Hiking the Chilkoot Trail – Day 2

Day 2 August 3 – My 60th birthday

What a birthday present, day 2 was the hardest day of the hike. It was only 12 kms to Happy Camp but it was no joke. They kept telling us that it will take 8 – 12 hours to hike from Sheep Camp to Happy Camp. That seemed like a long time for only 12 kms. At home I can cover 12 kms in about 2.5 hours. It is about 5.5 kms to the summit from Sheep Camp. The first 4 kms to The Scales  are not that bad although you do climb about 460 meters. It took up about 2.5 hours just to get to the scales. This area is called the scales because everything was weighed at this point to make sure they had the proper amount of gear. Also some of the local native were employed with hauling the gear up the pass so they wanted to make sure of the weight. They got paid $1.00/lb which was a huge amount in 1989.

From the scales to the summit was only about 1.5 kms but you gain about 230 meters in elevation and this was the was the most difficult part for me. You put your trekking poles in your pack, put on your gloves, and scramble up a wall of rocks. This is called The Golden Staircase. There are 3 false summits. What that means is when you get to what you think is the top it is not the top there is more to go. That happens 3 times. Thankfully we were aware of this so it didn’t discourage us to much. It took up 2 hours to climb that 1.5 kms to the summit. To say I was tired would be a gross understatement. I was exhausted. I had spent many hours out on the trails at home preparing for this trip but it was not nearly enough. Joseph was having a much better time of it and kept encouraging me along the way.

Since we camp and climb with a lot of the same people on the trail you start to build a bit of a relationship with the other hikers. This was actually kind of fun. I thought having many people on the trail would be weird but it was fun because you started to get to know people not by their names but where they are from. We met people from Ukraine, France, Quebec, St Albert, Whitehorse, Skagway, and may other places I can’t remember. Joseph made sure they all knew it was my birthday so everyone on the trail kept wishing me a happy birthday as they passed us. We got passed a lot. At the warming hut at the summit someone said “I hope I can hike this when I am 60” so that made me feel a bit better.  Most of the hikers were younger I only met 2 others my age one was 63 and the other 66. They both looked like I felt.

Once we reached the summit we still had about 7 kms to go to get to Happy Camp. It was a lot easier from here on in however since I was already spent it was still a difficult 7 kms. Lots of up and down and rocks and riverbeds and the scenery along the way was spectacular. We did finally make it to Happy Camp and it was very good to be there. It took us 10 hours to hike the 12 kms from Sheep Camp to Happy camp.

Final Preparation and packing before leaving Sheep Camp

Just about to leave Sheep Camp

Many scenic moments

Much of the terrain looked like this

The Scales

The 3 dots at the top are hikers. We have a bit more to climb.

So good to be at the top. This is me exhausted.

Crater Lake

On our way to Happy Camp

Many scenic moments along the way

Our tenting site. Very nice.

 

Day 3 to come soon.

Hiking The Chilkoot Pass

A few years ago I read the book “The Klondike” by Pierre Burton and have had a fascination with the whole Klondike gold-rush thing. One of the most fascinating stories of the gold-rush is the trek through the Chilkoot Pass. It was one of the many routes to the Dawson City gold fields. It required a huge effort to take 1 years worth (about 1000 lbs) of supplies up through the pass and on the Bennett lake where they would build a boat and hopefully float up river to Dawson City. Here are a few pictures from that era.

They called this The Golden Staircase

This is the final push to the summit.

The Chilkoot pass is now a famous hike that can accessed by anyone who has the desire to do so. It starts around Skagway Alaska and ends at Bennett lake which is in the Yukon. The border between the US and Canada is at the summit. I had kind of put that on my bucket list to do and since I turned 60 this year I thought it would be a good time to give it a go. I called and got all the permits and train tickets and I needed and started planning.  At the end of the hike you actually catch the White Pass train for a ride back to Skagway.  My good friend Joseph Billett decided that he wanted to come along and hike as well. I was very glad for that it would have been even tougher that it was to hike it alone. Anyway the following blog is a record of that adventure.

