The Yukon, in Canada’s North-West, is a vast wilderness with scenery that takes your breath away at every turn, mountains in every direction and a real feeling of remoteness in its quiet landscape.

I’m here with local artist Joyce Majisky, doing my best to get in touch with the mountain so that I might somehow translate my feelings into a work of art later on in her studio. Of course, like most Yukoners, Joyce isn’t from here. She came here, fell in love with it and never left.

It’s a sequence of events I’ve had relayed to me so far by a chef, a herbalist, a hotelier, a trek leader and indeed the tourism representative that organised this itinerary for me. And all of them are remarkable women.

In fact, despite its harsh environment, every creative and successful business here appears to be run by women. At first this seems incongruous but as you learn more about the Yukon’s history it becomes clear that the Women of the Klondike have better survival skills than men.

The men came here to try their luck on the gold fields. The lure of a fast buck led them here to toil away each day for a few specs of gold which they would invariably lose the same day, spending it on booze, cards or dance hall girls.

The women came here because they saw a business opportunity. Thousands of men would obviously require lodging, hot meals, and their laundry taken care of. Not to mention dancing partners, Can Can dancers and, ahem, ladies of the night.

Our first night here is spent in the Takhini River Lodge, beautiful 5-star accommodation seemingly in the middle of nowhere, run by a French couple (no not French-Canadian, French).

We’re treated to a cooking demonstration and dinner from local celebrity chef, Michelle Genest, author of “The Boreal Gourmet – Adventures in Northern Cooking”. She celebrates local ingredients with a lasagne of Arctic salmon served with chickweed salad, dressed with raspberry infused vinegar and olive oil infused with spruce tips.

In the following days we are to meet more inspiring Boreal women. Like Bev Gray, a boreal herbalist, aromatherapist, natural-health practitioner, journalist, and an award-winning natural health-product formulator.

Bev takes us for a walk around the garden and forest surrounding her fairy tale-like cottage and teaches us about the healing properties to be found in all of the plant life found there, from the lichens on the granite boulders to the spruce and pine trees.

We’re taught survival skills by wilderness guide Jill Pangman in the relative comfort of her rather wild looking garden, before heading up Gray Mountain to discover the hundreds of wildflowers in full bloom in this Arctic summer as well as yet another amazing view.

All of this prepares us for our next adventure into the wild, with artist Joyce Majiski. We take a very bumpy old mining track deep into the mountains via four-wheel drive, past rich green forests, glassy lakes, the odd bear and finally the snow-capped mountain top.

Joyce’s challenge is to help us all find our inner-artist and teach us a few skills back in her Whitehorse studio with the hope that we’ll create a work of art. She encourages us to take in our surroundings with all five senses.

There’s a delicate beauty in the tiny wildflowers at my feet which contrasts magnificently with the imposing grandeur of the grey mountains in the distance, disappearing into the clouds and the rich dark greens of the valley below.

So the challenge is – can I translate this description to paper? Unlikely. Even words are failing me so my limited artistic skills are not likely to somehow magically blossom.

There is in fact a thriving art scene in the Yukon. The wild rugged landscape and extremes in light and temperature has inspired a rich community of artists and there is a range of artists’ retreats throughout Summer for budding creatives.

So I’m inspired. Inspired to rave about this destination and about the amazing women I’ve met here. I’m inspired by the landscape itself and its extremes in light, weather and colours. But not quite talented enough to create a masterpiece that does it justice.