0:00:02 > 0:00:05A remote corner of the North American continent...
0:00:06 > 0:00:10..a subarctic wilderness, unchanged for millennia...
0:00:11 > 0:00:16..until gold was discovered here at the end of the 19th century.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21News of the find triggered a global stampede,
0:00:21 > 0:00:23the Klondike gold rush.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30And, for two brief years, this place was utterly transformed,
0:00:30 > 0:00:34as tens of thousands of gold seekers from around the world raced
0:00:34 > 0:00:39from the Alaskan coast 600 miles north to the Klondike Gold Fields,
0:00:39 > 0:00:41hoping to strike it rich.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44Now, 120 years later,
0:00:44 > 0:00:48a team of adventurers are here to take on that same journey,
0:00:48 > 0:00:50in search of their own gold,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53and to experience what it was like to be a Klondiker.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59The team are led by historian Dan Snow.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02The whole world knew about what was happening here and lots of the world
0:01:02 > 0:01:08came here and turned this quiet valley into a motorway.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12He's joined by medic and engineer Dr Kevin Fong...
0:01:13 > 0:01:14Oh, Dan.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17The most common cause of death in the gold rush was trauma
0:01:17 > 0:01:20and of those traumatic deaths, the most common cause was drowning.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24..and polar explorer and scientist Felicity Aston.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28Got the exact set of circumstances that formed our nightmare scenario.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32They'll need to survive icy torrents...
0:01:34 > 0:01:36That's cold.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38..dangerous descents...
0:01:39 > 0:01:41Aggh!
0:01:41 > 0:01:43..and surging rapids...
0:01:45 > 0:01:48That was...an experience.
0:01:48 > 0:01:49Nice work.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53..before they reach the Klondike, where they'll mine for gold,
0:01:53 > 0:01:55the old-fashioned way.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57Oh, my God! Look at that!
0:02:22 > 0:02:25Just like the 19th-century gold seekers,
0:02:25 > 0:02:30our team are on their way to Dyea, a remote beach on the Alaskan coast,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34where they'll start their journey towards the gold fields.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37This is unchanged, unspoiled,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40it looks exactly as it would have looked in those first few weeks
0:02:40 > 0:02:42of the gold rush, over 100 years ago.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48The gold rush was triggered in July 1897, when the steamship Portland
0:02:48 > 0:02:50docked in Seattle.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53On board were two tonnes of gold.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57It had been discovered in a little-known area
0:02:57 > 0:03:00of north-west Canada called the Klondike.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04Newspapers shouted, "Gold!"
0:03:04 > 0:03:08and the promise of untold riches unleashed a global stampede.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14100,000 so-called Stampeders from every corner of the planet
0:03:14 > 0:03:19sped to the Alaskan coast, gateway to the goldfields.
0:03:21 > 0:03:26Ahead lay epic challenges, wading through mud-filled swamps,
0:03:26 > 0:03:28climbing towering mountains,
0:03:28 > 0:03:30navigating enormous lakes,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33and paddling the mighty Yukon River to the very fringes
0:03:33 > 0:03:38of the Arctic Circle before finally arriving at the Klondike.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41It was a punishing 600 mile journey.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47- See if you can touch the bottom. - Three and a half metres.- OK.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Yeah. A metre and a half.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53We are now half a metre, we'd better get going.
0:03:53 > 0:03:54Get your boots off.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56The team are arriving in May,
0:03:56 > 0:03:59not long after the end of the Alaskan winter.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01Oh, God!
0:04:03 > 0:04:06Following in the footsteps of the Stampeders,
0:04:06 > 0:04:10they have just one month to complete the same route to the Klondike
0:04:10 > 0:04:11and then mine for gold.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17This is freezing.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22Today, this tranquil spot has only a few tantalising clues
0:04:22 > 0:04:25to its history but, in 1898,
0:04:25 > 0:04:29this coastline was transformed from an unspoiled wilderness
0:04:29 > 0:04:30to a crowded bottleneck.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34Thousands of Stampeders arrived here,
0:04:34 > 0:04:36including several hundred from Britain.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39They were prepared to risk everything
0:04:39 > 0:04:40for the hope of a better life.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43Many of these pioneers were inspired to write vivid diaries
0:04:43 > 0:04:47and, throughout the expedition, our team will be using them
0:04:47 > 0:04:50to better understand what the Klondikers went through.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56"The very air was electric and the people electric, too.
0:04:56 > 0:04:57"100% alive.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04"The call of adventure, the call of the wild was in them."
0:05:06 > 0:05:08Like them, we landed.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11Next, we've got to head inland and make camp.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14At least we don't have to fight 10,000 other people
0:05:14 > 0:05:18- for a spot on the beach.- Yeah. - So, we've got one up at least.
0:05:18 > 0:05:19DAN CHUCKLES
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Finally, after all these years, I'm able to say,
0:05:24 > 0:05:26"There's gold in them hills."
0:05:29 > 0:05:32But, blocking their way to the gold, just as for the Stampeders,
0:05:32 > 0:05:34the Alaskan coastal mountains...
0:05:36 > 0:05:38..rising up 8,000 feet,
0:05:38 > 0:05:43covered in deep snow, and notorious for deadly avalanches.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49In the first part of their journey, the team are going to experience
0:05:49 > 0:05:52just how tough crossing them could be.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57They'll be sleeping in tents and, wherever possible,
0:05:57 > 0:06:00using similar equipment to the Stampeders.
0:06:01 > 0:06:02- Ideal.- Good stuff.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04See what happens if we do this.
0:06:04 > 0:06:05I'll have one of those.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10The team will be joined by local mountain guides,
0:06:10 > 0:06:15white water rescue experts, and avalanche rescue crews.
0:06:17 > 0:06:22For the next week, the entire expedition will be self-sufficient.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25Everything they need, they'll have to carry.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28One, two, three. Good, good, good.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Excellent.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35With the tent up, Dan sets off to explore the site.
0:06:37 > 0:06:42I'm looking for the remains of what 120 years ago
0:06:42 > 0:06:47was a bustling and incredibly exciting, dynamic town.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53By 1898, dance halls, outfitters, brothels,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56and casinos had sprung up here.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59Because it wasn't just gold hunters pouring off the boats,
0:06:59 > 0:07:03entrepreneurs rushed here, too, looking to make a fast buck.
