Chilkoot Trail — Dead Horse Gulch

The 33-mile Chilkoot Trail was the primary route for Klondike Gold Rush stampeders climbing over the Coast Mountains to the Yukon gold fields in 1897–1898. Thousands of horses and mules died on the White Pass route — Dead Horse Gulch is named for the carcasses that littered the trail after a brutal winter. Hikers on the trail report seeing gold rush-era figures bowed under enormous backpacks moving through the forest and then vanishing into the terrain. Researchers have audio-recorded footsteps following hikers on the trail's steepest section that cease when the recorder is stopped and reviewed.