Hike #6 Lower Dewey Loop (Skagway, AK)

"You're off to GREAT places, today is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so... got on your WAY!"  - Dr. Seuss - 

So, what do you do after a three and half day hike 33-mile hike? Kill some time and go on another hike. 

The quote above was pasted on the side of a van in Skagway. As I was walking to the trailhead, I saw that quote, and it was too relevant to not include. 

I had a series of ferry delays while in Skagway, so I decided to get a hotel, taking a shower, and sleeping in a bed. The next day, while waiting for another delayed ferry, I decided to do an easy hike in Skagway, Lower Dewey Loop. 

I felt light as a feather hiking with only a water bottle, cell phone, and wallet. And much lighter hiking in sandals than boots. I left my trekking poles behind, and that was when I realized how much I've come to really depend on them as additional appendages. 

The last day of the Chilkoot Trail, I was using my trekking poles similar to cross country ski poles, and was pushing myself down the trail. Without the poles, going up the small hill to the Lower Dewey Loop, I found myself grasping for something to push my self along the trail with. I had a missing feeling. 

The loop is a 3 mile loop. It took an hour (significantly faster without a pack), even with stopping and taking pictures. 

One of the biggest differences I noticed while hiking this trail was the difference between tourists and locals. The few days on the Chilkoot, everyone greeted eachother. We were strangers sharing meals, but no one was reclusive or unfriendly. On Lower Dewey Loop, people just pretended I hadn't even greeted them, and I was wondering if I was an apparition until I had a nice chat about the weather with someone who had a dog. 

Lower Lake Dewey

View of Skagway from the trail. 

As I started writing this post, I confused myself for a second and thought... Didn't I already do a Dewey trail post? And I looked back and remembered that there's a Mt. Dewey in Wrangell. So, I started wondering who this Dewey person was, and how come this individual had so many things named after them. After some google-searching, I came up without an answer. The closest connection I found was a man named John Dewey who was an American Philosopher, Psychologist, and Educational Reformer (according to Wikipedia), but he doesn't seem to have any connection to Alaska. There is a loose connection between him and John Muir who was tied to Mt. Dewey in Wrangell, but appear to have no connection to Skagway. 

So, this could be something that has been lost to Alaska History. I'll keep digging.