Jack London, Alaska

Jack London's story "To Build A Fire" caught my attention because over the summer I got the opportunity to go up the inside passage to Skagway, Alaska where Jack London went during the gold rush. (Also I know several members of George Carmack's, the man who claimed the Yukon territory, family members.)

Even though I went to Skagway during the summer months we went on the White Pass and Yukon Route train which was built during the gold rush to help miners get up to the Yukon. The trip was a three hour long train ride twisting and turning up a mountain side and even going over the US/Canadian border for a brief moment to switch the engine from the front to the back to go back down the mountain. Although I was taken on the scenic route on a nice train made specifically for tourism I could not imagine having to trek up or down that mountain at anytime of the year.

this is how the White Pass and Yukon Route looked when I got to take it over the summer. Absolutely drop dead gorgeous. A view that I feel this picture cannot even begin to capture and a beauty that could only be created by a higher power and not by chance or a cosmic boom or whatever you would like to call it. Mountains as far as the eye can see with trees soaring to the heavens, giant granite boulders sliding down the mountains, waterfalls, snow, clear sky and air. There are no words to fully describe the beauty of Alaska. Breathtaking, is the closest word I can think of to describe it all. 

http://wpyr.com/history/johnhenderson/index.php?RollID=Winter&FrameID=JH04317APR8003

http://wpyr.com/history/johnhenderson/index.php?RollID=Winter&FrameID=JH04317APR8003 

These pictures depict what the Yukon Territory was like when Jack London and the gold rush was like. Although the pictures are still breathtaking and beautiful the terrain is harsh with frigged temperatures. There were 100,000 men that started off on the journey up to seek gold but only 30,000 actually got to complete the trip. Not only did men not make it through the entire journey but more than 3,000 pack animals died on the White Pass trail. Once the miners got up to where the gold was they had to dig ten feet or more down below the surface through frozen ground that had to be thawed to get to the gold. All the mining had to be done during the summer because during winter it could get to -60 degrees.

The men who took the journey up the White Pass and Yukon Route had to be strong men. There is no way in the world that I could have done that. Their stamina and courage to keep on through some of the harshest terrain and temperatures mother nature can throw out at anyone is to be admired. And Jack London's writings about it make it easier to try and understand how truly traitorous it truly was. 

Work Cited:

http://questconnect.org/ak_klondike.htm

http://www.arcticwebsite.com/LondonJackKlond.html

http://wpyr.com/history/johnhenderson/index.php?RollID=Winter&FrameID=JH04317APR8003