This summer my family and I hiked the Chilkoot Pass. When we kids

learned we were actually going, the first response was “Why?” and “I don’t want to!” We got over it and realized that we were, in fact, going to go no matter what our opinion was. Eventually, when we were actually hiking, we realized that it was beautiful, and we started enjoying it!

We had to prep for the hike, and we didn’t have hiking boots, so each of us had to get a pair. That turned into an event and a half. We were in Calgary, and we came across a shop that had hiking boots on sale. We went in, and we had to choose a pair of hiking boots. All the pairs I wanted, Mom didn’t want to get, so we had an argument, and I tried to get Daddy on my side, but he just agreed with Mom.

Eventually, while saying “I won’t wear them,” got a pair of blue hiking boots. I didn’t like them at the time, but on the trip I was grateful for them. I would have had blisters without them.

One of the things that I didn’t like about the Chilkoot was the first breakfast that we had to eat. We had buckwheat, which is an oatmeal kind of dish. It tasted very good to Mom and Dad, but we thought it was disgusting. We had to eat it all on the first day, but after that we ate leftover supper for breakfast. When we had finished it the first morning, we were halfway to tears, and made an oath that we would never eat buckwheat again.

The most eventful animal we saw was a swimming caribou. I spotted him in Long Lake, trying to beat the heat in the lake. I wished I could do the same, but we didn’t have bathing suits and we would never be allowed to go swimming – it would waste precious time. We took video of him swimming, and then moved on. Just before we left that area we saw him running up the mountain, pausing to eat once in awhile.

The first thing we saw on the first morning was a glacier. It is called the Irene Glacier, and it looks magnificent in the sun’s rays. You can see the waterfall from the campsite, Finnegan’s Point, and it was gorgeous.

Then there was the Golden Staircase. It was annoying.

“They had it easier in the 1800s” the warden told us. They could make stairs out of snow, and had a rope to hold onto. They didn’t have to climb over rocks, and they had sleds and packers to haul stuff. Not fair. There should be an escalator; call it the Golden Escalator. What a good idea!

Overall, I thought it was a nice hike. It just took some time to get used to the idea that we were going. I recommend it for those who are up to a challenge. It was beautiful and fun.

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