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Artic Hiking in Alaska |
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Learn about the Chilkat Nation and witness
a traditional dance.
Travelling around the eastern side of Kluane National
Park on dirt roads with a great view of Mt. Logan,
Canada's highest peak at over 19000 feet.
Camping on the banks of Lake Kathleen
Panning for gold in the Yukon - goldrush territory.
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South-eastern Alaska, a land of glaciers, rivers, lakes and
spectacular mountain scenery, was also the starting place
for fortune hunters who started the Klondike Gold rush
a century ago. The Golden Circle is part of a series
of highways that run from the south-eastern finger of Alaska
into the Yukon, in Canada, and back into Alaska again.
This is a fantastic trip for those with good stamina and a
desire to see the more remote areas of south-eastern Alaska
and the Yukon by bike.
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Alaska's Emerald Lake
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THE ROUTE
The Haines to Skagway Golden Circle ride starts in the small
town of Haines. Bradley Cooper rides through the Chilkat
Valley to the Bald Eagle Preserve, across the US-Canadian
border into the Yukon territory, where he camps out
at the Tatshenshini/Alsek Provincial Park by the banks
of the Klehini River. Continuing up the Haines Highway,
Bradley goes over the Chilkat Pass, above the tree
line, and through Kluane National Park. At Haines Junction
he switches direction and heads east on the Alaska or Alcan
Highway. The next day he cuts back and forth across the
Yukon river and its tributaries through the city of Whitehorse
down the Klondike Highway to the mountainous town of
Carcross. After panning for gold with a real gold prospector,
Bradley cycles back across the border for an exhilarating
ride down the historic White Pass to the coastal gold
rush boom town of Skagway, Alaska, where he shares
a beer with the folks at the Red Onion Saloon. |
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SURVIVAL TIPS
When you're on a biking trek it's a good idea to carry a small
waistpack to keep our essential items like water bottles,
energy bars, sunscreen, and tire patch kit. Also, a good compact
air pump or compressed CO2 cartridge is essential in case
of a flat tire.
Due to the prolonged daylight in Alaska & the Yukon, a
sleeping blindfold may help, as the sun never really sets
this time of year.
You should have a rope handy to raise anything edible, including
toothpaste, into a tall tree so the bears don't come for it.
Keep a good sharp knife with you and a source of fire.
When you're panning for gold, the only piece of equipment
that is absolutely essential is a gravity-trap pan, one that
measures 10 to 20 inches in diameter and can be bought in
any good hardware store in Alaska. Rubber boots and gloves
will help protect your feet and hands from icy water. You'll
also need a garden trowel to dig up loose rock, a pair of
tweezers to pick up gold flakes, and a small bottle to hold
your find.
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A traditional Chilkat Dancer
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Did you know?
The ride from Haines to Skagway is called the Golden Circle
Tour because it follows the historic Dalton Trail and White
Pass gold rush routes to the Klondike. Jack Dalton was one
of the first entrepreneurs to turn an old Clinkit Indian trade
route into a toll road for which he charged miners $2.00 per
head of cattle to gain access. He succeeded until the Yukon
railroad put him out of business in 1900.
When gold was discovered in the Yukon in 1896, thousands of
fortune hunters came here. Most of them landed in Skagway
and battled north through the harsh wilderness over passes
and tracks that led to Whitehorse, on the banks of the Yukon
River. From here, the River took them hundreds of miles deeper
towards their dreams of gold.
Created in 1982, the 48,000-acre Bald Eagle preserve protects
the habitat where the world's largest concentration Great-American
Bald Eagles congregate. The eagle's presence helps to
maintain the Salmon run that occurs twice a year.
The Golden Circle cycle trip takes you through four parks
that together total 28 million acres. They're all connected,
creating corridors for bears, dall sheep and deer
to wander freely.
The Alcan Highway is one of the major engineering feats of
the 20th century. It was built during World War II by thousands
of US and Canadian soldiers, including Native Alaskans, in
order to increase the allied forces' power in the far north.
Stretching for 2450 km from Dawson Creek in BC to Fairbanks
in Alaska, it took under 8 months to complete. Over the last
50 the highway has had several different names, including
'0il Can Highway' and 'The Road to Tokyo'. It's now known
simply as 'Alcan', which is short for Alaska-Canadian.
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