The Kobuk Valley and mountains to the north shrouded in smoke. Kotzebue - There are drops of rain on the window of my shack, the first...

KOTZEBUE — It’s raining again, the wind rising and waves sloshing over the grass. I’m yanking at corkline, struggling to stack my salmon...

This summer I journeyed south, to McNeil River, farther than I’ve ever traveled to see any animal, let alone bears. For most of my life...