Yukon, 1 1/2 hours drive northeast of Dawson City, 58.5 km on the Dempster Hwy
Backpacked August 23 - 27
The Tombstone Territorial mountains are the result of an igneous intrusion; a volcanic upheaval. This caused the formation of an uncharactaristic long wedge of syenite granite that twists back & forth forming high vertical walls (some as high as 500m!), towering citadels, buttresses and serrated knife-like ridges. The climate is dry due to the high mountains along the Pacific coast blocking moist air from reaching the Yukon interior. So much of the land along the Dempster Hwy is free of glaciers and ice sheets. This is a fairly young park, having been created in 1999.
I would say this was the most challenging backpack trip I've done in Canada. Why? Because of our constant exposure to the harsh elements. At night temperatures were hovering slightly above 0C.The weather was very unsettled and changable due to weather systems from the Pacific & Arctic oceans colliding along the continental divide. Hypothermia was a very real threat. We could not build a fire to dry our wet clothes and there was no sufficient shelter to hang them to dry. Our backpacks were heavy because of packing soaking wet tents every morning and taking 5 days worth of food + all of our winter clothing and gear.
Of the 13 hikers that signed on for this hike, only 3 of us were able to complete the whole trip.
Let my photos and story tell you why...
Aug 22: Seven of us had just done a 3-week road trip through Alaska & the Yukon.
Five more met us the 21st in Dawson City: Terry, Cammy & Janice flew in and Joachim & Margaret drove up. Of the Alaska group, two had decided ahead of time not to go on this trek because life got in the way and they didn't have enough time to train physically for it. Then two more had previous injuries that were acting up and getting worse instead of better. Then two days before our trek, Anne got covid. The next day Ingrid did. The next day Irene did and while we were on the backpack trip, Lorenz did.
So at the campsite we had to stay separate from the covid bunch, hoping we wouldn't get it. We carefully packed the day before, in the campsite right by the Tombstone Interpretive centre. Terry & Cammy dehydrated their dinners. Recipies became a popular topic of conversations at the crude dinner table in the cooking shelters.
Just 2 km north of the interpretive centre we did this short after-dinner 3 km hike on the Goldensides Viewpoint trail.
Goldensides Mt (1838m).
east
In the centre on the horizon is Tombstone Mt (2192m), the highest in the range. Unfortunately it's peak remained in the clouds on day 3 when we were there.
Trek day 1: To Grizzly Lake (1450m)
Stats: 11.8 km / 978m gain & 473m loss / 6:10 hours MT / 8:45am - 3:30pm
Trail description by Tombstone Interpretive Centre: 7-10 hours, strenuous with steep, unstable terrain (boulder fields, side-hilling, talus slopes), minimal water, exposed to weather
All geared up and rearing to go: Margaret T, Terry B, Case T, Joachim B, Cammy P, Janice H & I.
Field Snowthistle Star-tipped Reindeer lichen
Our first views of the Tombstones! I was so excited! Mt. Monolith in the centre.
The treeline is at about 1200m. Once above it, the grade of the slope eased off and far-reaching views were ours to admire.
Looking back on the ridge I'd just walked.
At the 1703m pass.
Beyond the pass it was mostly downhill with long stretches of talus slope.
Grizzly Lake. During this final stretch we were starting to feel pretty tired.
2 pic slider of Grizzly Lake
The outhouses (no toilet paper) & two cooking shelters were about a 5-minute walk from the ten tent pads. The purpose being, to keep the grizzlies away from our tents. We did not see any on this trek.
A dangerous situation happened on this first day. Three of us got to Grizzly Lake campsite by 3:30pm. Janice & Cammy promptly set up their tents. I sat in the cooking shelter and waited for Case who had our tent. Or so I thought... At 4:00pm it started to pour torrents of cold water, as if the heavens had opened up. Along with the pelting rain came a fridgedly cold wind that blasted the rain into the shelter at an angle, so of the 8x8' space, only about 3' in the middle remained dry. Three hours later Case came in, soaking wet, boots included. He wasted no time in stripping (no room for modesty) and putting on dry clothes. About 20 minutes later Terry came in, also soaking wet. Her hands were so numb she couldn't take her clothes off. So we put hotwater in a dehydrated food pack and told her to hold it. Then Cammy put hot water in a Nalgene bottle to put in her sleeping bag. Once we got her settled and dry, I asked Case for our tent so I could set it up and warm up in my nice -25C downy sleeping bag. That's when we found out he didn't have it!!! I kept saying, "Unbelievable". I was in denial.
So what to do? In this pic Case & Cammy are busy setting up our's and her tarps on either end of the cooking shelter. We ended up having a great night's sleep, thankful to have eluded hypothermia. But some decisions would have to be made in the morning...
Trek Day 2: Grizzly Lake to Divide Lake (1401m)
Stats: 6.7 km / 587m gain / 5 hours MT / 9:00am - 2:00pm
Trail description by TIC: 3-5 hours, strenuous with unstable terrain (extremely steep talus slopes on Divide side of Glissade Pass).
So four hikers decided to turn back this morning. Two because their gear was just too wet and would not dry out anymore. And two because of the boulder slopes. Trying to negotiate those slopes is hard enough without adding wet to it. Wet = slippery.
pic 2: We did alot of taking layers off & putting layers back on this day. It was to be expected for us three menopausal women in this ever-changing weather.
