Gaining access to the Klondike was difficult and dangerous in the early days. There were several different ways, most of them not fit for travel. The most traveled route was from Skagway to Lake Bennett which formed the headwaters of the mighty Yukon River then down the river to the Klondike. Bennett was the stopping point for most miners to build their boats for the trip down the Yukon. Before the Klondike rush, not a single soul lived on the wind-swept icy shores of Lake Bennett. In one year there were 10,000 miners at the head of the lake. It was the largest tent city in the world. The lake, at the head of the 2300-mile long Yukon, offered a down-river route to Dawson City, 550 miles away. As soon as weather would permit, the exodus began with a vast fleet of dories, rafts, scows, and most anything else that would float, on the way into Yukon Territory.