Deb & Walt on the Chilkoot Trail.. Day 2

Deb & Walt on the Chilkoot Trail Day 2: The Scales to the Summit
At the Scales we encountered a lot of artifacts. Wood, rotting canvas, cans, and for some reason, a lot of shoes. Also a lot of horse skeletons.... A lot of them...
	Deb holds part of a sole and a heel from a hiking boot. All the shoes we found were abnormally small. I am not sure whether people are that much larger nowadays or if the shoes had shrunk after being here over 100 years...
Deb holds the shoe for a closer inspection. Her thumb is resting on some crude studs for that were put in the heel for traction. These would have worked well on ice, which most of the time would be almost everywhere. With so many people using the the trail, the snow would be quickly packed into ice. But on loose snow, like right after a new snowfall, they would have been nearly useless....
	I sit at the scales and contemplate the Golden Staircase. Well over 750 vertical feet of giant scree. Click on the photo for a larger, labeled version of this scene.
	Up the staircase! In 1898 this was all encased in ice and snow. Frankly, it would have been easier. These rocks were big, and a lot of them were quite loose. It was always a worry that you would knock them loose, and that they would kill who ever might be below. We tried to stay to beside each other, rather than in front and behind. As careful as we tried to be, we still sent rocks tumbling. When scree is frozen into place, the rocks don't shift around. In 1898, steps were carved into the ice, and with the studded shoes we were finding, footing would have been fairly secure. Looks like a long ways up, doesn't it?
Well, its a long ways down too! If you stand up straight and hold your arm out like Deb is, you can visualize how steep this really is. This is looking back down at the Scales. The rocks are sharp and loose, and while you think you can see the top, as in the picture above, you can't!!
	Deb reaches the first false summit.
The same spot, the opposite direction. Behind me another false summit. There are a few more, and it is kind of tough in here... But the Staircase is beaten, and it isn't much farther to the top...
	Strange abandoned machinery, like this old steam engine, litters the area.
But at least now, you can see the real summit. Just a little bit farther, then its all downhill from there... Right? Well, not necessarily!!
Victory is ours! The top of Chilkoot Pass... Deb's picture is looking ahead to the Yukon, mine is looking back toward Skagway. The pole marks the top (its the same pole in each picture). Deb takes a stand, where I placed my hand... I started feeling those blisters again....


With just a few hours left until he turns fifty, there is still no guarantee he will make it!! Read on, to the next exciting chapter of.. Deb & Walt on the Chilkoot Trail !! Day 2, Scene 3 !! Click here to send Fan Mail Other Adventures of Walt & Deb...