I was apprehensive about this day. Couldn't say we weren't warned. Climbing up to Glissade Pass was steep but going down the other side was a shade shy of pure vertical!
Bye bye Grizzly Lake.
At the pass we promptly put on rain gear, which also helped for the bitterly cold wind. No more climbing meant no more sweating.
At the rock cairn that marked the continuation of the trail, I looked and thought, "We have to go down that???"
But once we started, I soon found out it wasn't so bad. In fact, it was kind-of fun boot-sliding down.
We were very careful not to lose our balance with our heavy packs on.
Made it. It started to rain at 11:00am and didn't stop for the remainder of the day.
In Marmot Meadows.
Round the corner to the left.
At Divide Lake campsite and on the other side of Mt. Monolith. We sipped on hot drinks in the cooking shelter for an hour, waiting for the rain to stop so we could set up our tents. When it did, we had just enough time to do so before it started again. The only way to stay warm was to stay in our totally zipped up sleeping bags, with my yak-wool toek on my head. I had my book with me but had to read in intervals. When my arms and hands got too cold from being outside of the sleeping bag, I'd have to pop them back in and warm them up again. This was also how I kept my camera batteries from draining and how I dried my socks.
Getting in and out of the tent was a complex affair. Before I got out I had to put on my raincoat, heavy boots, damp socks and then squeeze out without touching the top of the tent otherwise moisture would drip down into it. I'm 5'10" tall and the tent is only about half of that height. Once back in, I had to go through that whole process again, putting my dry clothes back on before climbing back into my bag.
Trek Day 3: Stats: 17.55 km / 670m gain / 9:30am - 4:00pm
Trail description by ITC: 2-3 hours, route is in the bottom of the valley and crosses the Continental Divide / Tombstone Pass
This proved to be our favorite day. Hardly any rain, no heavy overnight packs and no exposure with an easy graded trail that brought us into the heart of the Tombstones.
Hmm. No raindrops on my tent this morning. At 7:30am I clambered out of my tent, headed down to the cooking shelter and started my breakfast. Then I saw this spot of light on the face of the rock. My excitement began to mount. Sunrise! Sunshine!
Wow wee! Such beautiful soft golden lightening at dawn.
On the other side of the valley is the Cloudy Mountain Range.
Breakfast.
My tent that Joachim & Margaret so kindly lent me.
Tombstone Pass (1530m) divides the water of the North Klondike and Tombstone rivers.
The Cloudy Range.
Mother & daughter marmots?
I didn't know which way to look. The clouds were like playful ghosts, giving us peek-a-boo looks at pieces of rock here and there. Lifting and shifting, exposing and hiding.
The highest point of Mt. Monolith to the right.
Left of Talus Lake.
Talus Lake at the base of Mt. Monolith.
We decided to carry on, past the campsite on a well defined trail.
This was the most I saw of Tombstone Mt. itself.
This is a photo I got off of the internet. Just to show you how it would've looked without cloud.
There's a helicopter landing pad in this valley. Ran into several photographers that had been flown in.
This tundra was spongy and soft.
We climbed off-trail onto a moraine at the base of the mountains.
We saw what we thought to be a sign post a bit lower down. So we headed for it, thinking to take the trail back down. But it was not a sign post. A lonely cross marked an unknown grave.
Heading back to Divide Lake.
Passing Island Lake to our right.
The clouds had lifted now off of the Cloudy Mt Range.
Bye bye Tombstone Mt.
Back at Divide Lake.
North Klondike Valley.
A fitting end to a beautiful day.
Trek Day 4: Divide Lake to Grizzly Lake
Stats: 7 km / 635m gain / Glissade Pass: 1855m / 9:00am - 1:30pm
Another gorgeous dawn.
Looking back.
Going up this very steep scree slope was a bit more work than going down. With every step you slid back a bit.
Once on the Glissade Pass ridge, we checked out the trail that followed alongside the top of the ridge. In this pic you can see the beginning of the trail. Steep, isn't it?
The dark grey is the trail.
Some day hikers descending.
Witch's Hair lichen Shield lichen
This was the highest point on the whole trek (1908m).
If you look closely, you'll see a blue speck in the middle of the ridge to the left. It was a cluster of about four hikers who stayed stuck there for a good 15 minutes. I could almost hear them thinking, "We have to go down there???" They did eventually go.
Descending into the valley we'd walked through on our first day.
Grizzly Lake
Back at Grizzly Lake. An hour later it started to rain again, even hail a bit.
The three remaining trekkers.
Trek Day 5: 11.8 km / 473m gain & 962m loss / 9:00am - 2:00pm
For most of the hike on this final day, until the last few hours just above the tree line and then down into the forest, our visibility was very limited. Cairns and cobalt blue painted rocks marked the way.
Looking back on the now clear ridge.
Grizzly Lake is at the end of this valley.
A ptarmigan.
We did it!!! So glad we stuck it out. Case & Terry were waiting for us in the parking lot. They'd made soup for us for lunch, using mushrooms they picked from the forest and dandelion leaves. Yummy.
This was a team effort, especially that first day when we were close to it becoming an emergency situation. A big thanks to all who partook, in one way or the other.
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