The Alaskan trapper who built his cache on spruce stilts, more than eighty-five years ago, chose this location for a good reason. Nearby is a system of boreal ponds, a unique wetland. Boreal ponds are created when permafrost melts.
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For two weeks, I’d waited along this frozen river in the hopes of photographing the semi-annual caribou migration. Altogether, I saw about two hundred caribou, a mere trickle compared to some years. One large group (above) had nearly 150 caribou, and the remaining stragglers were in pairs or small groups. The bulk had passed to the west of here earlier.
As bands of green aurora above the northeast horizon warmed up, a bear worked his way through twisted and stunted silhouettes of stunted black spruce. Air currents, rich and spicy, drift from the cabin.