Hiking the Chilkoot

The trail goes down the canyon

Tales from the Backyard…  One year at Klondike my friends from Klamath Falls came up to visit.  They had planned on hiking the Chilcoot trail and my wife was going to go along.  I was much too busy but said that I would meet the them on Weds. morning and hike to the border with them, they would then continue on and I would head back.  The plan was for them to hike in to lower camp the first day, then to Sheep camp the second.  Sheep camp was 14 miles up the canyon.  That’s where I would meet them.  So on Weds. Morning I was up early and caught a ride to the trail head and began the hike in.  I arrived about 10 am and them being ready, we continued on and up to the summit, 3 miles ahead.  Once there we had lunch and they continued on as I headed back down the mountain and back to work.   My ride back to town was nowhere to be seen and after 35 or so miles of hiking in one day, my legs were toast, luckily the only cab in town just dropped off some hikers so I caught a ride with him back to town.  When I took off my boots and socks, my big toenail came with it, probably from kicking all the stones off the trail.  It was quite a day.