Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Alaska

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Alaska! With a bit less excitement than the stampede of the late 1890s, I made it to Skagway Alaska, a dream come true for me, my 50th state and my 49th in my electric car. Just a couple more posts will cover my trip to Alaska this May. First, Klondike Gold Rush NHP is the main part of the park with a million annual visitors, most arriving by cruise ship. The section in Seattle is smaller but still a great place to learn about the gold rush.

Historically, the whole thing was a big misunderstanding. A native named Keish was on a fishing tip with his brother-in-law, his sister and his nephew. His brother-in-law was a prospector who got a tip from another prospector and convinced the others to look for gold on a tributary of the Yukon River. Luckily they found some gold mid August 1896, and the news spread like wildfire. Gold mining claims were filed by mostly Canadian prospectors almost immediately, and by January, Dawson City was set along the Yukon River as a base for fortune seekers.

To be clear, the gold was found over four hundred miles north of Skagway. Think Nashville to Chicago, but with bears, glaciers, mountains and no roads. And within a short time, no more mining claims were available. But the US had just suffered the Panic of 1893, the worst economic depression in history (until the Great Depression) with unemployment reaching 25% and massive continuing poverty. So, a legendary myth was born out of thin air by self-enriching writers who never left their cities, and tens of thousands of people traveled from around the world for the next two years with Gold Fever.

Outfitters, especially in Seattle, sold specialized gear, including dried food, sleeping bags and tinned meat. Steamships took thousands up the coast to the deep harbor at Skagway and a few around to the Bering Sea and the mouth of the Yukon River. The idea was to sail up a long bay, walk up the Taiya River valley, climb the incredibly steep ‘golden stairs’ carved in ice, follow an arctic watershed slowly descending on the other side, build a boat and take it down the Yukon River past the Whitehorse Rapids to Dawson. By the time the Americans got there, the gold fields were taken, they were without prospects and most were broke. Many turned around, and many died on the journey. On Palm Sunday 1898, avalanches killed about 100 on the trail, and prompted folks to switch to the White Pass route, which I drove alongside on a stunning clear day.

The historic site is filled with memorabilia, many fascinating buildings and stunning stories of conmen, gunfights, prostitution, riches and saloon society. While not part of the park service, the Red Onion has an enlightening tour about the ladies who serviced men for 15 minutes at a time in small rooms upstairs. The best known story in town is about Soapie Smith a colorful conman involved in a gunfight. A Scottish clerk named Robert Service arrived years after the rush ended, but absorbed the stories and converted them into poetry, writing “The Cremation of Sam McGee” among others that I first heard in grade school. Warren Harding was inducted into the Arctic Brotherhood when he visited Skagway briefly as President, and I believe they named a glacier in his honor.

If the cruise ship companies spent years designing the perfect port of call, they still couldn’t have imagined one like this. Surrounded by beautiful snow capped mountains with wildlife, four giant ships at a time, thousands of tourists, plus a tourist train to & from Whitehorse Canada, plus the occasional crazy drivers like me, all waltz into town at once, packing the streets, renting bikes, shopping, eating, hiking (more about that on Wednesday) and visiting historic sites, including bars & brothels. Skagway means windy in the native tongue, so when the wind whips down the long main street, step into one of the fascinating alleys or shops. Great fun!

John Muir

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Born in Scotland, Muir grew up in Wisconsin, not far from the Dells and the Ice Age Scenic Trail, a biodiverse landscape carved by glaciers, where he began his affinity and fascination with nature. Self taught due to lack of funds, he eventually studied botany, chemistry and geology at university. At 30 he began exploring the Sierra Nevadas, documenting his discoveries in journals along with formulating his views on nature. This became his life’s work, advocating for nature, against the forces of developers, loggers and ranchers, loggers and developers.

Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks in California were little known remote places described by Muir, shared with his influential friends and ultimately protected by Teddy Roosevelt and later presidents. Ralph Waldo Emerson visited Muir in Yosemite, and I’m sure they talked about Henry David Thoreau and Walden Pond of my home town. Muir also enjoyed hiking Black Butte and Mt Shasta, another lovely area with waterfalls in northern California.

And Muir traveled further afield, corresponding and traveling with naturalist John Burroughs, a friend of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. Burroughs, nicknamed “O’Birds” with Muir “O’Mountains”, toured both Alaska and the Grand Canyon with Muir. Muir helped Gifford Pinchot evaluate the forest and land around the Grand Canyon and then pressed Teddy Roosevelt to protect the park 10 years later. (Pinchot did not return the favor when Muir asked for help saving Hetch Hetchey). Muir climbed Mt Rainier and advocated for it to become another national park. While President Grant deserves credit for Yellowstone, Muir helped the public understand Yellowstone’s ecological importance, by writing about and visiting the park with Roosevelt. Petrified Forest is another site that owes Muir’s writings, along with many other sites inspired by Muir and protected by Roosevelt and others.

North of San Francisco, Muir’s home with his study above is now a historic site, and his work is commemorated in Muir Woods, a place he may not have known but would have loved deeply. Muir’s legacy includes the Sierra Club and the National Park Service, both founded in large part by Muir. Many of us share a kindred spirit with Muir and are humbled to have walked in his footsteps.

Glacier Bay National Park

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Glacier Bay is a great national park, a biosphere and part of a huge world heritage site with Canada. I arrived by Alaska Marine Highway ferry from Skagway via a night in Juneau, which took about 24 hours to the lodge. The ranger-narrated day boat tour out to see the last few tidewater glaciers was awesome. While I saw a humpback whale breeching, the highlight was definitely sliding through the icy waters to see glaciers like the Marjorie above and Johns Hopkins below.

While glaciers often cycle through advancing and retreating cycles, Glacier Bay makes it plainly clear how one way the retreat of ice has been since industrialization began. Tidewater glaciers are ones that normally advance into the water and then recede after the saltwater changes their freezing point. Once common below the arctic circle, now they’re rare, with the one above likely being one of the last. Although the huge bay was entirely full of ice when our country was founded, the bay—technically a fjord—is now virtually all open water. The many glaciers described by John Muir are still here, but most neither reach nor can be seen from the water. Over a hundred years of tourists have documented the dramatic retreat in millions of photographs from steamships to cruise ships.

Once, many people assumed that similar landscapes scraped clean around the world were evidence of a global Biblical flood, but they were caused by glaciers. Besides Muir, an ecologist named William Cooper conducted a historic and ongoing study of plant succession for decades here. While some might imagine that retreating ice will simply open up new fertile land in the north, the truth is that glaciers scrape the ground down to bedrock. It takes centuries to build up enough biological material to sustain even the short simple forest ecosystems found in the wintry northern latitudes. The Tlingit people have an oral tradition that describes how their productive valley was covered by an advancing glacier and was stripped bare when it finally retreated. But they’re still here, co-managing the park and conducting interpretive presentations on site. Be sure to visit their clan house next to the Glacier Bay Lodge.

Wildfire and Inaction

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October is fire safety month, so let’s add wildfires to our monthly climate issue list, including border security, air pollution, flooding, infrastructure, mental health, rising seas, food security, disease and hurricanes.

This year fire safety is focused on the danger of lithium batteries. In the US, 1/2 of fires are caused by cooking, followed by heating, wiring, and smoking. Candles cause far more fires than lithium batteries. But since lithium batteries are becoming more common, it’s worth it to unplug your charger after your device is charged.

A couple years ago, I wrote about forest wildfires, and I only have one point to add now. Reducing hunting and increasing the population of deer, elk and moose in the wild would also reduce forest density by creating wildlife corridors through forests and preserving natural meadows through grazing. This is a solution rarely proposed by those allied with the timber industry.

