C
Known as the world furthest north
truck stop, Coldfoot, Alaska, sits on the Dalton Highway, or Haul Road, as most
viewers of the television show Ice Road Truckers know it. 254 miles from
Fairbanks and 240 miles from Deadhorse or Prudhoe Bay, Coldfoot is the last
stop for fuel, food, or accommodations.
"The town was originally a mining camp named Slate Creek, and around 1900 got its present name when prospectors going up the nearby Middle Fork Koyukuk River would get "cold feet" and turn around." Wikipedia.
"The town was originally a mining camp named Slate Creek, and around 1900 got its present name when prospectors going up the nearby Middle Fork Koyukuk River would get "cold feet" and turn around." Wikipedia.
Coldfoot has the supplies needed to continue the journey north for
trucks and other vehicles but it also has an airport. All which figure highly
in my novel Murder & Obsession.
Steven finally reached Coldfoot, and spoke with Sarah before moving too deeply into the mountains.
“Saturday is just too far away.” She sounded wistful.
His pride swelled with her words, but her pensiveness bothered him. “Is something wrong?”
“It’s just… I don’t want to go on this trip. I’m sorry. I’m being foolish. I wish we’d waited, or stopped in Seattle before we flew home.”
“Don’t go; let your attorney handle the business issues. Join me. We can start the honeymoon now.”
She laughed. “Oh, my gosh, we do sound like lovesick teenagers. No, I’ll go to Seattle and take care of business. You have a right to some time alone to make your decision. Just promise me that we won’t be apart again for a long, long time.
I’ve taken her away from home again. “I’m sorry, Sarah, we should’ve―”
“No, Steven. We both know our responsibilities; besides, I’m the one who insisted on a wilderness honeymoon. I’m just being silly.”
They talked for an hour because he had a hard time saying goodbye. After the phone call, a cold wind took his attention skyward, where the warnings of a storm floated above the horizon, and its foretelling gave him a chill he could not shake.
*****
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79 comments:
I work with two people who live in Alaska, although not nearly that far north. One of the guys keeps sending me calendars with beautiful pictures of all kinds of scenery.
I'm going to have to look up the show "Ice Road Truckers" because it sounds like the type of program my husband likes to watch.
Sue Hernandez
Wordpress Blogs: writing and A to Z Challenge
We used to enjoy watching it too. Sometimes it's shot in Canada. Thanks for stopping by Sue!
Great snippet.
I can sense an undercurrent here, very subtle though...and the ominous tone at the end confirms that something nasty is on the horizon...
Writer In Transit
That's an interesting name origin story for Coldfoot :) And I do enjoy the suspense of your book excerpts!
I've always been fascinated with Alaska. I love the name of the town..."Coldfoot." What a great idea. Love the excerpt too. Great work here.
I've always been fascinated with Alaska. I love the name of the town..."Coldfoot." What a great idea. Love the excerpt too. Great work here.
You are brilliant at conveying the mood in subtle ways! I could so feel the wistfulness and the hankering. Well Crafted!. Kudos, Yolanda.
And Alaska place-names are totally wanderlust inducing. Big Lake, Coldfoot, Anaktuvuk - make me want to drop everything and charge off. The pics you post don't help much either in controlling it.
Very interesting (smile) I enjoyed your post. Blessings and enjoy your day!
I love the origin of the name :) I imagine many people get literal cold feet as well :)
Tasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)
Your posts makes me fall in live with Alaska even more. The excerpt is brilliant.
Makes me glad I bought your book. I want more. . . . Although I personally never would have agreed to a wilderness honeymoon.
I like the origin of the name. Didn't realise you were running two blogs.
I love getting all these Alaskan facts. You make research easy for me! :)
Continue the journey north? What's beyond Coldfoot?
Hi, Alex, so much more. LOL
Hi, Christine, we still have an ongoing conversation don't we. LOL
Hi, Jo, 2 and one tenth with the Parallels blog too. But hey, it's all in a day, right?!
LOL never again!
It makes me very happy. Thank you! I would do a wilderness honeymoon, I can't imagine a better one. LOL
Thanks, Ramya, I've never fallen out of love with it. :)
Hi, Natasha, the fun part is getting those cold toes warm! :)
Hi, Ann, thank you!
Oh, Nila, you make me smile. THANK YOU! :)
I think I'll pass on ever going any place named Coldfoot. I like my feet warm.
Thanks, msmariah, it's such an interesting place. A lifeline, in the roughest form!
Thanks, Elizabeth, that means the world! :)
Hi, Michelle, that moment when all is still well with the world but the hint for trouble is all around. Thanks!
You have fur, or cat slippers, that should do you fine! LOL
I love the name and where it comes from. :-D
Brrr..now, I really feel like I am in Alaska~ Happy Birthday, Renee!!! I hope your day is beautiful and filled with sunshine~ I love that you received a Tickle you pink bouquet-so sweet~ @>----------xo
I love some of the names they give Alaska towns. Coldtoot is just another very descriptive one that makes me smile.