0:07:07 > 0:07:08And that's the gold rush.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12Just a frenzy of excitement that gripped almost the whole world.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16And this now feels like virtually untamed wilderness.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21Nature has reclaimed most of Dyea, but, amongst the trees,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24there is a sobering reminder of how dangerous the journey
0:07:24 > 0:07:25to the Klondike was...
0:07:27 > 0:07:31..a cemetery - filled with Stampeder graves.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33It's a very beautiful place, this.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36You have to respect it and you have to understand it.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40These people weren't prepared for this environment
0:07:40 > 0:07:44and this entire cemetery is the consequence.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48Faced with overwhelming hardships, more than half the Stampeders
0:07:48 > 0:07:51who set off for the Klondike turned back.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54Kind of makes you feel a little bit different about getting up
0:07:54 > 0:07:55onto the slopes the next couple of days.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04Explorer Felicity has a background in geology
0:08:04 > 0:08:08and already has a mild case of gold fever.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15Even though I know it's far too early to be looking for gold,
0:08:15 > 0:08:17I can't help myself,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20coming and having a look, and seeing what's here.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24And do you know what? There is a bit of sparkle in this sand.
0:08:24 > 0:08:25You can see it in the water.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28Look at that one. Sparkling away.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32But, of course, all that glitters is not gold.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35And what makes me feel slightly better about getting excited
0:08:35 > 0:08:38about seeing just a little bit of sparkle is the fact
0:08:38 > 0:08:40that the original gold rushers,
0:08:40 > 0:08:43when they came here, a lot of people were also fooled
0:08:43 > 0:08:47by this glitter in the sand. And they went off in the local area
0:08:47 > 0:08:52around here, staking claims, hoping that they'd find something.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55But of course, they didn't because this was totally
0:08:55 > 0:08:56the wrong place to look.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03In fact, the gold lies over 500 miles beyond the mountains.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07To cross them, the Stampeders had to choose one of two routes.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10They offer our team the chance to experience
0:09:10 > 0:09:12two very different gold rush journeys.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20Dan and Felicity are going to hike the 33-mile Chilkoot Trail
0:09:20 > 0:09:23and pit themselves against its rivers, rainforests...
0:09:25 > 0:09:27..and the infamous Golden Staircase,
0:09:27 > 0:09:31a thousand-foot, near-vertical icy ascent,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34while Kevin is going to investigate an extraordinary story
0:09:34 > 0:09:38of gold rush-era engineering in the White Pass.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41The plan is that, in two days' time,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43Kevin will leave the White Pass Trail
0:09:43 > 0:09:46and try to rejoin the others on the Chilkoot Trail.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50Together, they'll descend the mountains to Lake Lindeman,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53where they'll continue their journey by boat.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03So, guys, look at this. Check it out.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05- I've got a piece of gold.- No!
0:10:05 > 0:10:08- Really?- Yeah.- Is it real? - That's real.- Are you sure?
0:10:08 > 0:10:11That's quite shiny, so I thought maybe that had been polished up
0:10:11 > 0:10:14or melted down. That is as it was found, in the Klondike,
0:10:14 > 0:10:17- in the gold fields, where we are going.- So, how much is that worth?
0:10:17 > 0:10:20That's worth £2,000.
0:10:20 > 0:10:21In the gold rush days,
0:10:21 > 0:10:25they'd find things like this and thought that it had broken off
0:10:25 > 0:10:28like that from a big mother lode somewhere in the mountains.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30That's what they were looking for.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34And what they were looking for was a myth. It just doesn't exist.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37You find big veins, you find big amounts of gold,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40but there isn't just one big mother lode up in the mountains
0:10:40 > 0:10:43- that all this has broken off from. - What is it with the gold rush?
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Why are we so obsessed with gold? Like anything else,
0:10:46 > 0:10:48it is precious cos it's rare. And it's rare because the processes
0:10:48 > 0:10:54that produce it are tremendously exotic. We need exploding stars,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56colliding stars, really huge energy,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59and that's why there's so little of it.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03The amount of gold that we've found is actually astonishingly small.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07If you took all the gold that's ever been found on the whole planet,
0:11:07 > 0:11:10it would fill three Olympic-size swimming pools.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13Now that I'm holding this, I've never held gold before, really,
0:11:13 > 0:11:15anything like this, there's something quite magical about it.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17There's something extraordinary about it.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21And the fact that it might make you rich beyond your wildest dreams,
0:11:21 > 0:11:24maybe you can start to see why people did it.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26- Wow!- Imagine if we found that, eh?
0:11:26 > 0:11:27We'd never go hungry again.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30So we're going to meet up at the top of the pass.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33All right. There's two of you. You should be bringing the beers.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36- We'll miss you, dude. We'll miss you.- You really won't, will you?
0:11:36 > 0:11:37You're just saying that now.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Eager to get going, Kevin is up first.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50So, it's about four o'clock in the morning,
0:11:50 > 0:11:54day two - have a look at this. Let me show you something.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00That is intrepid presenter Dan Snow,
0:12:00 > 0:12:02choosing not to sleep in a tent.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08And I've come to realise that he's like Klondike Dan...
0:12:08 > 0:12:12he's always going to do the most ridiculous, outdoor scouting thing
0:12:12 > 0:12:14he can do for any given situation.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17Tonight, it was sleeping without a tent.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20By the end of this trip, he'll be wrestling with bears, I reckon.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28He sets off before the others have even got up.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39I'm actually really pleased that the day has finally arrived
0:12:39 > 0:12:43when we're setting off because the longer you hang around waiting,
0:12:43 > 0:12:46then the more you have time to think about, "Have I got the right this,
0:12:46 > 0:12:48"have I got the right that?"
0:12:48 > 0:12:49Bear safety gear.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51Avalanche safety gear.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54Blizzard safety gear.
0:12:54 > 0:12:55Heat safety gear.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Every eventuality.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00HE GROANS
0:13:04 > 0:13:06Apart from the bottle of whisky,
0:13:06 > 0:13:08I don't even have any luxuries in here.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Is everyone ready? Let's go.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18Dan and Felicity face an eight-hour hike through thick rainforest
0:13:18 > 0:13:21to their next camp. They're here in spring,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24the same time of year that thousands of gold rushers took advantage
0:13:24 > 0:13:27of warmer temperatures to cross the mountains.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32But Felicity, who spent three years living in Antarctica,
0:13:32 > 0:13:33is not best pleased.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36I am really looking forward to getting above the tree line
0:13:36 > 0:13:39- and it getting a little bit colder. - Yeah.- This is a lot warmer
0:13:39 > 0:13:41- than I thought it would be. - You are so hardcore.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44- You're not happy unless it's minus 10.- I prefer the cold.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46It's just easier to deal with.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51In order to get the cameras and equipment up this hill
0:13:51 > 0:13:54to make a film, we are carrying a lot of stuff.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56And the heroes are the Sherpas.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58How are you doing, buddy?
