*I did not take all of these photos - they are a compilation of photos from everyone in our group* 

Hikers: My Friends Bernard & Susannah. Susannah's mother Margret. My sister Tamara & her dog Tika. Myself and my dog Koko.

Our travels begin not too early in the morning on August 2.  After some last minute frantic scrambling to make sure we have everything, we begin our journey.  We leave Whitehorse Yukon in luxury (Mom & Dad's Motorhome).  Not long after we begin the drive we come to Emerald Lake.  We get out to let the dogs have a break and snap a few photos of this lovely view.

Then we stop at the world's smallest desert in Carcoss.  We went up to the top and ran down.  Running downhill in sand is so nice & cushy. 

Then we make it Skagway Alaska.  We park near this snow plow.  Yes - it is a snow plow!  It is over 100 years old and has been used a few times in the last decade.  Sigh, they don't make things like they used to.

We walk down the block and pick up our permits to hike the trail.  It is strictly enforced and they only allow 50 people per day to cross the pass.  Back over 100 years, the below list is what you had to bring in order to cross the pass.  If you did not have all this gear by the time you got to the Scales, you would not be allowed to cross the pass.  I can't imagine coming all this way to be turned back!!  I also can't imagine having to haul all this gear.  If you were granted access to the pass, it took an average of 30 trips to haul all of these items over the pass.

After checking in we visit the Gold Rush Cemetery.  This is the gravesite of Soapy Smith - a notorious bandit.  He was shot and killed by Frank Reid.

This is the gravesite of Frank Reid.  He was mortally wounded by return fire from Soapy Smith.  He is the town hero.

Some of the gravesites are completely original, and in disrepair. 

This is a 300ft cascading waterfall a short walk away from the graveyard (you walk through the graveyard to get there).  It is named Reid Falls in honour of Frank Reid.

We then take a drive down a windy, one lane, dirt road to Dyea.  Dyea used to be a tent city during the Gold Rush.  The water table has risen and not much is left of this town that was situated on a sandbar.

We spent the night at the campground.  Bacon and eggs for breakfast, then we begin the true journey.  Below is a trail profile to give you an idea of the trip.  Day One we hiked 12.1 km to Canyon City Campsite, dropped our bags and went the remaining .4km to check out the Ruins.  Day Two we hiked 8.2km to Sheep Camp.  Day Three we hiked over the pass to Happy Camp for a 13.3 km day.  Day Four we hiked 13.7 km to Bare Loon Lake. Day Five we hiked the remaining 6.4km to Bennet with a small detour. 53.1 Km in 5 days with 3,750 foot elevation.

The sign at the start of trail.

And off we go!  Doesn't look so hard!

Spoke too soon... And so starts the stairs.

The dogs were in fine form. They didn't understand what the big deal was.  I don't see them carrying 45-50 pound packs! 

A Bench!! We didn't stop, but it gave us hope for nice resting spots.  For the record, lots of things were deceiving on the first day.  This was the only day where we saw a lot of benches.

It was also the only day we saw Km markers.  These tags were every km for the first 5 or 6 km.  After that we never saw them again.  Makes for long days wen you aren't sure how much you have accomplished.

We had a few nice sturdy bridges.  You will see they were not all like that...

And then we came to the boardwalks.  During the Gold Rush, most of the travel was in the winter and this would have been frozen.  Not only that, the water table was also lower.

And there were lots of boardwalks on the first day.  Some of them were so low into the water that stepping on the boards made them slosh. The puppies weren't too keen on those sections.  But otherwise were not deterred with this portion of our journey.

It appears someone had a sence of humour... a flowerbox in the middle of a creek in the middle of nowhere? hmmm...

And of course the trail was washed out in some spots.

Here is an old shack.  We suspect it might have been a supply store.

Not much left inside.

Saw a lot of great scenery.  Check out the blue of this glacier.

This was our cookshack for the first night.  We got tenting sites along the river, so peaceful.  Met a lot of great people this night, and continued to visit with them along the trail.  The dogs became celebrities here.  Almost everyone was thrilled with the small dogs on the trail. They had so many photos taken (and all along the trip) it was like the puppy paparazzi!

After dinner we took a stroll to the Canyon City ruins across the river.  This bridge was unstable and very bouncy.  The dogs were carried.

We found an old stove  Did not try it out. (it is illegal to touch the artifacts, the oils in your hands can cause them to decay more quickly.

This is the boiler that was used to run the tramway that ran from Canyon City up over the pass.  Eventually the WP&YR railway bought the tramway company and had it dismantled.  They didn't like the competition.

Union Iron Works. Man, they make stuff that lasts.  This is in pretty good shape considering it was built in 1886!!

Not much left of this building, or what was in it.

And time to go back across the very bouncy bridge.

Day two starts off with another (different) bouncy bridge.  Koko wasn't sure he like the bridge, but he did enjoy the ride!

And then there is some more up.  Tamara and Tika are up for the challenge.

And a small break along some wondering forest trails.

There were some amazing fungi on the trees.  Nature is amazing.

Lunch stop.  Collecting water for our lunch time soup.  Puppies are marking the cairn.  Lots of smells.  They quite enjoy the sand.

Bernard got some great shots of the dogs.  I must say that I'm jealous.  I can never get them to sit still long enough.

And off we go again!

So day two was uneventful.  We got a little rain.  Showed up at champ damp, puppies were wet.  Set the tent up, then headed to the cook shelters.  Some other industrious hikers managed to get the wet wood burning and had more drying out.  So by the time we showed up it was toasty warm.  They insisted we all bunch in as the dogs needed to dry out and be warm.  I was happy for the excuse and it gave me a chance to dry out some gear.