The Trip to Alaska

The first issue was to get to Skagway Alaska. It was decided that Cathy would come along as well as Amy, Joseph’s wife. They would stay in Skagway and shop while we were out hiking. Cathy and I drove and Joseph and Amy flew up the Whitehourse and we picked them up there.

This is the route we took to Skagway. About 2800 Kms.

The first day we went from Home to Prince George and we met up with and stay with our Son-in-laws grandparents.

Busy traffic by Jasper

With Micheal’s Grandparents

Lunch time

Who can resist ice cream on a hot day?

Moricetown

Hanging out with Micheal’s dad

Yes we went to Hyder

Views in Hyder

The sunset at our motel called the Red Goat Lodge

Finally made it to The Yukon

Resting at a park

The B&B in Skagway.

We spent one day in Skagway before heading out on the hike.

Good morning Skagway

A few pictures around town

Cruise ships stop here

The whole crew.

And now the Hike Day 1

The first day we choose to hike to the camp at the base of the pass which is called Sheep Camp. It is about 20 kms to the camp and when I was planning this it did not look all that difficult however it was much more difficult than I had anticipated. Although we didn’t actually end up gaining much overall altitude there was an awful lot of climbing because of the uphill then back downhill. So by the end of day 1 I was already pretty tired. Regardless of how I felt physically the trail was pretty cool with lots of bridges and swamp crossings. Lots of old artifacts all over the place and lots beautiful scenery.

This gives a overview of the elevations and distances.

Final preperation

Ready to go

Lots of bridges

We are thankful for bridges

Beaver dam crossing

Felt a little like Frodo climbing these

Had to have the permit on our pack

Some of the great scenery

Suspension bridge was scarier than it looks.

Sheep Camp cook shack

Day 2-4 and the trip home will added soon.

My trip all in one blog

I did not do a daily blog during my trip this time so I am doing the whole trip in one big blog.

Day 1 June 15

 Day one was not really very exciting at all. Some of us met at the A&W at Acheson and the rest met at the hotel in Edson. We left around 5 ish so the first day was just to Edson. It rained about half the ride so we were a little wet when we arrived.

Day 2, June 16

The second day we traveled from Edson to 100 Mile house. This was a great ride and the weather was mostly nice. It threatened to rain a couple times but mostly it was great. We stopped for pie at Little Fort and the ride from Little Fort to 100 Mile House was excellent.

 

Getting ready for Day 2

Morning prayer time

Rest time by Jasper

 

Mount Robson Rest stop

This guy was setup on the lawn at Mount Robson entertaining the tourists.

Mount Robson backdrop

More side of the highway rest time

Time for pie at Little Fort

All lined up at 100 Mile House

Day 3, June 17

On day 3 we ventured from 100 Mile House down to Osoyoos. It was a really great ride again and the weather was awesome. I thought it was going to get really hot but it was not as bad as we thought it would be. The ride out of 100 Mile House Down to about Cache Creek was especially nice. with big wide open views and good pavement and little traffic.

Another rest stop

Mathew on his phone again

Side of the highway break

The fathers on fathers day.

Day 4 June 18

On day 4 we rode from Osoyoos BC to Walla Walla Washington. It was a warm day but a good ride. Encountered a bit of construction and on a hot day it is not fun just sitting on the side of the highway or going slow behind a pilot car. However it was a good day and we got to ride a ferry which is always fun.

Route on Day 4

Getting ready to leave Osoyoos

Leaving for the USA

Dreaded road construction

Waiting for the ferry.

Made in the ferry

Finally cooling off a little

Resting near the barley fields

Please don’t rain

Day 5 June 19

Day 5 was from Walla Walla Washington to Lolo Montana. This is the road we have been waiting for it has many miles of winding roads. It was a good ride but the second half the pavement was a bit rough. The weather was great though and the scenery was awesome.