I love some of the names they give Alaska towns. Coldtoot is just another very descriptive one that makes me smile.
Loved this excerpt, Yolanda... full of foreboding. It's the kind of scene that makes me wish I could jump into the scene and—well, change things :) What a place, Coldfoot... "the world's northernmost truck stop"—and it has an airport! You know, I've never seen Ice Road Truckers, never really appealed to me, but now I'll keep an eye out for the show, in case Coldfoot is mentioned :D
Thanks for the visit over at Life In Dogs ... What a sad, sad story about Lady. You had me in tears. How awful for you, too. I hope that landlord met a nasty, painful end.
Ohh, I like that setting. I just finished watching a show set in a remote glacier town in Norway. Soooo good!
Another yummy snippet. Thank you!
Rosa
@RosaT_Author
Rosa Temple writes...
Coldfoot - what a great name!
Sophie
Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles | Wittegen Press | FB3X
Liked the excerpt, and wish you well with Murder and Obsession. . .I read about a few real life murders that took place in Alaska, and it usually was over money. . .
I have watched (only for a few seconds mostly) that Ice Road Truckers. It would give me cold feet too, I think, to go so far north. I don't like extremes of heat or cold.
Love the name Coldfoot. I've never been a coldfoot in wanting to visit Alaska, it's just finding the time and the money.
I know what you mean. But what a great journey! Hi, Jeffrey!
Greed is a huge motive! Extremes are hard! Hi, D. G.!
Isn't it! Hi, Sophie!
Thank you, Rosa!
Hi, Libby. Sounds good, I'll have to find it!
Working my way down the A to Z Challenge and I enjoyed the excerpts so much that I added your books to my good reads listing. I'll be on the look out for the first two. Thanks for bringing them to my attention. I'll have to send a copy to my step sister who lives in Alaska, she'll probably recognize the landmarks already!
Hi, Guilie, Thanks, Coldfoot comes up frequently, the truckers stop there all the time. Don't know what happened to him or the puppies. Horrid man!
Me too, Lee, always an interesting reason behind the name!
Thanks, Ella, it's a wonderful day to spend with family, but I'm finding it hard to concentrate on A to Z duties! LOL
Coldfoot is definitely an appropriate name! I love it!
@LGKeltner from
Writing Off the Edge
Parallels
Hi, Misha, thank you!
Hi, Allison, that's wonderful, thank you!
I want to scream at her, "Don't go!" You know, like you scream at people on the movie screen not to go somewhere when you know they are about to get killed. The name of the truck stop is eerie enough for me to around and go home or back to Seattle. The last stop for food, fuel or accommodations ... you just know something bad is going to happen. I loved the excerpt. The suspense and foreshadowing is excellent.
Hi, Laura, thanks!
Hi, Melissa, thank you, I was hoping it'd be read that way! :)
This excerpt sounds like you have written a cool book that I would enjoy reading. So yes, I am putting it on my Goodreads list and will buy it when it comes out.
Shalom,
Patricia @ EverythingMustChange
Thank you Pat, I'd love to hear your opinion. Thanks for adding me to GR!
Hi, Yolanda - you've chosen a fantastic setting. Alaska is on my wish-list to visit sometime.
A very happy birthday to you. Your C post is Cool, in every sense of the word. And those Cold-Climes Call to me. Loudly.
Hi, EC, thanks, me too!
Hi, Susan, I hope you make it!
Yikes, Coldfoot is a long way from anywhere.....
Another great excerpt.
Coldfoot sounds too cold to me!!!
Great story of the place name!
@mirymom1 from
Balancing Act
Chilling foreboding in that story! (Love that you mention Prudhoe Bay - I haven't been there in a while, but I remember it as a vast plain of snow.)
Ohhh! What an out of this world place Coldfoot sounds! The name in itself is drawing visual images in my mind! I am seriously worried about Steven and Sarah!
@KalaRavi16 from
Relax-N-Rave
Wow! Makes me want to find out what happens next. Great job.
What names, Coldfoot and Deadhorse. They evoke the wilderness. The excerpt is an intriguing scene. :)
When I started reading, I knew Coldfoot sounds familiar then Fairbanks, then I remembered it from the Ice Road tv series about Alaska trucking :)
The place looks amazing. The excerpt is interesting. Wondering what happens next.
Visiting from A to Z Challenge
Pam's Unconventional Alliance Team
A Whimsical Medley
Twinkle Eyed Traveller
Coldfoot... that's an interesting story behind it! Liked this intriguing excerpt of the book! Great going, Yolanda :)
Thanks, Shilpa, appreciate your visits!
Thanks, Rajtakshmi, something interesting for sure! :)
Hi, Zeljka, Ice Road Truckers, they've been everywhere! LOL
Hi, Deborah, they do, don't they. Thanks!
I love hearing that Emma, thanks!
Yes, they are a worry at this point! Hi, Kala!
Hi, Samantha, thanks, appreciate it!
Cold it is! Hi, doggiecaperz!
Thanks for the Birthday wishes, much appreciated!
Yes, a vast plain. And a lot of it on unsupported gravel. :)
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