While I was writing my historical novels set during the Klondike gold rush, I wanted to see the area – Yukon Territory in Canada and Alaska in the USA. I took my first research trip as an author and visited a gorgeous destination. My family joined me. Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip. Enjoy the view! You can also scroll down to see the top 3 things that surprised me most about my travels to the north.
The Top 3 Things that Surprised Me Most
Traveling to the Yukon and Alaska and seeing this part of the world was amazing. Here are the top 3 things that surprised me:
1) The smell of the air. It’s what I’ll remember most. It was incredible! Every step brought a new scent: mountain flowers, clear glacier water, pine trees, cold rivers. On the first day we arrived in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, it was raining and the sun was shining at the same time. There were 3 rainbows!
2) The high price of food. Most food is imported, as I had imagined, but I was still surprised at having to pay triple the price compared to back home for a bag of small oranges. Wild salmon from the Yukon River tasted heavenly, filled with flavor, but costs almost as much there as it does here. Worth every penny.
3) Around-the-clock daylight feels strange. We were so far north that in the summer, the sun never sets. There were two or three hours in the middle of the night where the sky was a deep twilight blue, but otherwise, the sun was bright enough to get a sunburn at ten in the evening. It was hard to fall asleep. Very exciting, though!
My series, Alaska Cowboys and Mounties, was inspired by the beauty and history of this area.