults and 3 children, the youngest being 5.

A group of 4 from Fairbanks arrived and then around 11:00, Jim from Bonnie Lake, WA arrived.

At the start of my hike -

I didn't even get my pack on ... This is low res jpeg and I will post another one after converting from RAW.

Great trip.

Thursday August 26, 2010

The day is here, the hour approaches. Time to shutdown the computer and pack it away until I return to Skagway. See you all, or post you all, next Tuesday. Life is an adventure - participate.

Wednesday 8/25

This morning I woke around 5:30 and tried to snooze for awhile, because breakfast wasn't until 7:00, but I didn't have much luck. I slept really well last night – very comfortable mattress and pillows.

I started out the day by walking down Broadway street and taking a few pictures of one of the mountains cloaked in clouds. As I walked from 7th and Broadway, where I am staying, to 2nd street ,cruise ship passengers started filling the streets. I headed directly to the National Park building for information on the Chilkoot Trail and registering for my trip. I was told that I needed to do that across the street. I also indicated that I wanted to take the ranger led walking tour of Skagway at 10:00 and was given a ticket for that purpose. It was 9:00 and a film about Skagways' place in the Yukon Gold Rush was about to start, so I stepped into the theater to watch it.

After the movie, I went to register for the hike and entry into Canada. The ranger talked for about 20 minutes on trial behaviors and I was on my way. Back to the NP building for the walking tour and as I waited the area filled up with these geriatric persons and I decided that I would take the tour after I returned from the hike. I instead, attended a play written by one of the rangers about two of the individuals that participated in the gold rush, a man and a woman that never found gold and the interaction they may have had, if they had met. It was full of historical facts and quite interesting.

After the play, I went to another little room and watched a film about Safety in Bear Country, where it was explained that I was to calmly stand up to the bear if one approached me. I was also to remain calm and talk calmly even if the bear charged me, because charges are usually ended before contact is made. Right.

I then watched a video about the Chilkoot Trail and two women entered and sat down to watch the movie. When it ended, I asked if they were going to hike the trail and they replied that they were, They are leaving tomorrow, and will be on trail 5 days like me. One is from Scandinavia and the other from Denmark. They needed to watch the bear video so I told them I would see them on the trail.

I did a lot of walking through town and popped into a few stores and bought a stocking hat (recommended) and a floppy bush hat for the sun.

I have unpacked my suit cases and loaded most of my pack, I only need to pack my toilet kit and the clothes that I am wearing today.

The day has been mostly cloudy, with rain and about 90 minutes of sun late this afternoon. I will be on my way to the trailhead in about 13 hours.

Something wrong with my camera

I thought there was something wrong with my lens, so I borrowed a couple other lenses and they seemed to work o,k.  I then borrowed another 28-135 telephoto, like the one I was having trouble with and I am once again getting spots in my pictures.  This is very disappointing to me that my photos from this trip will be marred by this imperfection.  ARRRGH.

On the other had, maybe I will get to come back to AK just to get good pictures...or I can learn to use my photo-editing software and learn to remove the spot.

Tuesday 8/24

1:00 – Alaska time – I am at the Alaska Marine HWY ferry terminal, waiting for the ferry. I have about a forty minute wait before it pulls in and then I can put my luggage on a cart – maybe board and get some food. No place close by to fuel up.

The flight was great. I was middle seat with two small women on the sides. Those airline seats are small and close together so it was great not being crowded..

It is cloudy and gray here in Juneau. When the ferry gets in and I park some luggage in a safe place I will take a few pictures of the dock area and the Malaspina – the ferry I will ride to Skagway. The ferrys here are named after well know glaciers, but they are not ones that we will see here on the inside passage. The ferrys are different than the ones we have in the Puget Sound. They are like small cruise ships and the cars load from the side and drive around the ferry and line up so they can get out the door again.

(Dang – there's Internet here $5.00 an hr and if spend $20.00, you get an extra ½ hr. free.) I don't need I-net that bad.

It seems to be clearing up a bit now, the clouds are starting to break up and I can see some mountains.