Inaction

Last night I was discussing the trolley problem with my daughter, the one where a trolley will either run over one or five people depending on whether it is diverted or not. Having previously defined rational and moral thinking as completely different in motive, method and results, I decided to take another look at the trolley problem.

The rational approach is to apply utilitarianism, which argues that—all things being equal—it is better to save five lives at the cost of one, if those are the only two choices.

The opposing approach often uses rule-based ethics, where a rule like ‘active killing is always wrong’ is invented, ending debate. This creates the unfortunate and false impression that the best course of action when lives are at stake is to do nothing, that inaction absolves you from blame.

Police officers are trained and tasked to solve trolley-like problems. A criminal prepares to execute five people immediately, but instead the police officer shoots the criminal dead. Society would not give police badges, guns and training to kill one criminal to save multiple innocent people if ‘active killing is always wrong’. So there is no ethical rule prescribing inaction as the sole appropriate solution in every case.

Moral thinking has a bias to act. If a half dozen people suddenly run into the street ahead of your car, you have an obligation to act, to try braking, honking or swerving. If you raise your hands in the air, continue ahead at the same direction and speed, believing that inaction will hold you blameless for the deaths of those in your path, then you are morally (and legally) wrong. Inaction in this case is gross negligence, open to charges of manslaughter.

If your best preventative actions result in the death of only one rather than five, then you may still be charged with manslaughter. But it will only be one count, and you may have five witnesses vouching for your actions. The driver, like the trolley driver, is understood to have responsibility for taking action to control the vehicle. Inaction in a fatal crisis is inexcusable.

The trolley problem is often manipulated or reimagined in different forms, such as a doctor or judge being presented with the terrible choice to take an innocent life to save more lives. But doctors and judges have different training and face different consequences than you or I. They have sworn to ‘first do no harm’ or to ‘uphold the law’, and if they take an innocent life, they would be in violation of their oaths, risking their reputations, licenses and careers.

So what is the innocent bystander to do? They might divert the trolley and later realize that they caused the deaths of many unseen trolley riders as the trolley derails. They might do nothing and then later realize that one of the five victims was their only child. The creators of these dilemmas appear more interested in creating quandaries of doubt, perhaps to promote inaction as a morally defensible choice.

Choosing to act results in consequences, both known and unknown. The innocent bystander is placed in a ‘no win’ situation. But that unfortunate fact does not affect the rational and moral calculus that the situation requires. Believing a false, imaginary rule that ‘active killing is always wrong’ may save decision-making time, but given that moral thinking has a bias to act, you are likely choosing unwisely.

Let’s raise the stakes. What if the trolley was loaded with explosives and being driven by a terrorist to blow up your town’s school? And what if the only way to stop it was to stand on the alternate track to throw the switch? Would you sacrifice your life to save five hundred lives, including your own children? Would believing in some rule—like ‘suicide is always wrong’—stop you? Even a doctor or a judge would be forgiven for making that ultimate sacrifice.

Rational thinking requires considering the consequences and risks. A rational bystander logically does not have enough information to make a perfectly informed decision, and that uncertainty may paralyze them.

But moral thinking compels one to act to save the many, even at the cost of the few. Even at personal cost.

In every scenario, both types of thinking are required.

Climate Crisis Inaction

We are not innocent bystanders in the climate crisis. The US has released more atmospheric carbon than any other country. We broke our natural climate, so now we own it. Every day we make choices that affect our carbon footprint, and every couple years we vote in ways that affect our future climate.

Inaction does not absolve you from blame.

Rational thinking considers the various consequences and risks of carbon pollution, including those I mention each month. Rationally, converting to renewable energy is worth the broad benefits both to our future economy and to live on earth. The sooner we act, the less costly the crisis will be.

Moral thinking requires us to act for the broadest long term good. Inaction on the climate crisis is not moral.

National Heritage Areas of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska

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There are three NHAs in the PNW & AK region, all with scenic mountain and coastal views.

The Kenai Mountains – Turnagain Arm NHA in Alaska covers most of the Kenai Peninsula including the towns around Kenai Fjords National Park.

