Chilkoot Day 5...Bare Loon to Bennett

Bare Loon to Bennett

Looking back up Linderman

Our last day and only 6 kms left.

We got an early start as we had to be at the train station by noon to catch the train to Carcross

Griz shit and a bear bell

Another beautiful hiking day...lots of ups and down.
As we got closer to Bennett, the trail got quite sandy.

The old church at Bennett

The Bennett train station

Looking down Bennett Lake

Stew lunch at the train station...a separate dinning area for the train tourist...didn't want them mixing with the smelly hikers.

We even had a separate car.

Looking back toward Bennett and the Pass

Chilkoot Day 4...Happy Camp to Bare Loon Lake

Happy Camp to Bare Loon Lake

After a great sleep at Happy Camp, we were off early in the morning.

Above Long Lake

Looking back as the clouds rolled in...we sure picked the right day to come over the Summit

Heading down to Deep Lake Campground

 The first part of the day was really up and down to get us around Long Lake. We crossed a river at the Deep Lake Campground and stopped for lunch.
It was a cloudy day and it started to rain a bit after lunch.
The trail followed Deep Lake for a bit and along a very long canyon all the way to Linderman.The Parks Canada folks stay at Linderman and there is a campground and cabin there.

Deep Lake

The canyon between Deep and Linderman

We stopped at the cabin for a snack and continued on to Bare Loon Lake. The sun came out again and it warmed up nicely.

Sunny at Bare Loon Lake

Our last night on the trail

Bare Loon Lake is off the Chilkoot valley so the lake was isolated and warm...even went for a swim.
We had a great campsite... apparently the neighbours were kept awake by someone snoring.

Chilkoot Day 3...Sheep Camp to Happy Camp

Day 3.. Sheep Camp to Happy Camp

Up the Long Hilll

At Sheep Camp, the Park Ranger gave a presentation at the end of day 2. There was a concern about the avalanche risk on the Canadian side so they strongly suggested that we all be out of camp by 5:30 the next morning so we would be pass the snow sections prior to the sun heating this area.

Getting above tree line and looking down the valley

Our first look at the actual pass

So we were up early and on the trail well before the sun came into the valley. The first section is call the Long Hill…no surprise…it was a long hill. The elevation change was slight so while we knew we were going up hill, it was really pleasant. After a couple of hours, we moved above the tree line and could look back at the mountains and valley behind us. More artifacts and snow fields covered the path. It was pretty warm….T shirts and shorts weather and blue sky above.

Looking up

We got to the Scales (at the base of the summit climb) and reload and snacked in preparation of the steepest part of the trail. Large screen rocks and boulders for the next bit and no actual trail…just pick your best route. Hands and knees climbing.

Hands and Knees

Steep Climb

Outhouse with best view ever

Heading down to Crater Lake

Crater Lake

An hour or so later we were at the top and back into Canada. There was a lot of snow! There is a warm up shelter and an outhouse at the top so we stopped for lunch.

Looking back at the Summit

Snack time

Still lots of  snow

Many more snow patches and river crossings for the rest of the day. We finally arrived at Happy Camp around three in the afternoon after a nine hour hiking day. We did get the best camp site in all of Happy Camp.

Happy Camp!

Chilkoot Day 2...Canyon City to Sheep Camp

Day 2 Canyon City to Sheep Camp

There is a narrow canyon from Canyon City to Pleasant Camp so today’s hike was much tougher then the first day…however, it was only 8 km.

Lush forest

Pleasant Camp 

We were up and down many times. The weather was perfect…about 17 Celsius and sunny but the forest cover is so thick, we were in the shade all day.

Campsite at Sheep Camp

Bear Boxes and Cooking Tent

Lots of people in Sheep Camp...the last campground before the pass.

Chilkoot Day One...Dyea to Canyon City

We spent the day prior to hiking in Skayway. It is a tourist town with four cruise ships in town the day we left. There are some good little outdoors stores for last minute shopping.

Day 1

 We arranged for a ride to Dyea…the start of the trail and arrived there around 10:00. There are a few transport services in Skayway so it cost about $20 each for the ride.

The first km of the trail gets you blood pumping but after that it is a walk in the park to Finnigan’s Point. There is a beautiful wetland area with boardwalks that go on and on.

Boardwalks

There is camping at Finnigan’s Point but because we had an early start, we kept going to Canyon City…a distance of about 13 kms for the first day.

Hanging Glacier at Finnigan's Point

Canyon City consists of a log cabin and one cook tent. The weather was so pleasant everyone cooked outside. The cabins are for warm up and cooking, not sleeping. By the end of the day, there were about 35 people at Canyon City. Most of the group was on the same schedule as us so while during the day it was just the two of us, at the campsites it was mostly the same group.

Lush rain forest

We camped with eight Germans, eight Hungarians, and family from Montreal, a couple of doctors from Toronto, a Dad from Calgary with his nine year old son and two young 17 year olds from Whitehorse.

The cook tent at Canyon City

We took a little side hike, after we were all set up, to the actual Canyon City site. We hiked over the Tayia River suspension bridge to see an abandon boiler and other artifact from the gold rush days.

The day was about 13 km...cooked up some dinner and went to bed early with the sun still up.