0:13:58 > 0:14:01- You've got the generator on your back there.- I know.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03That's the short straw.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05They've started to call me Honda now.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07Honda! How much weight do you reckon you've got?
0:14:07 > 0:14:10Kind of like...
0:14:10 > 0:14:1260-70lbs.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15- Guys.- How you doing?- How much weight do you reckon you've got?
0:14:15 > 0:14:19- Meh, 70.- 70.- Yeah.- How about you? - Oh, I don't know.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21- 100lbs.- That's a fierce one, I've tried that one.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24- Yeah.- 100lbs.- Yeah, maybe 120.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26That's crazy.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Those guys are packing serious pounds.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31I've got nothing to complain about.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39Stampeders carried huge loads,
0:14:39 > 0:14:41as the authorities forced them
0:14:41 > 0:14:43to travel with a year's worth of supplies,
0:14:43 > 0:14:47over a tonne of goods, to avoid starvation.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51It meant endless shuttling back and forth,
0:14:51 > 0:14:54as they painstakingly ferried their goods up the trail.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58By the time they got all their supplies to the end
0:14:58 > 0:15:00of the 33-mile Chilkoot route,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04some Stampeders had walked over 1,000 miles.
0:15:05 > 0:15:10Ten miles to the east, Kevin is at the start of the White Pass Trail.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13But he's not setting off on foot.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15Instead, he's going to travel
0:15:15 > 0:15:19on an incredible engineering legacy of the gold rush.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21- Hello.- Hi.- I'm Kevin.
0:15:21 > 0:15:22- I'm Matt.- How are you? - Nice to meet you.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24Excellent. It looks pretty small.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27- Is there room for me in there? - There'll be tight quarters,
0:15:27 > 0:15:29but we'll be friends by the end of it.
0:15:32 > 0:15:33Fantastic.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41The railway, running alongside the White Pass Trail,
0:15:41 > 0:15:42was built by businessmen
0:15:42 > 0:15:45looking to profit from the race to the gold fields.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51Entrepreneurs from Britain and America invested millions of dollars
0:15:51 > 0:15:53in this epic endeavour.
0:15:55 > 0:15:5935,000 men, many of them Stampeders who had run out of money,
0:15:59 > 0:16:01used 500 tonnes of dynamite
0:16:01 > 0:16:04to blast their way through the granite mountains,
0:16:04 > 0:16:10laying down 110 miles of narrow gauge track in two years.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14Civil engineers of the United States put this as an achievement
0:16:14 > 0:16:17on the same scale as the building of the Empire State Building
0:16:17 > 0:16:20or the Eiffel Tower, and you can see why.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27By the time the railroad was finished in 1899,
0:16:27 > 0:16:31the best claims in the gold fields had already been taken.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33The gold rush was nearly over.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37So only a handful of Stampeders ever used it.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48Dan and Felicity are now three hours into their hike
0:16:48 > 0:16:49up the Chilkoot Trail.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52- The pack felt all right for the first mile.- Yeah.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56This is when you start going through everything that you packed and
0:16:56 > 0:17:00realising, "I really didn't need that second penknife."
0:17:00 > 0:17:03That's right. That book of poetry could have probably stayed behind.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06Well, the good news is that your bottle of whisky will get lighter.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08I might have to drink it tonight.
0:17:10 > 0:17:11Back on the White Pass,
0:17:11 > 0:17:15Kevin has travelled 17 miles with relative ease.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19But before the railway was built, Stampeders were on foot.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22And now he's going to try to get on the trail they used.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25His camp for tonight is six hours' hike away.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28He'll join the trail at one of its most notorious sections.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34So, this is the very aptly-named Inspiration Point.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37Look at that view. That's incredible.
0:17:37 > 0:17:42But off to my left is the infamous Dead Horse Gulch,
0:17:42 > 0:17:48and it's the scene of some pretty horrific events.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51And I want to go and take a closer look at that.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58This part of the trail was particularly treacherous
0:17:58 > 0:17:59for pack animals.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02Thousands of carcasses piled up along it,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05driven to their deaths by desperate Stampeders.
0:18:07 > 0:18:12The American author Jack London travelled to the Klondike in 1897.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15"The horses died like mosquitoes,
0:18:15 > 0:18:17"smashed to pieces against the boulders,
0:18:17 > 0:18:22"they snapped their legs in the crevices, they rotted in heaps."
0:18:22 > 0:18:25Today, their bones and rusting shackles
0:18:25 > 0:18:28can still be found on the trail at the bottom of the valley.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32- See you later. - See you later. Thanks.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38It's a 300-metre descent down a steep, unmarked path.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43It's going to be tricky. Should be worth it if we can get there.
0:18:44 > 0:18:49Mountain guide Rene leads the team down a route he's used in the past.
0:19:01 > 0:19:02That's a sheer face.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11It's about 80 degrees here. To reach the bottom,
0:19:11 > 0:19:13the idea would be to tie the rope
0:19:13 > 0:19:15on the birch tree here.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18OK. You're first - five, ten metres apart.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27It's going to turn into a longer day than you thought.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31This big rock is loose, actually.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37But heavy spring rain has made the slope unstable
0:19:37 > 0:19:39since Rene was last here.
0:19:39 > 0:19:40ROCK CRUMBLES AND FALLS
0:19:49 > 0:19:50Aggh!
0:19:55 > 0:19:58A large rock has just missed Kevin's head,
0:19:58 > 0:20:02catching his backpack and nearly striking Rene.
0:20:02 > 0:20:03I got clocked.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06Kevin's producer calls the descent off.
0:20:11 > 0:20:12I mean, I did get hit.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17OK. Abandon.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28Back at the top.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32It's lovely to be back up here. I mean, it was more of an adventure
0:20:32 > 0:20:37than I thought it was going to be. And gutted not to get down there.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42We're a couple of miles uphill along this railway track to get to our
0:20:42 > 0:20:46campsite, which is at the summit of the White Pass here.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48It'll be good to get there.