There is a feeling of peacefulness and calmness over this area. I wonder if the locals feel it or if they feel they are stressed out. It is raining outside, the woman at the visitor center said the weather is better up north. Told her was going to Skagway and she said there is a lot to do there and that the weather should be better.

5:15 AK TIME
As I sat down to write this I glanced out the starboard windows of the forward lounge and saw a beautiful rainbow colored patch of light so I jumped up, grabbed my camera and headed outside to take pictures.

This is a beautiful ferry ride. I have been walking the deck for the last two hours for the exercise and the clouds are breaking up and the temperature is about the mid 50's, very pleasant for walking. The glaciers I we are passing, the fiords and islands – I saw one that looked like a submarine; it is called Sentinel Light House.

We are traveling up the Lynn Canal, it is not realy a canal, canals are man made, it is a fiord.  I wonder if this means that the Hood Canal is not a canal?  We will be stopping in Haines,AK with a 1 hour layover. We got into Haines late and all I saw was a ferry dock and a few buildings. So I guess Haines is further inland.

I arrived in Skagway around 9:30 – 10:30 pst and was picke up at the ferry by a shuttle from the B&B I am staying at. The Skagway Inn. It was built around the turn of the century and has had a checkered past; at one time it was a bordello. Everything here is quite expensive.
 
The B&B has requested that I not download or upload large files as they are charged by their usage.  So I can not upload photos at this time.  Maybe I can use the library when I get back from my trip.  or maybe I'll just upload one.

Staying in a brothel

I reached Skagway tonight and checked into the B&B - it was a brothel at one time.  The Skagway Inn.  I have been up since 4:45 this morning and am tired and am ready to hit the pillows.  The trip up was without incident and I will have to sort through the notes I wrote on my way up for a posting tomorrow.

Preparing for a trip like this can be a little spendy if you need to upgrade your equipment: like a pack that is too small for a 5 day trip and doesn't fit properly, or a new stove that better suits your needs, or finally breaking down and purchasing Gortex rain gear. Having to get new boots because your old ones were so comfortable, that you wore them out already. Plane fare and hotel for staying in town. Suddenly you look at what you have spent and you know you can't back out, even if you wanted to. And you realize why nobody from Seattle wanted to join you; because for you it is dream fulfillment, but for them it was just an expensive hike. :-)
I am packed now, except for my laptop, and am ready to head into bed. I am excited to be doing this trip. I'll be leaving the house in about 9 hours. I will post more tomorrow.

A quick history of the trip to the Klondike Gold fields

http://www.questconnect.org/ak_klondike.htm

The Dream

In 1998 I said to myself that I wanted to return to Skagway, AK to hike the Chilkoot trail. I told myself through the following years that I wanted to hike the Chilkoot. It was always out of reach because of lifes events and because I didn't think I had the backpacking experience orthat I  was in shape to accomplish the task and being in that frame of mind, it would always stay a dream.
My first life change came after Jo Ann died and I realized how many times we said, “someday we are going to ...” and we never got around to someday. The other wasn't so profound, it happened around a campfire in September of 2009, people were talking about trails they had hiked and trails they wanted to hike when I stated “Someday I want to hike the Chilkoot.” Laurie asked me when someday was. That statement turned in my mind for a long time and I decide that “Someday was the last week of August and the first week of September, 2010.”

Someday is today - make memories.

Dreams are, or can be goals. We may not know it is a goal or that it can be life changing when we fulfill the dream, or maybe we fulfill the dream because we have had a (or many) life changing experiences.

In 1998 I said to myself that I wanted to return to Skagway, AK to hike the Chilkoot trail. I told myself through the following years that I wanted to hike the Chilkoot. It was always out of reach because of life's events and because I didn't think I had the back packing experience or was in shape to accomplish the task and being in that frame of mind, it would always stay a dream.

My first life change came after Jo Ann died and I realized how many times we said, “someday we are going to ...” and we never got around to someday. The other wasn't so profound, it happened around a campfire in September of 2009, people were talking about trails they had hiked and trails they wanted to hike when I stated “Someday I want to hike the Chilkoot.” Laurie asked me when someday was. That statement turned in my mind for a long time and I decide that “Someday was the last week of August and the first week of September, 2010.”