Day Three starts off wet, cool and foggy.  I tuck koko in my jacket to keep him warm and dry (he easily get sick).  So off we go.  The first bits of the trail are not too bad.  There is some moderate up hill (between Sheep Camp and the Scales is called the Long Hill) 

When we finally make the Scales we are greeted by all sorts of relics. Things dumped by the stampeders who didn't have the "Ton of Goods" required to be allowed to cross the pass, or things they decided not to haul across the pass.  

I can't believe there is anything left of these shoes!!

These little guys were hanging out at the Scales.  They weren't shy.  They had no problem climbing on our gear looking for food.  I wonder how many of the 50 people a day they let across the pass feed these guys.

There is a lot of bones along the trail.  Probably horses.  They would sell horses in Dyea, but they had a hard time making it past Sheep camp and they could not make it over the pass.  There were so many horses abandoned at Sheep Camp that they had to round them all up and kill them all at one point. Sounds harsh, but at least they didn't let them starve!

Shortly after the scales we get to the base of the pass.  Meet our new trail.

It is hard to capture the steepness of the climb.  It was hard, clambering over boulders, uphill.  The "trail" was marked by orange poles.  The rangers move these poles to what they consider the best route at any given time.

The Stampeders made this climb in the winter.  It was a 45 degree angle with stairs carved into the ice.  I think that the stairs might have been easier.  The boulders were wet and slick.  A few of our group had slips and falls (I admit to nothing!)  It was rather un-nerving especially when we had so much further to climb.

The cable you see here was part of the tram line.  When the railway took down the towers they just left the cables laying there.  We also saw old telegraph lines.  This is the first false peak (there was a few of them).  Tika isn't sure she wants to keep going.  She was a trouper.  She hiked the whole day!  She did get to a point where she just couldn't jump anymore.  She needed to be boosted.

And if scaling the mountain wasn't enough, say hello to the snow.  Tika quite enjoyed it.  It probably felt really good on her poor feet.

 (they were blistered by the end of day)

The top of the pass!!! OMG. So exciting!!! We succeeded.

Shortly after the pass we came to the rest shelter.  Here we got to go in, warm up and have lunch.  Susannah and her mom still look like they are game for more hiking... good thing too, since we have a lot farther to go...

Koko is still quite happy in his pouch in my jacket. Lazy dog.

Now we come across the stream crossing.  Tika got a short rest as we tried to keep her dry.

The scenery was amazing.  How the snow runs into the water liek that is crazy.  Look at that blue!  This is about the time we got out of the snow.

A fantastic day, super blue sky, not much of a breeze.

There were road crews out replacing the bridges. The bridges had signs saying only one person at a time and in winter to cross without the bridge.  They were really rickety and missing boards.

It was so hot out that puppies were not only tired, but over heating.  They needed a ride.

Tika was especially appreciative.  She was only granted a 1km break (she hiked the rest of the trail - Koko was carried 15 km of whole trail)

Remains of a really old boat.  This is near our lunch time stop.

We arrive at Bare Loon Lake after a long hot day of hiking. Tamara took this lovely photo.

And then she went swimming.

The puppies were exhausted. 4 long days of hiking.  

Day Five we start out really early, we have a train to catch and don't want to take any chances.This is a private cabin along our hike. the door was really small, it was only 5 feet high. 

A lot of this day's hiking was on sand, which is a lot harder than we appreciated.  Puppies didn't seem to mind.  It was soft on their feet.

We found another old graveyard.  This graveyard only had residents of Bennett, none of the stampeders passing through  Some of them are old, and derelict. Some have been cared for.

This is our first sight of Bennett Lake.  We were so excited.  The end is in sight!! 

The original church in Bennett.

An old boat by the ater.  I don't think it is an original from the Stampede, I think it is a replica, but still very cool.

The Bennett train station!! Running water, flush toilets!  It was very disappointing that they didn't have warm running water. brrr...

Glassy Bennett Lake.  Apparently it is rare that it is this calm.  We were really early for our train ride, so we had coffee with hotchocolate and hummas and chips while enjoying the quiet morning.

The train!!

OMG!! THE TRAIN!!! 

And then it was nap time for myself, Tamara, Koko & Tika.  Bernard couldn't resist taking the photo.  This is before the train moved.  Then we had a lovely scenic trip back to Carcross where we were greeted by my dad, our parents 2 dogs and the Motorhome!  Then it was homeward bound, for some much needed showers and an amazing turkey dinner.  

The trail was grueling and long. I have tremendous respect for the stampeders who hiked the pass 30 times to haul all their gear up in hopes of somehow getting it Dawson City and striking it rich.  By the time the stampeders made it to Skagway (let alone made it to the Klondike) most of the Dawson City claims had been struck and these guys had made the trip for nothing.  Some were able to set up other industries, work for other mines, but none of them would strike it rich.

Some of this trail reminds me of a poem I have seen many times about the Alaska Highway, but it applies equally to this trail, and I did remark on it at least once. I'm not sure of the author.

"Winding in and winding out, it fills my mind with serious doubt, whether the lout that built this rout was going to hell or coming out."

I learned a lot about myself on this trip.  I'm not in as bad of shape as I thought, but not as good of shape as I had hoped.  I need to work on this before my next big adventure -I want to do it justice. 

It was a trip of a lifetime.  While on the trail I swore I wouldn't do it again.  But looking back on it now, I think it might.  Thank you all for a fantastic trip.  What is the next big one? I'll have to give that some thought...

Happy Trails!