0:20:56 > 0:20:57Here we go.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01Over on the Chilkoot, Dan and Felicity have reached
0:21:01 > 0:21:02a wide, fast-flowing river.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08During the gold rush, opportunists set up primitive ferries
0:21:08 > 0:21:12and tried to charge Stampeders a fortune to cross,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15but not everyone could or would pay.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19Instead, they'd wade across, but fearsome currents
0:21:19 > 0:21:21could sweep them away.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26So someone had to cross with a rope first
0:21:26 > 0:21:30and Klondike Dan is determined to experience every physical challenge
0:21:30 > 0:21:32the Stampeders went through.
0:21:33 > 0:21:38Like the prospectors, I'm not going to use a modern dry suit,
0:21:38 > 0:21:41so the advice these guys have given me is just brave the water,
0:21:41 > 0:21:43strip down to your underwear,
0:21:43 > 0:21:46and then take dry stuff across in a dry bag.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49I don't need to know what this feels like.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51I already know that it's awful.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53And...yeah.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00This will give me a little bit of a sense of just one of the many
0:22:00 > 0:22:04obstacles that they faced, as they headed up into the mountains.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Becca Sharp is an experienced river safety guide.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10There's two major concerns with a river like this.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12One is foot entrapment
0:22:12 > 0:22:14and that's actually a major cause of river death.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18And that happens when you step and your foot gets caught but the water
0:22:18 > 0:22:21keeps going and if it keeps going and you're stationary,
0:22:21 > 0:22:26it pushes you under. Also...strainers.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28You guys look on that outside edge...
0:22:29 > 0:22:32..and those are also very dangerous
0:22:32 > 0:22:35because the water will go through those but you won't.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38So the water will pin you up against those kind of things.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40- You can get caught. Here we go.- OK.
0:22:43 > 0:22:44Trousers coming off.
0:22:48 > 0:22:49Don't laugh.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53OK. Let's do this.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58OK. OK.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03The water temperature is three degrees Celsius,
0:23:03 > 0:23:07cold enough to bring on hypothermia in minutes,
0:23:07 > 0:23:10while the powerful current can drown even the strongest swimmers.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50HE SIGHS AND GROANS
0:23:53 > 0:23:54Oh, man!
0:23:55 > 0:23:57Thank you.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00That's cold. That's cold,
0:24:00 > 0:24:02that's cold.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04He did good. He's got a good stroke.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07He didn't go downstream very far at all.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10And he didn't scream, which is very impressive.
0:24:10 > 0:24:11That was worse than I thought.
0:24:15 > 0:24:20You could feel your muscles starting to shut down as you get halfway.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23You don't have long in that water.
0:24:23 > 0:24:24Anchor. Now!
0:24:24 > 0:24:27Once across, Dan fixes the rope.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29Flip that, then get the carabiner through.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31OK, the anchor's set!
0:24:34 > 0:24:36At least I'm not doing it in my underpants.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40I have that advantage.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43I'm going to wear my thermal layer instead.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46She should be a bit warmer, but not much.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52Right, Dan, you'd better have the kettle on! I deserve at least that!
0:24:58 > 0:24:59Nice and warm.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06That's cold, isn't it? Let's get these off.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08The crew take the easy option.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17We're across.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19But the day is far from over.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25The team now have a three-hour hike to their camp.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34Having abandoned his attempt to walk the gold rush trail,
0:25:34 > 0:25:36Kevin is now following the railway tracks.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40He's reached the snow line and is nearing his camp for the night.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46Temperatures are just above freezing but for the Stampeders who braved
0:25:46 > 0:25:50this route in winter, the mercury could drop to 40 below.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55At the summit.
0:25:55 > 0:25:56End of the day.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02The best thing to see at the end of the day on the trail -
0:26:02 > 0:26:04English breakfast tea.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07Grab a cup, and we'll get you going.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13But many Stampeders arrived here ill-prepared,
0:26:13 > 0:26:17with fickle partners blinded by gold fever.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20As the English aristocrat Frederick Wombwell described...
0:26:22 > 0:26:26"I came across a little tent in which I could hear a man groaning.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30"He was alone, his partners having deserted him.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32"Gone on in the mad rush.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34"I do not think he will last long.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38"This is a fearful country for the old and sickly."
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Dan and Felicity's eight-hour hike is over.
0:26:51 > 0:26:56They arrive at the former Stampeder camp of Canyon City.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59I'm not ashamed to admit, I'm pleased to see it.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01That is a welcome sight.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05Felicity wonders what it was like for the original Stampeders.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09Julian Price from London was here in 1898.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12"Canyon City is the high sounding appellation
0:27:12 > 0:27:16"of a small collection of rough, wooden shanties and tents.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22"We drive up to Canyon City hotel, a hut somewhat larger than the others,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25"where we propose to lunch before continuing our journey on foot."
0:27:26 > 0:27:29That sounds mighty civilised really, doesn't it?
0:27:29 > 0:27:30"Go to a hotel for lunch."
0:27:30 > 0:27:32Although he does put the words
0:27:32 > 0:27:34"hotel" and "lunch" in little commas.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37OK. So he wasn't that impressed.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39Doesn't sound like it.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49This isn't expedition food.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51This is proper food. Real vegetables.
0:27:51 > 0:27:52Look at that.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57While Felicity tucks into dinner,
0:27:57 > 0:27:59Dan sets to work lightening his pack.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06Can't talk now, eating.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16I've been told the bears are particularly bad in this area,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19so I'm only sleeping with one thing with me in this tent tonight
0:28:19 > 0:28:21and that is bear spray.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23If a bear comes in through the side of this tent tonight...
0:28:23 > 0:28:25I don't think I'm going to have the courage
0:28:25 > 0:28:29to pepper spray it with bear spray. I'll be out the other side sharpish.
0:28:40 > 0:28:45- Special delivery. - That's the best delivery...
0:28:46 > 0:28:48..ever.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52Today, Kevin is going to leave the White Pass Trail and set off
0:28:52 > 0:28:55on a cross-country hike over the mountains.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57The plan is to meet up with the others
0:28:57 > 0:28:59on the Chilkoot Trail tomorrow.
0:29:07 > 0:29:09Like many of the Stampeders,
0:29:09 > 0:29:12Kevin has no experience travelling across snow.
0:29:12 > 0:29:17He's pulling a 30kg sled for the first time
0:29:17 > 0:29:19and progress is painfully slow.
