MIDDLEBURY — The Green Mountain Club Bread Loaf Section will hold its annual meeting, with potluck and program, on Saturday, Jan. 30, from 5-8:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall of the Congregational Church of Middlebury. The event is open to both members and the general public.
The evening begins with social time at 5 p.m. and the potluck dinner at 5:30 p.m. A short business meeting follows, after which guest speaker Ivor Hughes of Monkton will give a slide presentation titled “Hiking the Chilkoot Trail to the Yukon.”
The Chilkoot Trail was the most famous route taken by prospectors and would-be miners who made their way to the Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon. It all started when gold was discovered in 1896 on Bonanza Creek near Dawson City. In 1897 when the word got out, the Klondike Gold Rush was on. People from all walks of life stampeded to the gold fields.
The most popular route was over the Chilkoot Pass form Alaska through British Columbia and into the Yukon. This trail, first used by the native Tlingit tribes and then the thousands of gold prospectors, is a virtual walk through history. The trail starts near Skagway, passing through the coastal rainforests before heading up over the mountains, traversing high alpine terrain and descending through boreal forests.
Hughes, a retired engineer, is a writer and lifelong hiker. In addition to hiking in the Northeast, Hughes has backpacked extensively in the Southwest, the Escalante, Canyon lands, Capitol Reef and the Grand Canyon. In retirement, he has explored the Laugavegurinn Trail in Iceland and the Chilkoot Trail.
Guests are asked to bring a favorite dish for the potluck, as well as their own place settings and utensils. RSVP to Jill Vickers at [email protected] or 802-759-3227 by Jan. 29. More information about this and other Bread Loaf Section events is at www.gmcbreadloaf.org/outings.