Chilkoot Trail Hike, photo essay

Chilkoot Trail Hike, photo essay

“The Chilkoot Trail starts at tidewater in Dyea, Alaska and ends on the shores of the Southern Lakes headwaters of the mighty Yukon River. Few trails of similar length offer more dramatic changes in climate, terrain and vegetation or more spectacular scenery. Amidst this rugged northern wilderness an overlay of artifacts and heritage landscape features tell of the story of the Klondike Gold Rush giving a unique historic flavour to the legendary Chilkoot Trail.” Parks Canada Website

 

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In Downtown Chetwynd, BC they have dozens of huge wood statues on display by local artists.

The Chilkoot Trail is a 53 kilometer / 33 mile trip through history and one of North America’s most fabled treks. The trail crosses the international boundary between the United States and Canada and is co-operatively managed by Parks Canada and the US National Parks Service.

Curtis and a couple of his friends hiked this trail in July 2012, although it rained for a lot of the trip he still managed to capture some great photos! They rode motorcycles to and from the trailhead and took the first few photos on the way. For more detailed information on the hike itself, please visit the links above.

Below was a statue in the middle of the traffic circle, at the start of the Alaska Highway, Dawson Creek, BC.  Pointing the way to the gold!

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Sikanni River Campground had these pinwheels along the road.

Fort Nelson Heritage Museum. They took a lot of photos of rusty old vehicles and equipment but this car below appeared to be a personal car of the owners. It was behind a fence in the back.

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The sign post forest is located in Watson Lake, Yukon.

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The start of the trail.

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Approximately 4km in there are some cool boardwalks that stretch about a kilometer in length.

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Well beaten path through the forest.

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Lots of old artifacts along the trail. This appears to be a boiler. The text on the front says Union Iron Works S.F 1886.

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Bridge crossing near Pleasant Camp.

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This section is known as the scales.  It started to become foggy at this point.

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Top of the pass trail marker.

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Even in July there’s still snow at the top…and fog. It makes pictures interesting though.

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Walking towards deep lake. It’s probably a deep lake 🙂

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An old cabin near Lindeman Lake. Time for a good old fashion shovel/ frying pan fight!

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Walking towards Bennett. The trail is well marked.

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Old building in Bennett.

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Cooling off the feet in Lake Bennett after a long day of hiking is a MUST!

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We’ve all heard of Spam, but what is Spork?

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The Bennett Eating House is the end of the hike. The eating house is famous for its food and was an important stop in the railroad’s operations and tourism program.

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White Pass & Yukon Route train takes hikers either back to Skagway or on to Carcross.

Below are some random photos from the trail.

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Jill Patterson
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2 Comments

  1. Mike Orobona 8 years ago

    I only took the easy way (the train up the pass), but I recall that was some beautiful country.

    • Author
      Jill 8 years ago

      The scenery is similar on both the train and the trail. The experience is very different though 🙂

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