I attended a presentation at Beaver Sports called "Hiking the Chilkoot Trail". Don Kiely from the Fairbanks Hiking Club was the speaker. He's gone on the Trail numerous times.
His presentation was mostly about logistics and securing permits (which we've already done), but there were a few gems that I found useful:
1) Break in your hiking boots (or whatever shoes you take). Don did say that while you didn't necessarily need hiking boots since most of the trail was, in fact, a good trail lacking rocky spots, the shoes you did wear should be broken in. He also recommended sandals for bumming around the campsites.
2) Bring a 30-foot bear rope. The campsites supply the bear canisters. Remember to read up on Canada's bear spray regulations. He said that encounters with bears were few, but that you should still be prepared.
3) The train is an awesome experience and well worth the money. This is the first year that the train is only running 2 days a week - it used to run 3. The train leaves Bennett at 2pm Alaska time, so we'll need to remember that when we cross the Canadian boarder. There are float planes that will fly you from Lake Bennett back to Skagway for a modest fee. Maybe next time, ladies?
4) Don recommended taking your time on the trail and exploring the area. He said that there were a lot of artifacts along the trail that were fun to see. He also suggested reading up on the history of the trail before going, just to appreciate more the historical aspects of the trail.
5) Don stressed the importance of everyone in the group being present in order to pick up the permits to hike the trail. They will no longer allow groups without all of their members to pick up permits. He said that if you've made reservations you can pick them up the day before you hike. Since we've got a pretty full morning the first day of our hike, we may want to consider doing this.
6) The trailhead begins in Dyea (pronounced Die-eee). I will no longer sound like an idiot when I try to say it!
A copy of the handout from the presentation is here. It's got a good list of books and websites to check out about the Trail. Let me know if you have trouble linking to it and I will email it to you.
