5 Over The Chilkoot and One Klutz

About the Book

A story about three couples that decided to hike the famous Chilkoot Trail, a five day hike which follows the path the gold seekers took into the Yukon. It talks about the planning and the actual hike which was made during the month of May in rotten snow and spring breakup. The Appendix includes the history of the original hike, the communities that developed and their stories and what hiking the trail is like today. It all took place during a time when “yellow gold “enthusiasm was being replaced by the need for “black gold” and the concern Alaskans had for the historic areas.

About the Author

Melanie Draper Marotta was born in 1943 in Des Moines, Washington. In 1952, her father was offered a job at the Naval Base on Kodiak Island, Alaska. By then Melanie had a brother and a sister and the whole family packed up to move to this unknown place at the head of the Aleutian Chain. Kodiak is where the Russian first settled in Alaska; it is an island full of history and the often forgotten first capital of Alaska. She lived in Fairbanks from 1970 through 1987, served on the Historic Preservation Commission for the Fairbanks North Star Borough and discovered more about the people, land and resources of the great state of Alaska. The Alyeska Pipeline was being built at that time and the focus turned from “yellow gold” to “black gold” and how the building of the pipeline would affect other resources of the State. It was during this time the group decided to make the hike over one of the most historic places on the mainland.