The Maritime Washington NHA includes almost all the coastal areas of Washington State, from the San Juan Islands and Ebey’s Landing to Seattle and around the Olympic Peninsula down the Pacific coast.

I drove the length of the Mountains to Sound Greenway NHA when traveling from Hanford Reach to Seattle recently, and there are many bijou historic spots and hiking areas along the way through Snoqualmie Pass.

Kenai Mountains – Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area

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The Kenai peninsula today captures a lot of Alaska’s tourism especially by boat, from fishing boats in Homer, to float trips on the Kenai river, to Kenai Fjord tour boats in Seward, to the Alaska Marine Highway in Whittier and cruise ships on their way to Anchorage. The greater area around Anchorage is flat in the river delta of the Cook Inlet surrounded by mountains. To get from Anchorage to the Kenai peninsula, you drive around the Turnagain Arm, a branch of the Cook Inlet with the highest tides in the US. Watch for the tidal bore and telltale mud flats.

This heritage area celebrates the various communities from Coopers Landing in the west with river and lake guides, to the port of Whittier in the east, to the Iditarod trail connecting Seward in the south to mountain resorts like Girdwood north near Anchorage. Girdwood has an appealing upscale hippy take on Alaska, with popular summer festivals and winter Nordic spa experiences. Honestly, compared to where I grew up, the history is a bit sparse, but the tiny museum in Seward includes Native American artifacts and relates engaging stories showcasing how tough Alaskans are, including surviving bear attacks, a 9.2 earthquake, winter and running incredible endurance races for fun.

Mostly, you need to appreciate just how wild and seasonal Alaska is, in order to have an enjoyable visit. Winter can extend well into May on the mountains, and the short summer season is frenetic, with locals working long hours while the sun shines. Major hotel chains and national franchises have trouble adapting to Alaska, as their business models don’t normally allow for months of darkness, closing up and waiting for the thaw. Local businesses adapt much better, using the ample open spaces to run strings of seasonal businesses, often following fish and wildlife. Small villages like Moose Pass on Trail Lake below in the middle of the heritage area hold small communities tightly together during winter and then open up to visitors in summer.

Life in Alaska is both simple and also nuanced in how in tune it is with nature. Unfortunately, our carbon pollution is changing the environment, helping cause a devastating forest fire in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge west of the heritage area. We need to respect our fascinating and fragile natural world more.

Iditarod National Historic Trail

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Even a tiny dog walking by barked to tell his parents to take a photo of him with the sled dogs above at the start of the Iditarod Trail in Seward Alaska. The trail celebrates the broader history of travel in Alaska by dogsled, but today the Iditarod is famous for just one race. The Iditarod race starts north of Anchorage on the first weekend in March, and the dogs are the real star athletes of the race, of course, running in teams of a dozen or more over 1000 miles for a week or two to the Burled Arch on Front Street in Nome, near the Bering Strait.

During the various Alaskan gold rushes at the turn of the previous century, the winter dogsled trails connected ports like Seward with mining towns like Iditarod, now a remote ghost town (on the southern race route in odd years). Seward is an ice free deep water port, and in winter months mail, supplies and trade goods moved inland and back by dog sled. In 1925 a dog sled relay team delivered life-saving diphtheria serum from near Fairbanks to Nome running along the Yukon River in the middle and making the finishing lead dog Balto famous. The longest dogsled run was from Seward to Nome, which laid the historic path for mining communities, railroads, roadhouses and highways. Some of these remote communities are still roadless, going straight from dog sleds to bush planes after the gold rushes slowed in the 1920s.

The trail is the only winter trail in the national historic trail system, and it’s managed by the Bureau of Land Management. My great, great uncle Norman Vaughan started competing in the Iditarod at age 70 and ran it 13 times. He also organized a commemorative event for the 1925 serum run, ran dog sleds in the 1932 Olympics, and helped Admiral Byrd on his first Antarctica expedition, later returning to climb Mount Vaughan at 89. The Iditarod has a special place in the hearts of explorers.

