At 25 below, boots squeak on the dry snow as if it were made of Styrofoam. Cobwebs of frost grow on face mask and hood. Keep walking, and soon all that's visible of Kaktovik is a smudge of smoke from its power plant. Walk farther still, and the noisy grinding of construction equipment falls away. The world is silent, waiting.
Ice crystals sparkle in the air, above snow carved into long ridges by the wind.
Miles south, the Brooks Range is a white mirage jutting from the plain like the Rockies without Denver. Listen to the land, and the land says nothing. Seek visions, and the bright expanse of snow becomes a mirror. It reveals no truth, just our own images of the coastal plain. David Foster is The Associated Press' Northwest regional reporter, based in Seattle.