Brian Bear

This was our first cache in the province of British Columbia, Canada.

The drive up to the pass was wonderful. The air was so clear, and the mountains simply sparkled in the partly sunny skies.

The cache was located uphill from the road, on the south side. We had to make our way through deep snow to reach the cache area, but fortunately the cache was on a rocky high point, which the wind and sun had scoured clean of snow. We made the find, then headed back to the truck to continue our journey....

This cache was a lot of fun. To find and retrieve it, I had to get under the bridge, make my way to a bridge pier that was nearly surrounded by the rushing Skagway River, climb up on the pier, and weave around the bridge pilings to get to the down-stream side of the bridge. Hanging out over the water, and reaching up and searching the bridge girders, allowed me to find the Altoids tin that was clinging to the steel girder. It wasn't too chilly (and I didn't fall into the river), so this one was a lot of fun.

This was to be our last cache in the United States for a while, because we were on our way to the province of British Columbia, Canada. The truck was fueled (gasoline prices in Skagway were MUCH lower than I knew we would find them in Canada), we had plenty of dried and canned food for camping, along with needed water, and we were well-rested.

We had another great night at the Dyea campground. This campground is near the end of a long (about five miles) narrow, and winding, dirt road, which discourages most RV travel. Additionally, the campground isn't well advertised (perhaps to reduce competition with the RV parks in Skagway?), and there is no water source other than the Taiya River. As a result, the campground is very quiet. This quiet, and the great job that the NPS does on maintenance, make this a very nice place to stay when in Skagway.

When the cruise ships are in town, locals bring the "cruisers" to Dyea for activities involving dog sleds, so there is a lot of noise from barking dogs in the far distance. Additionally, you'll hear helicopters that are flying tourists from a point very close to the ships up to the local glaciers. "Flightseeing" is an unfortunate source of noise pollution in many wild places.

This was songbird season in Dyea; we heard birds of many species, each singing away. The birds add quite a bit to the ambience.

Before we left Dyea for Skagway, we went to the ghost town to walk around a bit more, and visited the Slide Cemetery. An avalanche on April 3, 1898 killed a large number of "stampeders"; some of them are buried in this cemetery.

Leaving Dyea, we headed into Skagway to get one last cache and do a little shopping (gifts and groceries). With four(!) cruise ships in town, and good weather, we knew we'd be in a sea of "cruisers". We had a great time, though, and got to see some interesting things.

The Skagway Trail System cache is located on a hill overlooking Skagway. The view is well worth the short hike to get there! The cruise ships are to the left, the town itself is laid out before you, and you can look ahead and up for the ridge that separates the Skagway River drainage from the Taiya River drainage. Heading up the Skagway River leads you along the White Pass (also known as the Dead Horse) Trail; heading up the Taiya River leads you along the even more famous Chilkoot Trail. You can't see the trails from this cache, but you can see nearly everything else.

If you're visiting Skagway, I highly recommend this cache. Pack a small lunch or snack, and you're all set for a day's worth of adventure hiking these trails.

After finding this cache, and enjoying the view, we headed back over to the Dyea Campground for the night.

We stopped by the market to do a little shopping for things we'd forgotten to buy in Juneau, then we had a great pizza dinner at the Northern Lights Pizzeria (I recommend the place, if you're in town). After a great meal, we hit the caching trail again.

This cache is located on a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Skagway River, leading you to Yakutania Point.