Walla Walla to Lolo

Preparing for the day

Coffee Break

Very nice little coffee shop

Mathew is happy about the winding road

Resting again

The young ones finally catch up

Nice scenery all the way

Day 6 June 20

This is the day that I venture off on my own. The rest of the crew were heading north and home but I headed south for a few more days of riding fun. This day did not exactly turn out the way I had planned. However it did have a happy ending. As I left Lolo I started to notice a little shimmy in my front tire. At first I thought it was just the pavement but then it continued on all kinds of different pavement. I stopped a couple of times just to look and see if I could see something wrong with my tire. It finally became apparent that I needed this looked at. I got on the phone and found a Polaris dealer. Polaris used to make my Victory motorcycle. I called and they said they would have a look if I got there on time. They were in Hailey Idaho so I rushed down there and they had a look and were able to replace my front wheel bearing. It only delayed me 2 hours. I was tenting in Hailey that night so it all worked out. Hailey is about 17 Kilometers from Ketchum Idaho where I spent a bunch of time skiing back in the late 70’s. I made some friends at that time and decided to see if I could look them up. I found my friend Scott Curtis and we had a great chat about the old days and where we ventured since the old Sun Valley days.

The route

Getting ready to leave Lolo, actually our hotel was in Missoula

Break time

Diagnose the problem

Yup it’s broken

Bad wheel bearing

Tear it apart

All fixed

My buddy Scott

Time to tent

Day 7 June 21

After tenting I went and hung out with Scott for a while again. He drove me around town and showed me some of the places I used to live when I was there way back in the day. The place had changed so much that I could not find my way around very easily. I didn’t get on my way until about noon so I got a bit of a late start. I was planning on getting all the way to Ely Nevada but was not sure if I was going to make it. Once I got going the highways we very fast and straight so I was able to make it to my destination as planned. Lots of desert driving but it was still fun. I ended up at the KOA campground in Ely and setup camp there.

Place we lived winter 1977 -78 it is called The Ranch

This is our condo we stayed in during the Winter of 1978-79

Scott’s house

Desert riding

An unusual sign for a bathroom door

My campsite at the the KOA in Ely

A sunset in the desert

Day 8  June 22

The next day I traveled from Ely, Nevada to Springdale, Utah which is just outside Zion National Park. The drive in the desert is very straight but actually quite scenic. This is mostly desert and it started to get pretty hot.  By the time I got to Springdale the temp was about 41 C. That is way to hot to camp so I was able to fine a nice air conditioned little cabin.

Resting in the desert

A long straight road

 

It is a hot one today

The scenery just outside the park

My air conditioned cabin for the night

Day 9 June 23

The weather in the morning is much more agreeable and so it was very nice to ride in the morning. I went through Zion park today. It is very scenic and a wonderful drive but it is also very crowded because it is a favored destination in the summer for tourists. After the park I headed towards the Grand Canyon. Most people head towards the South Rim of the Grand Canyon so of course I decided to go to the North Rim. This was a very hot and windy ride. This is also a national park so I had to pay again to go into the park. Of course the Grand Canyon is very awe inspiring so I enjoyed my time there. I was actually planning on going to the west coast at this point but I was getting tired of the super hot temperatures. The average temperature during the day had been around 37- 40 C so that is a bit tiring to ride in that sort of weather. I decided to head back north and traveled back to a town called Kanab.

Sunrise at Zion

The rock climbers

The Grand Canyon North Rim

Day 10 June 24

From Kanab I traveled up towards Salt Lake City. I was getting near the city and traffic was getting a bit busy so I wanted to try to find a way to get away from the city quickly. Well I went toward a place called Silver Fork and then through a mountain pass to Park City. There are about 7 ski resorts in this area and it is a major tourist location so I did not get away from the traffic after all. I finally got up to a place called Coalville and found a nice campground there. For some reason I did not take many pictures through here.

My room in Kanab

Day 11 June 25

From Coalville I traveled north for a while to Idaho Falls then over to Arco. These are roads that I have traveled before and they are very awesome.

My room in Arco

Ice Cream Time

Day 12 June 26

From Arco I went to Boise the north to a small place called New Meadows. The ride north of Boise to was pretty awesome.

These are the bugs that don’t hit me.

Nice little Motel for the night

My Room

Day 13 June 27

I then continued my journey north through Lewiston, Coeur d’Alene, and on to Bonners Ferry. Parts of this were so great. The perfect storm of riding good pavement, nice curves, no traffic, good weather, great scenery, and and awesome motorcycle.

