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Hiking the Chilkoot Trail: Historic Gear Checklists

Megan Kopp · April 11, 2017 · Leave a Comment

What do you pack when you are hiking the Chilkoot Trail through Alaska, BC, and into the Yukon in the footsteps of the gold rush stampeders? I know what would be on my list today, but what did the historic gear checklist look like? Let’s find out!

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Table of Contents

  • Historic Gear
      • What an eye-opener!
      • Posted in one of the cooking shelters at Sheep Camp, we found a sheet of paper with historic packing list suggestions for men and women planning to hike the Chilkoot Trail through Alaska, British Columbia and the Yukon.
    • Gear for Men   (as listed by Pierre Berton in his book, Klondike, p. 245)
      • Groceries:
    • Gear for Women
      • Bedding:
  • Planning a Yukon hiking trip?

Historic Gear

What an eye-opener!

Posted in one of the cooking shelters at Sheep Camp, we found a sheet of paper with historic packing list suggestions for men and women planning to hike the Chilkoot Trail through Alaska, British Columbia and the Yukon.

Read the lists below and – after you research to learn that oakum is tarred fibre used to plug cracks, that mackinaw is a water-repellent woolen cloth, and you stop laughing at the fact that women were advised to bring both house and knitted slippers – you will appreciate why the Chilkoot Trail became the world’s longest museum of discarded gear!

Gear for Men  

(as listed by Pierre Berton in his book, Klondike, p. 245)

  • Three suits of heavy underwear
  • A mackinaw suit
  • Two pairs of mackinaw trousers
  • Heavy rubber-lined coat
  • One dozen pairs of wool socks
  • Half a dozen pairs of mittens
  • Over shirts (2)
  • Snag-proof rubber boots (2 pairs)
  • Shoes (2 pairs)
  • Two blankets
  • Four towels
  • Overalls (2 pairs)
  • A suit of oilskin clothing
  • Five yards of mosquito netting

Groceries:

  • Flour (400 lbs)
  • Cornmeal (50 lbs)
  • Oatmeal (50 lbs)
  • Rice (50 lbs)
  • Beans (100 lbs)
  • Candles (40 lbs)
  • Granulated sugar (100 lbs)
  • Baking powder (8 lbs)
  • Bacon (200 lbs)
  • Soda (2 lbs)
  • 36 yeast cakes
  • Salt (15 lbs)
  • Pepper (1 lb)
  • Mustard (½ lb )
  • Ginger (¼ lb)
  • Evaporated apples (25 lbs)
  • Dried peaches (25 lbs)
  • Evaporated apricots (25 lbs)
  • Fish (25 lbs)
  • Pitted plums (10 lbs)
  • Dried onions (50 lbs)
  • Evaporated potatoes (50 lbs)
  • Coffee (24 lbs)
  • Tea (5 lbs)
  • 4 dozen tins condensed milk
  • 5 bars laundry soap
  • 60 boxes matches
  • Soup vegetables (15 lbs)
  • 25 cans butter

In addition, one must bring these items: steel stove, gold pan, three nest of granite buckets, a cup, plate, knife, fork, two spoons, two frying pans, coffeepot, pick, hand saw, whipsaw, whetstone, hatchet, two shovels, three files, draw-knife, axe, three chisels, twenty pounds of nails, butcher knife, hammer, compass, jackplane, square, Yukon sled, two hundred feet of rope, fifteen pounds of pitch, ten pounds of oakum, and a canvas tent.

Our gang geared up at the bottom of the pass. (Photo: Brad Kopp)

Gear for Women

(as suggested by Annie Hall Strong in The Skagway News on December 31, 1897)

  • house slippers (1 pair)
  • knitted slippers(1 pair)
  • heavy-soled walking shoes (1 pair)
  • arctics (1 pair)
  • felt boots (1 pair)
  • German socks (1 pair)
  • heavy gum boots (1 pair)
  • heavy all-wool stockings (3 pairs)
  • summer stockings (3 pairs)
  • Moccasins can be purchased here of the Indians. The tall bicycle shoe with extra sole would make an excellent walking shoe. In the way of wearing apparel, a woman can comfortably get along with:
  • good dress (1)
  • one suit heavy Mackinaw, waist and bloomers
  • a summer suit
  • short skirts of heavy duck or denim, to wear over bloomers (3)
  • winter underwear (3 suits)
  • summer underwear (3 suits)
  • one chamois undervest
  • long sack nightdress, make of eiderdown or flannel
  • cotton nightdress
  • arctic mittens (2 pair)
  • heavy wool gloves (1 pair)
  • cap
  • arctic hood
  • hat with brim broad enough to hold the mosquito-netting away from the face
  • summer dress
  • aprons (3)
  • wrappers (2)
  • shirtwaists (2)
  • some sort of gloves for summer wear; to protect hands from mosquitoes

Bedding:

  • piece of canvas, 5 ft x 14 ft
  • rubber blanket
  • all wool blankets (2 pair, better 4 pair)
  • feather pillow
  •  ready-sewed tick will be very nice to have, for it can be filled with dried moss and makes a good pioneer mattress.

“An old miner would no doubt laugh me to scorn for suggesting a little satchel or handbag, but the comfort derived from the hundred and one little extras a woman can deftly stow away in it will doubly repay the bother of carrying it.” – Annie Hall Strong

Yup, I always take a little handbag… of course mine is called a backpack. What’s the most favorite piece of gear on your backpacking checklist?

Planning a Yukon hiking trip?

Want more hiking adventures in the Yukon? Check out these posts:

  • Exploring Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon Canada
  • Hiking in Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon Canada
  • Yukon Adventures: Finding Stories Tall & True
  • Backpacking in the Yukon: Bock’s Lake
  • Hiking the Chilkoot Trail: Dyea to Lindeman Lake Section

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Filed Under: Canada, Hike, United States Tagged With: Alaska, B.C., Canada, hiking trails, Historic personalities, history, Mining history, travel adventures, United States, Yukon

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