



Carrying on we made our way to Lindeman City where there is a cool Info station with lots of pictures from the gold rush and diary accounts of the people that did this trail many years ago. There is a little station in the info tent where you can get your certificate for completing the Chilkoot trail. A great spot to stop for a bit. The Rangers did warn us that a portion of this campground was closed due to bear activity. There is a great view on the lake from the info cabin and another shelter near by if you wish to cook.

After we finished with the info tent we met up with some other hikers not in our group and decided to walk with them. Funny enough the mother of the Mother/daughter team lead the way and omg was she ever fast. Was definitely a struggle to keep up with her, but none of us were in the position to complain so we just kept with the pace and burned a extra few calories. We ended up making it to bear loon in record time… due to practically jogging there. We pre-planned to stay at Bear Loon Lake a extra day to just relax and enjoy the beautiful environment. So when we set up camp we got ready to stay for two sleeps. We ended the night with some board games as per usual and made some delicious freezer dried food…

Day 5 - Chill day at Bear Loon Lake



For our chill day most of us just relaxed by the lake, but a few went exploring and found a few lesser travelled hiking trails around the like and to the highest point in the area where they took some amazing pictures. The lake itself is swimmable but is very cold so be prepared for that. I jumped in and lasted maybe 10 min before I quit. There are also those water bugs that bite which is why I departed screaming… no judgement please…

Me and another member of our group decided to explore the opposite direction as our counterparts that found the highest point went. We found a hidden steel canoe which probably belonged to the trapper family that was in the area. Since we had nothing better to do we decided to take it for a rip and canoed around the lake for a bit. There were no paddles so we used 2 by 4’s which caused us to hit the side of the boat making a “boom” every time we made a stroke. The funny thing was that when we went around the corner to where the camp was in view, everyone was gathered by the shore wondering what the noise we were making was. Everyone was wondering how and where we found a canoe lol. But since it was likely a trapper we took the canoe back to where we found it and left it as if it was never moved. None the less was a cool experience. Im sure very few people got to go canoeing on that very lake in the last 80 years.

Later in the evening we did our usual and played board games and made some gourmet food. Most of us overpacked in the food department so we had multiple meals which we shared with one another, mostly because we didn’t want to carry the extra weight out.

After doing dishes we turned in for the night.

Day 6 - Bear Loon Lake to Bennett

We woke up early around 7 am and ate a quick breakfast and then got our gear ready. We had to make Bennett for our train ride back into town or we would be stuck waiting for the next Skayway bound train. The last portion of the trail was fairly easy with little hills. The only annoying part is there is a long stretch where the trail is mostly sand. I HATE hiking on sand… but we got it done and once making it to Bennett we were about 3 hours early for the train. We chilled in the Shelter for a bit as the train station was locked, but due to the high volume of people we had to take turns being inside. The wind that day was crazy and super cold so when we were outside we would find cover behind large object until we had a chance to warm up again.

There is a cool church to take pictures of and the railway station is also very picturesque. There is a Native family which owns property there, when around the area just be aware and respectful of their property as it is very close to the warming shelter.