Breakfast time

Along the river

Great views

Day 14 and 15 June 28,29

From Bonners Ferry i went up into Canada to Fernie up through the Crowsnest Pass and up The Cowboy Trail to Cochran where I spent the night with my friends John and Kathy Doell. Then the next day home.  I did get a bit of rain but nothing too serious.

Just a little rain

 

 

 

 

It’s time to hit the road again

It seems like a while since I’ve gone on an epic bike trip. Well the time is now. There is a group of us starting out this afternoon. We will be heading towards BC through Jasper and then on down to the states. We will be travelling together for about 5 days then we are splitting up and I am heading south. I will be trying to keep this blog updated every couple days. Anyways I am really looking forward to travelling with my newly acquired motorcycle.

The new ride.

The Route.

Last few days in Ireland

Tomorrow we head home from our Ireland adventure. It has been a great time in so many ways. We have been able to see a lot of Ireland from the big touristy things in Dublin to small farms in the rural west part of the country. We have also been able to deepen our relationship with Rodney and Heather Gale. It has been so great to spend time with them and hear their heart for Ireland. They have an important ministry here in Ireland and have really connected to the land and the people. If you ever want to hear more just track us down and we would be happy to tell you all about it. Like I said we went to a couple touristy places this week and the first one was a place called Cong. Cong is a beautiful and picturesque village and it was the location for filming of a move called The Quiet Man. I know I never heard of it either until I came here. It was filmed in 1951 and starred John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. They have built an whole tourist industry around the film. Anyway it is still a nice place with church and monastery ruins and a castle.

Cool gate at Cong

More abbey ruins

Cool little cottage by the road.

Irish Ivy which can be pretty bad stuff. It just takes over where ever it grows.

Ashford Castle near Cong. It is a very expensive hotel.

I like the stone bridges

This an old fishing hut that was built for the monks to catch fish.

People have been dying here for a ling time.

Statue of John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara.

After our fun time in Cong we went for a drive through the Irish countryside and then ended up at a pub for dinner to celebrate Cathy and Heather’s birthday.

Some scenic views on our car ride.

There is no shortage of sheep in this country. They are lambing this time of year so we saw many wee lads like this one.

Birthday celebration.

The next day I had the opportunity to once again go out and do some TB testing with Rodney. Visited many farms and saw lots of countryside.

Country roads take me home.

Then on Wednesday since the weather was nice we decided to take a tour down to the Shannon area and visit Bunratty Castle. It is a Castle that is very old but has been fixed up and setup with lots of period type decor and you are able to tour through it and see what life might have been like in a Castle. I can tell you Castles look great from the outside but I would not want to live in one. Very cramped, dark, and cold. We were able to go all the way up to the turrets.

If trees could talk what kind of a tale would this one tell?

They also have a village around the area.

After the castle we went to The Cliffs of Moher. This is truly a spectacular area and was well worth the walk to see the sights. It was very windy but the view was absolutely unbelievable.

More Irish countryside pictures

 

 

More Fun Times Mar 26 – April 1

We are continuing to have a great time here in Ireland. It is a great mixture of relaxation and being busy. It is so great to have a place where we can relax and also have lots to do.

Here is Cathy and Heather during a relaxing phase. Apparently building a puzzle by the fire is relaxing.

While they were doing the puzzle Rodney and I were out doing the TB testing again. That means travelling around to several farms and testing the herds for TB. Here are a few pictures from the various farms.

This is a turf shack where they store turf to keep it dry.

A typical small farmhouse.

Cows

Steers and heifers.

Old building ruins are everywhere. Even in this farmyard.

We decided that it was time for us to be off on our own for a few days so we took the train and went to Dublin. In Dublin we got a ticket for the Hop-on Hop-off bus and toured around Dublin. There is so much history there that it is mind boggling. Old buildings and historic stuff everywhere. Here are a bunch of pictures and video of our train ride and also our touring around Dublin.

On the platform waiting for the train.

Settling into our seats for the 2.5 hour ride to Dublin.

Some of the sites out the windows. Listen to the announcements they are in the Irish language

The busy train terminal.

I took this picture because we were not able to find the bathroom and then we realized that it was here. WC stands for Water Closet.

