Alaska Highway, H&S Company. In an interview with author Donna Blasor Bernhardt, Charles told this story.
Until a person has spent a winter in the Yukon in canvas tents, no one truly understands just how the ‘Yukon cold’ feels. Five men lived in military canvas 16′ x 16′ pyramidal tents. They spent evenings almost sitting on top of their wood burning stove located near the center tent pole.
Each man had to turn every few minutes like a rabbit on a spit to keep each side warm. On the opposite side of the tent was a lopsided table. One of the occupants hung his washed out ‘undies’ on a rope draped from the center pole to the other side of the tent.
The water dripped onto the table, slowly flowed toward the lopsided end and once reaching the edge formed icicles. This occurred within four feet of the wood burning stove.