Trip Info
Troop 100 has reservations for 24 people to hike the Chilkoot Trail next summer (2016). We will travel on the rail as two groups of twelve, with little or no interaction between them
Dates: We have specific reservations and schedule for the actual hike, but not for getting there and getting back. The first day on the trail is July 28, 2016 and the last day is August 1. We will leave Seattle around July 25 and return August 3rd or so and fly to Juneau. From Juneau we will take the Alaska Ferry to Skagway. There are companies that will take us from Skagway to the Trailhead in Dyea. The trail starts in Dyea, Alaska and ends at Lake Bennett, British Columbia. There is a train service from Lake Bennett to Skagway. A ferry back to Juneau and flying home to Seattle.
The Alaska Ferry does not release its schedule until perhaps the middle of December.
If we spend the night in Skagway, the first choice is to stay in the fellowship hall of the First Presbyterian Church in Skagway.
Since we are leaving the country, each traveller will need a passport. There may be other means to prove citizenship, but please remember it is the customs agent in charge that we have to satisfy upon re-entry.
When we leave Skagway, we will be fully provisioned. There is no resupply en route, we will be carrying all the clothes, gear, food and whatever that we will use on the trail.
Ken's pack for the previous Chilkoot trip weighed at least 40 pounds, that was before he added the group food and group gear. Group gear is stoves, pots, a tarp, garbage, line, bear spray, water filters and all those items we would share as a group. The group food and group gear will be assigned in an equitable manner each day of the hike.
Bill Dunnell gave everyone a homework assignment: Read To Start a Fire by Jack London it is a short story about a hike gone wrong in the Chilkoot area. There will be a group discussion and test on this material.
