Chilkoot Trail 

The Famous Golden Stairs

Sheep Camp to Happy Camp Wednesday 15^th July

It was billed as a long and arduous day and best to start earlier. We were on Yukon time so were up an hour before anyone else. It had rained during the night and was still damp. The clouds were low and being blown fairly fast up the pass and it didn’t look like it would clear any time soon.

We were soon above the tree line and exposed.

High on the valley side was the last remaining pile of wood that was once one of the towers of the aerial ropeway and here we were already above some of the patches of snow left over from winter.



 Every where there were discarded bits from over a hunded years ago scattered across the ground.

 

 

We reached the Scales. Here all the gear was reweighed. Professional packers would charge by the pound, and sometimes went on strike to drive up prices. Needless items were thrown away and the area is littered with discarded remnants that were considered worthless. The Scales were operated by the Royal North West Mounted Police, a forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who ensured that every person crossing the border into Canada had a ton of supplies to ensure that they could survive for a year in the harsh environment of the Yukon.

 

 

The Golden Staircase was just above us but in the fog there was little to see so rather disappointing. Check out the internet to see what it is like on a good day. There was no path, just a jumble of large boulders that rise 600m in just over a kilometre. It was a long hard climb with a pack on your back. The climb was easier and safer in the winter as steps could be cut into the snow and ice. A pair of enterprising brothers cut fresh steps every morning and charged people to use their stairs.

People unwilling to pay coud use the Petterson Trail, a neighbouring pass but it was longer and higher and subject to avalanches.