0:29:21 > 0:29:27So, it's the authentic gold rush experience, this.
0:29:28 > 0:29:33Thank you. A bit of a sled, a bit of a load.
0:29:33 > 0:29:35This is hard.
0:29:35 > 0:29:36Um...
0:29:38 > 0:29:41I'd have to be pretty impressed with the amount of gold
0:29:41 > 0:29:45I was going to collect at the end to make this worth it, actually.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50And Kevin is journeying in unusually fine weather.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54Some Stampeders travelled these mountains in midwinter.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58"Often, the trails were wiped out by a blizzard in the night.
0:29:58 > 0:29:59"Waist deep in snow,
0:29:59 > 0:30:02"men endeavoured to get their sleds back on the trail.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04"Many slept on the cold snow
0:30:04 > 0:30:08"until morning with their dogs curled around them for warmth."
0:30:21 > 0:30:25Good to go. And I'm putting this incredibly heavy bag back
0:30:25 > 0:30:27on my shoulders all day.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29On the other side of the mountains,
0:30:29 > 0:30:32Dan and Felicity have a six-hour hike to their next camp.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34All right, lead on.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42It's not long before they come across relics
0:30:42 > 0:30:45of the epic migration that passed through here.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49Oh, look at that.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51Do you know what that could be?
0:30:51 > 0:30:55Enterprising entrepreneurs actually created a steam system
0:30:55 > 0:30:59where they could cable car supplies to the top of the pass.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03It's just basically a huge locomotive engine brought up here,
0:31:03 > 0:31:05powering a cable car.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09That's crazy.
0:31:09 > 0:31:10Using the cable cars,
0:31:10 > 0:31:13Stampeders could transport their tonne of supplies
0:31:13 > 0:31:15to the top of the pass ten miles away
0:31:15 > 0:31:20and nearly 3,000 feet higher, but at an extortionate cost -
0:31:20 > 0:31:23three times a working man's annual salary.
0:31:23 > 0:31:24It is extraordinary.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27It's like it was thrown here by some enormous tsunami.
0:31:28 > 0:31:30I suppose...
0:31:30 > 0:31:32in some ways, it kind of was.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35A human tsunami that swept up this valley
0:31:35 > 0:31:39in the briefest of time periods in 1898.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42But how did they get that here?
0:31:42 > 0:31:45Only one way, and they must have hauled it in.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47- No!- They must have done.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56Heading up.
0:31:57 > 0:32:02This looks like a good place to stop and check out the view.
0:32:02 > 0:32:03Wow!
0:32:05 > 0:32:07Look at that.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10It's nice to actually see the view for a change.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12It's all been in the trees up until now.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16Oh, yeah. We were on a boat there two days ago.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18We've done the flat bit.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20We've got to go up and over that.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22- A bit of a way to go.- Frightening.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26- SHE LAUGHS - Wow.
0:32:40 > 0:32:41Kevin and his team have been
0:32:41 > 0:32:45inching up the mountain for more than eight hours.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52The grind of hauling heavy gear up long snowy slopes
0:32:52 > 0:32:54like these is well-documented.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00"I packed 250lbs on my sled and set off.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02"The going was very bad,
0:33:02 > 0:33:06"quite one of the worst and toughest walks I have ever undertaken.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08"Sometimes I wondered if I shouldn't have taken
0:33:08 > 0:33:10"the adjacent Chilkoot Pass,
0:33:10 > 0:33:15"which, although a good deal steeper climb, is somewhat shorter.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18"Well, I am on this one, so we'll make the most of it."
0:33:30 > 0:33:35Finally, after ten hours' hard slog, they arrive at camp.
0:33:35 > 0:33:38They're now several hundred metres higher than the Chilkoot Pass.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42So, tomorrow, they'll need to negotiate a steep descent
0:33:42 > 0:33:43to join the others.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51I have never been so happy to see a campsite in all my life.
0:33:51 > 0:33:53Ever. Ever.
0:33:57 > 0:33:58Wow!
0:34:01 > 0:34:02You can't describe it.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04I mean, look at it. Just look at it.
0:34:06 > 0:34:07Wow!
0:34:09 > 0:34:13You follow the line of that ridge down to the saddle there,
0:34:13 > 0:34:17that is the summit of the Chilkoot Trail,
0:34:17 > 0:34:21where we'll catch up with Dan and Felicity tomorrow.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29On the other side of the ridge,
0:34:29 > 0:34:33Dan and Felicity have arrived at Sheep Camp
0:34:33 > 0:34:36where they'll spend their last night before the Golden Staircase.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41It's peaceful enough today, but 120 years ago,
0:34:41 > 0:34:44this was a rough and lawless place.
0:34:48 > 0:34:53"Here I am at Sheep Camp, a dull hole with three saloons,
0:34:53 > 0:34:56"full of the most villainous collection of rascals
0:34:56 > 0:34:59"it has ever been my misfortune to lie eyes on.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01"They seem a tough bunch,
0:35:01 > 0:35:04"but I've a very useful Army-patented Webley
0:35:04 > 0:35:07"under my pillow, just in case."
0:35:12 > 0:35:16Towering above the camp are the mountains,
0:35:16 > 0:35:19the biggest single obstacle of the hike.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22To get over them, Dan and Felicity will have to climb
0:35:22 > 0:35:28the feared Golden Staircase to the top of the Chilkoot Pass.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33So far, the terrain has been relatively flat but from Sheep Camp,
0:35:33 > 0:35:36the gradient rapidly becomes steeper.
0:35:36 > 0:35:37To get to the top of the pass,
0:35:37 > 0:35:41Dan and Felicity will have to cross a deadly avalanche zone.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43Then it's the Golden Staircase itself,
0:35:43 > 0:35:48where the slope, ramping up to a lung-busting 45 degrees angle,
0:35:48 > 0:35:50leads to the summit.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53So these are some historical images...
0:35:54 > 0:35:56..from the original stampede.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01And this is the iconic image that was as famous at the time
0:36:01 > 0:36:03of the stampede as it is now.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07It's become the enduring image of the Klondike gold rush.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11The amazing thing is that this picture didn't put people off.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15I really hope that this is some trick of perspective
0:36:15 > 0:36:21in this photo and that it's not as brutal a gradient as it looks like
0:36:21 > 0:36:25because if it truly is as steep as it looks in these photographs,
0:36:25 > 0:36:28then we are going to be absolutely ruined tomorrow.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38The team will have to get up well before dawn
0:36:38 > 0:36:42because, as the day warms up, the danger of avalanches increases.
