Hiking the Chilkoot Trail
Day 2: The Real Adventure BeginsThe rain poured all night and had me worried, but today was a light drizzle only, and just until lunch. Had to use the outhouse in the middle of the night and woke Sean to escort me. Headlamp in hand, the campsite looked terrifyingly enclosed by forest (it wasn’t) and bears lurked everywhere in my mind. Wanting to scare any away but not wanting to wake up others in our group, I resorted to whisper-shouting “hey bears, hi bears!” that in the morning seemed quite ridiculous. Returned to tent in one piece.
Packed up Bennett Camp and away we went in a swirl of nylon and technical wool. The official start of the trail is at a beautiful old wooden church. Heading out of Bennett was yellow sand and scrubby pines. From there we saw every type of terrain and flora: lichens, cedars, firs, marshes, rainforest, rivers, lakes, rocky outcroppings… also an eerie, tiny, decaying cabin standing as silent witness to the past. A tiny cemetery just past Bennett had graves from the 1890s! A beautiful quiet place, rich with history.
I managed to break one of my poles very early on – oops. Avoided falling into a marsh just before lunch by a wish and a prayer, teetering across stones just peeking their backs out of the water. Terrifying! 🙂
We did a good 6.5 km to Bare Loon Lake where our lunch of apples and chicken-flavoured instant noodles was divine. Everything tastes 1000% better in the outdoors. Stayed just long enough to get chilled by our soaked clothes (rain and sweat). The sun peeked through just as we left Bare Loon and remained out for the 5 km to Lindeman Lake Camp. The afternoon brought us deeper into the wilderness. My right trap and left hip flexor were both a bit salty by the time we reached Lindeman Camp, plus general fatigue and sore feet.
We saw five or six other groups on the trail today, plus a group of young Parks interns is here at Lindeman camp with us. It surprised me to see so many, even though it was still very quiet (all the groups were only two or three people). One fellow had hiked out of Bare Loon to Bennett with his partner, kid and dog, only to RUN back and grab their big pack, and then hike out again. I can’t imagine!
Am now sitting in our cozy tent which dried in the good amount of wind that was breezing about when we arrived here. Clean dry clothes have never felt so lovely. There are delightful chipmunks here, plus the sounds of chickadees. Heard a few loons at lunchtime. It is a strange slowing down of the soul out here – takes a bit of time to be okay with having nothing to do, no expectations, nowhere to be. Hiking the trail today was a nice alternation between conversations and quiet. Even so, not only am I physically bone-tired, but also mentally. This is evening #2 of writing in my journal alone while everyone else goes exploring near camp, and I’m quite enjoying this ritual and time for me.
Excited for dinner soon – one of a selection of dehydrated packaged ‘Happy Yak’ meals. Hoping for a dry night tonight! And praying I don’t have to pee in the middle of it!