To Build A Fire: An Evening on the Frozen Yukon Trail

The man and his dog are walking through the bitter cold. The man says it must be fifty below zero, but the dog knows that the stakes are much higher than that. It is seventy-five degrees below, cold enough to freeze a man to death, to make fire necessary at all times, and to make the danger of their journey almost impossible.

 Snow falls continuously in this environment, hiding the trail between the trees so the man must look carefully to remain constant in the right direction. “A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over,” and so we know they are alone in this treacherous environment (107). There are trees everywhere as they walk through woods which seem to go on forever on their way to Henderson Creek, where the man says that “the boys” will be waiting for him. They’re hoping to get there by six o’clock, late in the freezing cold, but they hope for fire.

Meanwhile, the man and dog continue to walk through the powdery snow, and after a while they come upon a snow covered creek, more dangerous than their previous setting, because now only a thin layer of snow and ice separate the man from the freezing water. If the man were to get wet in weather that cold he would certainly have to stop and build a fire to dry off or freeze to death in the snow.

   

    It is so cold that the man is unable to even pull his hands out of his mittens for a moment to eat without them going numb in the cold. He builds a fire to stay warm and even the dog, a husky, native to that land and equipped with a natural coat to stay warm in the hazardous cold, curls up beside it, restoring the warmth to his skin.

Wind has not blown through this area for some time, just the cold snow, and so the tops of the trees are powdered with it, heavy heaps of frozen ice pulls the branches down low to the ground where they threaten to fall with the slightest breath of air. The man doesn’t seem to realize this, and like an avalanche the snow comes falling down over his fire, shattering his only chance of survival.

     

The surroundings are insistent in their danger. Miles of snow separate the man from his home, where warmth and family await his arrival. Even the dog, bred for the temperature, is whimpering for fire. There is no chance in that weather to dry off, to undo the freezing of his limbs and blood. It is too cold to even heat the body by running, and all hope is gone. The setting is an unyielding, desolate, desperate, and dangerous frozen tundra; the kind in which a man could freeze himself to drowsing death.