Some of the sites around Dublin

No trip to Dublin would be complete without a trip to the Guinness Storehouse

View of Dublin from the top of the brewery

A few more pics on the streets of Dublin.

On Good Friday evening we went to a nearby town for a joint Good Friday Worship service. It involved several churches in the area and was a lot of fun.

Here are a few Irish countryside pictures on our way to the Good Friday Service.

The worship team at the Good Friday service.

Heather praying at the service.

This guy also prayed. His name is Azeem and he was awesome.

I know it may sound weird but since the pub is a very social place here in Ireland we went to the pub after the service. Going to the pub in Ireland is kind of like going to Tim Hortons or Starbucks in Canada. People meet there to visit. At this particular pub there was a group of trad musicians that get together to place traditional Irish music and recite poems and sing songs. This was a true taste of Ireland and we had a great time.

These guys were so great to sit and listen to.

Here is some hard core Irish  recitation. Can you understand him?

The next day we went to some monastery ruins called Clonmacnoise. There are ruins everywhere in Ireland but this one is really old. The monks first started building here over 1500 years ago. It has a long history and is actually quite interesting.

These huge stone crosses are carved from one piece of stone and are actually quite amazing.

A strong tower

 

 

 

Ireland Fun-times Mar 20 – 25

We have had lots of interesting times over the last few days here in Ireland. We have met many new friends and enjoyed our time with them. Last Tuesday I was able to go around the countryside and visit some farms in the area. Rodney (out host) is a vet and we went out to do testing on some of the herds in the area. Every year they need to test for TB so we went out and did that. The biggest herd we did was 40 head. The farms here are not very big at all and the only way they make a go of it is because they are subsidized.

Moving the cows into the squeeze chute.

They get a shot and then see if they react. This is Rodney giving them a shot.

A pile of turf chunks used for fuel.

A typical farmyard.

Cow

This farm was in a very beautiful valley area.

After we were done the testing we went for a drive up a small mountain to visit a site where the Catholic Church used to meet when they were persecuted several hundred years ago. They would sneak up to this mountain location and worship.

Typical stone fence.

On Wednesday there  was a meeting at the Monastery of several church leaders from all around the province of Connaught. They came together to build relationship among the leaders in this area.

Enjoying a song at the end of the time together.

The next day was off to do more vet things. This time it was horses. I think we should call Rodney “Dances with horses”.

On Friday and Saturday we had another leaders meeting with some of the church leaders in the area. It was a great time of building relationships and getting to know some new friends. There were men there from Brazil, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Canada, and even Ireland. They have all moved here and have made Ireland their home.

On Sunday it was a nice day and we decided to take a walk to some church ruins nearby. It is a very beautiful area and it was nice to get out and walk in the Irish countryside.

Sunday Mar 18 and Monday Mar 19

On Sunday we pretty just stayed inside and relaxed. After our big day on Saturday and St Patrick’s day we were happy to stay at home and relax. We hung out around the fire with Heather and Rodney and spent most of the day just chatting mixed with a bit of prayer and worship and also some laughing. It was Heather’s birthday so the neighbors brought over some cheesecake and we spent some time with them. Heather had a bunch of gifts that we brought from her friends and family in Spruce Grove so we had a good time blessing Heather last night as well.

This is the fireplace in the den with a fire that is oh so cozy. The fire is burning the turf bricks that I mentioned before.

On Monday Rodney had a job (he is a vet) near the city of Sligo.

So Rod and Heather went to do the job and dropped us off in the city just to meander around and enjoy the sights. Our first stop was by the river for coffee and scones.

After our excellent coffee time we wandered around the town and took in some of the sights.

There are stone bridges like this all over Ireland. I think they are really cool.

This is the ancient Sligo Abby in the town. It was closed because it was a holiday in Ireland today.

I like this picture because I thought the roof tops looked cool.

After we were done our time in town Heater and Rod took us to a few of the local sights.

This is Glencar Waterfall.

Some sights in the area.

Traditional thatched roof.

Then to we went to Strandhill for ice cream and a walk down the beach/shoreline.

