Skagway

June 11, 2012

Denver Valley Wilderness Hike

We boarded a motor coach at 9:00 am and rode 27.7 miles to Fraser, British Columbia. Once there we boarded the White Pass railroad to ride back down the mountain. The White Pass and Yukon railroad was built in 1898 after gold was discovered in 1896

After 22 miles the train stopped to let us off in the Tongass National Forest, the largest temperate rain forest in North America. It was misting slightly when we got off the train but soon stopped and we had good weather for our 5 mile hike.

Our nature guide was Corey from St. Cloud MN. He is very knowledgeable and explained the growth of the forest and told interesting stories of the region. We saw moose tracks and bear and moose droppings but not the animals themselves.

Someone in our group spotted a porcupine in a tree quite close to the trail. It was a strenuous hike over lots of rocks and tree roots and up and down hills but it was definitely worth the effort!