0:36:45 > 0:36:47It's 2.30 in the morning.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50I haven't been able to sleep much since about 1.30,
0:36:50 > 0:36:52so not the best night's sleep I've ever had.
0:36:52 > 0:36:57The morning is finally here and I'm just not thinking about it.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59I just refuse to think about it.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02I'm going to pack my stuff, go through the motions, and get going.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06And then, before I know, it will be done and we'll be at the top.
0:37:06 > 0:37:08DAN GROANS
0:37:08 > 0:37:09Let's go.
0:37:20 > 0:37:23The safety team have decided they must get to the top of the pass
0:37:23 > 0:37:28before 11am to avoid climbing when avalanches are most likely...
0:37:30 > 0:37:32..so there will be little time to rest.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36The group's already pretty strung out.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39Some people are really feeling it,
0:37:39 > 0:37:41particularly the porters, who are carrying extraordinary weights.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47The Stampeders faced many hazards on this part of the trail,
0:37:47 > 0:37:49not all of them obvious.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56The snow is actually covering a cavern full of
0:37:56 > 0:37:58fast-running, freezing-cold water.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01If you go through that, you end up in that cavern
0:38:01 > 0:38:03and there's nothing anyone can do for you.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05You will just be swept under there,
0:38:05 > 0:38:08beaten to death and drowned, whichever gets you first.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10Just like the Stampeders,
0:38:10 > 0:38:14they put on snowshoes to minimise the chance of falling through.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20We're right on top of the creek, so spread out.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24Don't put too much pressure on the snow pack.
0:38:24 > 0:38:25And let's get through this.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32The danger beneath their feet passed,
0:38:32 > 0:38:35they now face a new hazard from above
0:38:35 > 0:38:37as they enter the avalanche zone.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40Hello, Operation Gold Rush.
0:38:40 > 0:38:41Avalanche crew.
0:38:41 > 0:38:42Clem and Eric, are you by?
0:38:42 > 0:38:44Are you guys up there?
0:38:44 > 0:38:47James Minifie, the team's head of safety,
0:38:47 > 0:38:50is concerned that the snow conditions higher up the mountain
0:38:50 > 0:38:52are less than ideal.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54Because the snow didn't freeze up last night,
0:38:54 > 0:38:57the probability of avalanches goes up.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01Right from the get-go, we've got to get up to the slopes above,
0:39:01 > 0:39:03just as you see through the clouds there,
0:39:03 > 0:39:05those are the slopes of concern.
0:39:09 > 0:39:11This is an avalanche transceiver.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13If you were to be buried under the snow,
0:39:13 > 0:39:16other people in the group can then turn the device
0:39:16 > 0:39:20to receive and it picks up the signal and gives you a direction
0:39:20 > 0:39:24and you can follow it in to where that person's buried.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27You then pinpoint their location with what we call probe,
0:39:27 > 0:39:29and you dig them out of the snow.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49The team are now in the exact spot
0:39:49 > 0:39:53of the single most-deadly accident of the gold rush.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58We're coming into the area of the Palm Sunday slide.
0:39:58 > 0:40:021898, there was a camp here, early April,
0:40:02 > 0:40:04a series of avalanches came down the mountain.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07When avalanches break loose, within seconds,
0:40:07 > 0:40:10they're travelling at 150-200km an hour.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13There was such a fever to get up and over this pass,
0:40:13 > 0:40:15these bottlenecks of thousands of people,
0:40:15 > 0:40:17they wouldn't have had a chance, you know.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19They wouldn't have even seen it coming.
0:40:19 > 0:40:2270 known dead, but who knows how many were actually killed?
0:40:22 > 0:40:24They never did recover all the bodies.
0:40:28 > 0:40:33It's so odd to be in the place that's so peaceful and serene...
0:40:34 > 0:40:37..and to think about this tide of human chaos.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42It's really quite eerie walking through here.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47You really feel as if you're walking in the footsteps of ghosts.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03Time is of the essence.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07Every minute they spend on the mountain,
0:41:07 > 0:41:09the temperature is rising
0:41:09 > 0:41:11and the snow above them becoming less stable.
0:41:18 > 0:41:22But, as the slope gets steeper, the team starts to fall behind schedule.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26It really is quite astonishingly steep.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29And visibility is deteriorating by the minute.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35We've just climbed up into the cloud layer.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38So we can't see more than a few metres above or below us.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41And the rest of the world's just disappeared.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49- GUIDE:- If anybody feels uncomfortable...
0:41:49 > 0:41:54without the assistance of a rope, just give a holler, OK?
0:42:01 > 0:42:03It's a complete white out.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24Much higher up the mountain, Kevin is still in bright sunshine,
0:42:24 > 0:42:27but can clearly see the bad weather below.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31Weather's changed, the valley is now full of fog.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33Dan and Felicity are somewhere at the bottom of that
0:42:33 > 0:42:37waiting to try and get up the Golden Staircase.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40So we're just waiting to hear from them.
0:42:40 > 0:42:43With no sign of the cloud lifting, they could be in for a long wait.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53Down below, with visibility now only a few feet,
0:42:53 > 0:42:57Dan and Felicity have finally reached the Golden Staircase...
0:42:59 > 0:43:01..the climax of their ascent.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10But the Stampeders didn't just have to face punishing slopes.
0:43:14 > 0:43:19Men who cut steps in the ice charged exorbitant fees for their use.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22While packers demanded several hundred dollars
0:43:22 > 0:43:24to carry a single load.
0:43:25 > 0:43:27Lured on by the gold,
0:43:27 > 0:43:31they squeezed onto the trail with hardly a gap between them.
0:43:43 > 0:43:48I think this really is the demonstration of just how much
0:43:48 > 0:43:52people wanted to get over that hill and to the gold.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58I've got the luxury of going at my own pace.
0:43:58 > 0:44:02The gold rushers, I can't imagine the pressure
0:44:02 > 0:44:03you must have felt coming up here,
0:44:03 > 0:44:07knowing that there's hundreds and hundreds of people behind you,
0:44:07 > 0:44:08waiting for you to move on.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11And I can imagine the sort of abuse you would get from behind if you
0:44:11 > 0:44:14stopped for a breather, or to adjust your pack.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16So, for them, once they were on this Staircase,
0:44:16 > 0:44:17they just had to keep going.
