Upper Reid Falls

*Blogger was not letting me download pictures for about a week. So now I am finally posting!


In preparation for a bigger hike, I decided to complete a day hike to Upper Reid Falls with my fellow Dredge coworker, Chicago boy. It was only about two miles to the falls so I figured it wouldn't be so difficult. I decided to do the hike in my Chaco sandals. I think that was a mistake because I ended up pulling the tendons that extended to my toes. It was a little painful to walk up and down stairs. After worrying about it for a few days I decided to back out of the 33 mile hike on the Chilkoot trail. I am really bummed that I did not do the Chilkoot trail, but I think in the long run it was wise since my foot was sore. It just means I want to go back to Alaska to finally hike the trail.

In the meantime I should say that the hike to Upper Reid Falls was pretty fun. I enjoyed spending time with Chicago boy. He is a city boy so hiking is not his specialty. In fact, I don't think he had ever been on a hike until he went to Skagway this summer. At one point during our hike we veered of the path because it was confusing. I just didn't feel like we were headed in the right direction and he said, "It will be okay, let's just keep on going. We are right by a town, it's not like we are going to get lost." Honestly it is people like that who get lost in the woods and die. I was thinking, you can't just assume you know the right direction and all the trees will look alike soon. I basically told him that we needed to head back to where we knew the trail was clear and look again. The whole time he was mocking me and I was thinking, yeah, buddy I just saved your life. He would have been halfway to Canada if I didn't stop him.

On our way back to the trail we ran into a few friends. With their help we were able to find the path, which we were not on, and shortly thereafter see the falls. It should have been a short hike, but it took us longer because we got lost. At least we enjoyed one another's company and the good weather (a rarity in Skagway).