 

First few days in Ireland & St Patrick’s Day

Well we left on Wednesday morning really early on our journey to Ireland. Why does it seem like all flights leave early in the morning. Anyway we kind of took the milk run from Edmonton then to Vancouver then Toronto then Dublin. It was a pretty good trip without a lot of hiccups. We were about 1 hour late leaving Toronto but that is not to bad. The good news is that we booked these seats with Aeroplan miles and so we were able to upgrade to 1st class. That was really nice for a long legged person like myself. We are spoiled for air travel now.

A few pics of our first class seats

When we arrived in Dublin our good friends Rodney and Heather Gale picked us up at the airport.

We traveled a couple hours to their house which used to be an old monastery. They have spend a ton of time fixing this place up and making it a home. It is very cool.

The Monastery

Inside by the cozy fireplace

After a day or 2 of rest we are ready for more adventure. One of the big reasons we came here was to celebrate Cathy and Heather’s birthday. Cathy’s is March 17 and Heather’s is the 18th.  So on Saturday March 17th we went to a St Patty’s day parade in a city called Galway It is on the west coast of the island.

We were walking the streets before the parade.

A pre parade band entertaining the visitors.

Some tiny dancers.

We were along the parade route here and waiting for the parade. The parade itself was a little disappointing. But the atmosphere was a lot of fun and watching people was pretty special as well.

I took a bunch of video at the parade and just mashed it all together.

After the parade we found our way into a bistro for a lunch of fish and chips. It was so crowded because the parade had just finished that we had to be patient to get a table. After lunch we continued on our day of adventure and traveled along the coast to a place called Roundstone.

This is a typical road in Ireland no shoulder and very narrow. typically the speed limit on a road like this would be 100 km/h

Some of the scenery along the way.

You will notice in the foreground some pile of black stuff that kind of looks like wood. This is bog or turf. They dig it out of the ground and dry it and use it for fuel.

This the town of Roundstone along the coast.

There was a monastery here at one time but all that  is left of it is the bell tower.

Near the bell tower was a small pottery shop. There was a guy in there actually making the pottery with the Irish tunes in the background. I had to take a short video.

Here are a few pics around the shoreline near the bell tower. Rodney said that we were going to the beach and when we got here I assured him that I have been to a beach before and this is not one. We settled on shoreline. Oh and also it was about +1 C and windy so not beach like but beautiful.

After that we continued to travel through the Irish countryside. Mostly along the coast. The scenery is always interesting and fun to watch. There are so many stone fences and sheep and cottages and farms and more sheep. Following are a few of those pics.

There are also many churches like these. The ones like this with big steeples are either Catholic or Church of Ireland churches.

We made out way to this place which is called Kylemore Abby. There is lots to do and see around this area since this is a major Ireland tourist attraction. We did not do any of the tours because it was just closing when we were there and it was freezing cold. If you want to learn more about this castle go here. https://www.kylemoreabbey.com/

More of the Irish countryside.

These sheep are called mountain sheep we called them cartoon sheep because when you see them from far away they don’t look real with their tiny legs and huge bodies.

This is a statue of St Patrick it is on Croagh Patrick. It is a pilgrimage mountain that people have been climbing for many years and where St Patrick fasted for 40 days. Thousands of people still climb the mountain every year.

This is the view from the statue.

Evening at the base of the mountain. After this we went to a town nearby for dinner to celebrate Cathy and Heather’s birthday and then went home. An excellent St Patrick’s day in Ireland.

We are off to the Emerald Island

Yes that’s right Ireland. We have been wanting to go there for years and now we finally have our chance. It seems rather quick since we just go back from Guatemala a few weeks ago but we needed to be there for Cathy’s birthday (March 17) and also for Heather’s 60th birthday (March 18). We will be staying mostly with our friends Rod and Heather Gale. We are not really sure what the whole experience will have in store for us but we are up for some fun and adventure. We fly out tomorrow morning and land in Dublin at 9:00 AM local time on Thursday. They are 6 hours ahead of us and we spend about 7 hours in the airport in Toronto. I am really looking forward to that part. Since we’ve never traveled overseas before so this will be something new for us. It is a good thing we like doing new stuff or this would be a lot harder. Stayed tuned to my blog if you are interested in keeping an eye on us. Hopefully I will have a ton of pictures and fun stories to post.