0:44:22 > 0:44:25My feet, my hands and my nose are
0:44:25 > 0:44:29freezing. My core, I feel like I'm 100 degrees centigrade.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33Because the effort of climbing this...
0:44:33 > 0:44:34is just relentless.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44We're all alone on the hill.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46Where are the guys behind you?
0:44:48 > 0:44:50Should be behind.
0:44:52 > 0:44:54In a disorientating cloud,
0:44:54 > 0:44:56there is no sign of the main group of packers.
0:44:59 > 0:45:01Hello, Mark. Mark from James.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06And James is struggling to get hold of them.
0:45:06 > 0:45:07Yeah, Mark, I had you before.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10But you're zero by five right now.
0:45:10 > 0:45:14The packers, carrying vital supplies for the whole team,
0:45:14 > 0:45:17- have fallen behind. - Do we know where they are?
0:45:17 > 0:45:19I'm going to try and find that out right now.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22The avalanche risk is increasing.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24The visibility is getting even worse.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27And the team has been split up.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29We've got the exact set of circumstances
0:45:29 > 0:45:31that formed our nightmare scenario.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33RADIO STATIC HISSES
0:45:35 > 0:45:38I'm going to go down and try to find them. I wouldn't mind company,
0:45:38 > 0:45:40- if somebody's got the energy. - I'll come, yeah.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43- It means going all the way to the bottom.- Yeah, yeah.- Good.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46- So you have your avalanche transceiver under there?- Yeah.- OK.
0:45:46 > 0:45:47So, we'll go.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51While Dan volunteers to head back down to help the others,
0:45:51 > 0:45:53Felicity will continue towards the top.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57I'd rather do that Staircase again than have an empty belly tonight
0:45:57 > 0:45:58and sleep in a snow hole.
0:46:01 > 0:46:04But to make it down and back before the 11am cut-off,
0:46:04 > 0:46:08Dan and the team of five volunteers will have to move fast.
0:46:19 > 0:46:20Oh!
0:46:41 > 0:46:43Yo!
0:46:43 > 0:46:44I see them.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46Like ghosts coming out of the mist.
0:46:48 > 0:46:50They're a lot further down than they should be.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53They're really, really struggling to get up with this weight.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55How are you doing, everyone?
0:46:55 > 0:46:57- Never better.- I'm going to take your pack.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01Who wants...? Shall I take the sticks? I'm taking that pack.
0:47:05 > 0:47:09It's 10am already and they are at least an hour from the top.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14If they lose any more time, they will have to abandon the ascent,
0:47:14 > 0:47:18head all the way back down to Sheep Camp and try again tomorrow.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24Carlos is from the Caribbean.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26First time on snow.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29Oh, boy! Don't I got a story to tell back at home?!
0:47:29 > 0:47:33Exhaustion is setting in but they need to keep moving.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38We're running out of time.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40And it's a lot of heavy weight coming up the hill.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46But I'm too tired to worry about it.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53Be good to get everyone just to the top and get her done,
0:47:53 > 0:47:54if they're able to.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00The team make one last push to reach the summit before it's too late.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21Further up the mountain, Felicity is making good progress.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26OK, I don't want to get too excited too early,
0:48:26 > 0:48:28but I can see a grey blob up ahead
0:48:28 > 0:48:31that looks suspiciously like it might a hut.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35Yeah, it's the hut!
0:48:36 > 0:48:38I'm mighty pleased to see it.
0:48:39 > 0:48:43A tiny emergency shelter marks the top of the Chilkoot Trail.
0:48:44 > 0:48:45So, we're officially in Canada.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47Woohoo!
0:48:50 > 0:48:52But celebrations are short-lived.
0:48:52 > 0:48:56Dan and the others are still on the Golden Staircase.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00So, we've made it to the summit already,
0:49:00 > 0:49:03but we've made it without any of our gear.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07I have my tent, my sleeping bag, but not enough to share with everybody.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10But if the packers don't get here,
0:49:10 > 0:49:12then we've got quite an awkward situation,
0:49:12 > 0:49:14with not enough food or tents to go around.
0:49:14 > 0:49:18So let's hope that they all get up here
0:49:18 > 0:49:21and that we don't spend a really uncomfortable night.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24Felicity radios Kevin to let him know she's at the top.
0:49:31 > 0:49:33From Kevin's position above the clouds,
0:49:33 > 0:49:37it's nearly all downhill for him to meet up with Felicity.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51It's not dignified, but it's a lot faster.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03Back on the Chilkoot Trail,
0:50:03 > 0:50:07Dan finally reaches the top of the Golden Staircase
0:50:07 > 0:50:09just before the cut-off time.
0:50:09 > 0:50:10We're here.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15Felicity has climbed the Staircase once today.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17Dan has done it twice.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21But during the gold rush,
0:50:21 > 0:50:25many Stampeders would trudge up the agonising climb
0:50:25 > 0:50:28up to five times a day, day after day.
0:50:30 > 0:50:31That was a hell of a journey.
0:50:33 > 0:50:35Ah!
0:50:40 > 0:50:42How was it second time around?
0:50:42 > 0:50:43Second time around was...
0:50:44 > 0:50:47..definitely worse than the first.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01In 1898, this place would have been crammed with hundreds
0:51:01 > 0:51:06of Stampeders, stockpiling their gear in enormous piles,
0:51:06 > 0:51:08before heading back down the mountain for more.
0:51:12 > 0:51:14Our team are here in the spring
0:51:14 > 0:51:18but the Stampeders passed through in all seasons.
0:51:20 > 0:51:22Do you know what's absolutely extraordinary?
0:51:22 > 0:51:25This is the end of May and I'm up here.
0:51:25 > 0:51:27And it's like a bad day in Stalingrad.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30And these guys were going all winter long.
0:51:32 > 0:51:37Well, many did pay the ultimate price for their ambition
0:51:37 > 0:51:39and their gold fever.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42They died of exposure up here.
0:51:46 > 0:51:48Job done.
0:51:52 > 0:51:54And then...
0:51:54 > 0:51:55Kevin appears.
0:51:55 > 0:51:58And the team are finally back together.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03- Kevin!- Yeah!
0:52:03 > 0:52:05You've reached the top. Well done.
0:52:06 > 0:52:08- How are you?- I'm really great, yeah.
0:52:08 > 0:52:10Oh, Dan. How are you, mate?
0:52:10 > 0:52:12- Good to see.- Yes, yes.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15I'm sort of surprised that we're all here, actually.
