Dyea

Before our trip to Skagway, Alaska, goes to far back in memory, I wanted to post about Dyea.  Dyea is not longer a town, but in the days of the Klondike gold rush, it was a key spot.  Dyea is just a few miles from Skagway and was the starting point of the Chilkoot Trail.  Ships would come up the inlet and drop the people off with their massive grubstakes.  (Each person was required to carry a year's worth of food and other provisions over the Chilkoot or the RCMP would not allow them to continue.)

 Thousands of men and quite a few women crossed the Chilkoot Pass.  This actually meant that they had to climb the famous ice staircase many times in order to get their stuff across.

 Tragically, on Aprill 3, 1898, an avalanche swept down on the sojourners and killed many.  I think it was over 70.  The natives and the RCMP had warned them not to travel that day, but gold fever had clouded their judgement.

 A somber cemetary is most of what remains at Dyea now.  A reminder of the frailty of human ambition.

-Nanette