“It sure doesn’t look as if we’re ever going to catch those guys ahead of us, Charley,” Sandy commented, dropping a handful of snow into his cup to cool it.
Charley looked down the trail behind them. “They behind us now. Last hill we pass, we go around the long way, maybe mile longer. They go through valley.”
Jerry blinked. “If we came the long way, how come we’re ahead of them?”
The Indian shrugged. “That valley like pocket after big snow. Drifts three, four feet deep. They have plenty trouble getting through.”
Sandy grinned. “What a sly old fox you are, Charley.”
They were traveling high in the coastal mountains of British Columbia now, moving through the Chilkoot Pass. Just before noon, they arrived at a customs check point.
“You’re the first team through,” the mounted policeman who waved them past shouted.
Abruptly, the trail appeared to end at the edge of a cliff. Charley reined the team in and motioned for the boys to step to the rim of the drop-off. Here they saw that, in reality, the trail continued on down a steep incline that resembled the big drop on a roller coaster. For almost 1,200 feet it fell away at a 45-degree angle into the coastal valley below. It was a magnificent spectacle.
Jerry gulped hard. “We’re not going down that in a sled, are we?”
Tagish Charley nodded curtly. “Chilkoot Chute. We take dogs off first. They follow us down.” He walked back and began to remove Black Titan’s harness.