0:52:15 > 0:52:17Me mostly, to be honest with you.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20But we're here. And I'm very, very pleased to have left
0:52:20 > 0:52:23my really nice sunny camp up there above the clouds
0:52:23 > 0:52:24to come to see you two.
0:52:24 > 0:52:26- Thanks for that! - It's good to have you back.
0:52:26 > 0:52:28Welcome to the most windy,
0:52:28 > 0:52:30miserable, cloudy place on the planet!
0:52:30 > 0:52:33Yeah. This hotel is not what I was told it would be.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36I don't know. They serve a pretty good cup of tea.
0:52:36 > 0:52:37Come and try it out.
0:52:44 > 0:52:49It's great to have Kevin back and it sounds like he's had a brilliant
0:52:49 > 0:52:51adventure over on White Pass.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53But I'm a little bit worried about Dan after today.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57He made an epic effort going up and down the Golden Stairway,
0:52:57 > 0:52:59not once but twice.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02But I think now he might be paying for it.
0:53:02 > 0:53:03I've been too gung ho,
0:53:03 > 0:53:06I haven't looked after my feet and they're now pretty ragged.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08I've been carrying a lot of weight,
0:53:08 > 0:53:11I've been carrying my own pack, I've been carrying the camera kit,
0:53:11 > 0:53:14I've been filming, trying to be helpful.
0:53:14 > 0:53:17And I'm really feeling it in my hips and knees.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20The Klondike really wasn't about...
0:53:21 > 0:53:23..the big, catastrophic injuries. Those happened,
0:53:23 > 0:53:26but there was nothing much you could do about them.
0:53:26 > 0:53:31It was the little stuff that was sort of gnawing at you
0:53:31 > 0:53:34from the cold, and foot rot,
0:53:34 > 0:53:37and the risk of hypothermia,
0:53:37 > 0:53:42dysentery - all of that stuff kind of is preventable.
0:53:42 > 0:53:45As the trip goes on, it gets harder and harder.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53With the Golden Staircase conquered,
0:53:53 > 0:53:55tomorrow's journey to Lake Lindeman
0:53:55 > 0:53:58is a relatively straightforward, downhill hike.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06The next morning and the weather hasn't changed.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11So it's four o'clock in the morning, I didn't sleep very well last night.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14I'm currently wearing two pairs of socks, a pair of trousers,
0:54:14 > 0:54:17some thermal long johns,
0:54:17 > 0:54:20a long-sleeved thermal top, a fleece,
0:54:20 > 0:54:25a soft-shell, my woolly hat, I'm in my sleeping bag and I am still cold.
0:54:25 > 0:54:28So, I've had the best night's sleep of the trip.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32And I'm feeling very much at home because this is my kind of day.
0:54:32 > 0:54:33Have a look.
0:54:35 > 0:54:37Can't wait.
0:54:42 > 0:54:46Dan's got a new hat on today and I haven't said anything
0:54:46 > 0:54:50but this is possibly the worst day to decide to wear fur.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54Because the fur is going to soak up this moisture and it will be like
0:54:54 > 0:54:57having wet dog slapped in your face all day.
0:54:57 > 0:54:59Is that actually a hat? I thought that was his hair.
0:55:01 > 0:55:05I'm very proud of my new headwear. This is from...Native American.
0:55:05 > 0:55:08In the Yukon. Made it in their traditional way.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11And I've got to say, it's the warmest hat I've ever worn.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13It's keeping me alive at the moment.
0:55:13 > 0:55:14I'm sure it's very warm.
0:55:14 > 0:55:16I don't think he'll be wearing it back home.
0:55:43 > 0:55:44It's clearing!
0:55:53 > 0:55:56We've seen nothing all morning
0:55:56 > 0:55:59and, then, just suddenly,
0:55:59 > 0:56:02the clouds part and there's this wonderful reveal of the mountains
0:56:02 > 0:56:05that are on all sides.
0:56:06 > 0:56:07That's more like it.
0:56:09 > 0:56:13An incredible mountain, just finally coming out from the fog.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16Utterly idyllic place.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20So beautiful that you can forget how dangerous it is.
0:56:21 > 0:56:24Lust for gold and the hope of a new life drew
0:56:24 > 0:56:26hordes of men and women here.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28It made them suffer as never before.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33But it also introduced them to a wild landscape
0:56:33 > 0:56:35of exhilarating beauty,
0:56:35 > 0:56:38as the poet Robert Service recognised.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41"There's gold and it's haunting and haunting
0:56:41 > 0:56:44"It's luring me on as of old
0:56:44 > 0:56:47"Yet it isn't the gold I'm wanting
0:56:47 > 0:56:49"So much as just finding the gold
0:56:50 > 0:56:53"It's the great, broad land way up yonder
0:56:54 > 0:56:57"It's the forests where silence has lease
0:56:57 > 0:56:59"It's the beauty that thrills me with wonder
0:57:01 > 0:57:05"It's the stillness that fills me with peace."
0:57:09 > 0:57:11Ah, yes.
0:57:14 > 0:57:16This is breathtaking.
0:57:16 > 0:57:18Quite literally, actually.
0:57:18 > 0:57:20You come round a corner and you see that.
0:57:22 > 0:57:24That's a sight for sore eyes.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26And shoulders.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30It means the end of the mountains and the end of the walking.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46I'm very happy to have completed the hiking section of this trip.
0:57:46 > 0:57:48We completed the Chilkoot Pass,
0:57:48 > 0:57:52we've marched from the salt water of the Pacific
0:57:52 > 0:57:56up into the interior of Canada.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00I've massively grown in respect for the people who came here,
0:58:00 > 0:58:04for those who didn't turn around when they saw the Golden Staircase,
0:58:04 > 0:58:06didn't turn around when they saw the mountain.
0:58:06 > 0:58:10It's not about sort of greed and lust for gold.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14It's more about the offer of a chance of a better life.
0:58:14 > 0:58:17You launch yourself on an adventure and the only way out of it
0:58:17 > 0:58:19was to reach the gold fields and find gold.
0:58:27 > 0:58:29Next time, Dan and the team hit the water,
0:58:29 > 0:58:31taking on rapids...
0:58:34 > 0:58:36..crossing mountain lakes...
0:58:38 > 0:58:41..in the next stage of their journey to reach the Klondike and find gold.
0:58:41 > 0:58:43That was...
0:58:43 > 0:58:45an experience.