Kenai Fjords National Park

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This month I will be covering my trip to Alaska earlier this year. The Harding Icefield dominates the highlands of the Kenai Peninsula feeding dozens of glaciers that still carve the fjords. Due to regular heavy snowfall in the mountains—30’ is not unusual—, a number of large glaciers still reach the sea, although the Exit Glacier near the park entrance requires a longer hike to see than in the recent past. I drove to the visitor center in Seward, but I didn’t come here to hike.

I recommend a boat tour out of Seward to explore places like Porcupine Cove above. Not only are the fjords best viewed by boat, but there’s a lot of wildlife to see. A humpback whale proudly swam by the boat showing off her newborn calf. Two otters were making out in the waves. Steller sea lions—a first for me—lounged to port and starboard. Common murres did their best penguin impressions, and ancient murrelets flew by in tight formation. Coastal mountain goats sauntered across waterfalls mid cliff. A black bear cub followed mom across the highland, not far from Bear Glacier, the largest in the park. This is a magical place to explore.

National Parks to Visit in October

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Acadia, Channel Islands, Grand Canyon, Great Sand Dunes, and Mesa Verde are my five best recommendations for October.

Acadia is lovely with foliage in October, and the lobster at nearby restaurants is also excellent. Yes, it’s a bit colder, but you may be able to see the northern lights too. Maybe go early October before things start shutting down and getting really cold. Dress warmly, hike one of the many terrific trails and enjoy the scenery.

Channel Islands are all about getting out on the water on a kayak or snorkeling tour, and October is highly recommended for warm and clear water conditions. Watch the weather as ferries are sometimes canceled due to high winds.

Grand Canyon is a classic October park. Summer is too crowded and hot, and winter too cold. Spring is too windy if you want to hike on or below the rim. Seriously, it gets scary when pebbles start flying around. If you’re visiting the North Rim, then you want to visit before mid-October.

Great Sand Dunes is best in October. Cottonwoods are changing color. Elk and pronghorn can be spotted. Skies are clear. I don’t understand why so many people want to visit during the short season that the creek is flowing a little. You’re not visiting the beach, you’re here to see the beautiful dunes with a dramatic backdrop of high mountains and maybe moonlight. Spend the night at a campground in a warm sleeping bag and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Mesa Verde is all about touring the cliff dwellings, taking in the views and enjoying the magical feeling of the sacred place. So, you want to go in the last couple weeks of the season in early to mid-October, when the crowds have passed and the weather is still fine. Try to book lodging in the park and definitely reserve tours well in advance.

Although there are fewer park visitors in October, these are some of the best national park experiences in the country.

Howe Sound

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Howe Sound is a UNESCO Biosphere up the Sea to Sky highway from Vancouver. I took the photo out the window of the Sea to Sky Gondola which is a popular stop along the way with hikes and a suspension bridge at just under 3,000 feet near Mt Garibaldi. The bay gets its color from the high mineral content in meltwater from high peaks, such as Whistler, and glaciers.

I also saw the ocean end of the bay when arriving by ferry from Vancouver Island, and deep underwater lie the fascinating, rare, Jurassic era glass sponges, a group of silica-skeleton filter-feeders that were thought extinct until 1987. Some species may live for thousands of years, and the glass sponge reefs north of Vancouver Island—Hecate Strait/Queen Charlotte Sound—are also under consideration for UNESCO status to protect them, possibly as an expansion to this biosphere.

I continued the highway up to Lillooet. The deep valley scenic drive ranks with any in the contiguous US, comparable to Glacier’s famed Going to the Sun Road, beautiful drives in Utah or along the 14ers in Colorado. I know folks love Stanley Park in Vancouver, but you should also get out of the city and drive up into the mountains, through scenic western towns like Pemberton and hike to some mountain lakes or waterfalls. This is an extremely beautiful area in North America not to miss.