Wednesday, June 1, 2016, was our only full day in Skagway and we wanted to spend it hiking the famous Chilkoot Trail. However, after discussing various trail options with the National Park Ranger, he suggested that the AB Mountain Trail would give us better views than the Chilkoot Trail. He didn't dissuade us from hiking the Chilkoot, but we did decide to shorten our hike on the Chilkoot and then move over to the AB Mountain Trail and then finish up with a hike down to Yakutani Point.
AB Mountain at 5,052 feet can easily be spotted in the Skagway skyline. In the spring, as the snow melts, the mountain has an appearance of a snowy A and B beside one another. It is said that in order to join the Arctic Brotherhood one must first make the 10 mile roundtrip hike to the summit of AB Mountain. The Arctic Brotherhood was a fraternal order established in 1899 to protect the rights of stampeders. It was formed in response to high crime levels with the intent to form a more friendly and helpful community.
Here's Dave at the trailhead.
The trail was easy to follow, with green hiker blazes every so often. Our destination was the first viewpoint overlooking Skagway. It would be about a mile or so up the trail. Unlike the Chilkoot Trail, we didn't have to climb up and down stone steps. Our trail just meandered up the mountain.
Before long, we soon found ourselves on a large rock outcropping.
As we peered over the edge, we could see all of Skagway before us.
Four massive cruise ships were in port. Glad we weren't downtown. The weather kept us from getting a good look at the Chilkoot Mountains at the end of the canal. They would appear out of the mist and then disappear again.
While not the best weather for a picnic, we managed to consume our sandwiches before the sprinkle clouds found us again. We just about got all of Skagway in our selfie!
The hike back down AB Mountain was quick. The trailhead for Yakutani Point was just around the corner from there. However, the road was mostly dirt. We had no idea what was at the end of the road. Would we be able to turn Great White around and get back out again? We decided to leave GW parked off the gravel road and walk down to the trailhead. Having seen the trailhead parking, Great White would have been able to turn around without a problem, but it is better to be safe than sorry.
We soon find ourselves on the Yakutania Point Trail heading down toward the water. Before long we came out of the forest and onto the grassy tidal cove of Taiya Inlet with the legendary name of "Smuggler's Cove."
Just around this corner to the west is the old town site of Dyea.
Just around this corner to the east is downtown Skagway.
Yakutani Peninsula Park is covered by a coastal spruce/hemlock type forest which includes Sitka spruce, western hemlock, lodgepole pine and mountain ash. The groundcover is dominated by lichens, mosses and ferns. We scrambled along rocky outcrops as we made our way around to the point of the peninsula.
Yakutania Point Park remains a quiet haven adjacent to the industrial and commercial activities
of the townsite. Because it is at the tip of a peninsula, extending south of the townsite, it offers
270° views down the waters of Taiya Inlet and up to the mountains and glaciers of the Coast
Range without sign of human development.
Just don't look the other way and you can pretend you are alone in the wilderness.
That is until the helicopters start buzzing around. They take off and land in groups of five or six. It is pretty impressive to watch how close they fly to each other. The first four just landed. Here comes the fifth one.
While we only hiked about seven miles, the elevation gain and loss made it feel more like seventeen. We earned our dinner tonight!
Nice!
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