From a sleepless morning in the Brooks Range of Alaska. 24 hours of daylight wreaks havoc on a sleep cycle, so I left my tent in the early hours of the morning to find this lone caribou staring at me from a ridge. This valley is famous for one of the largest migrations on Earth: nearly half a million caribou traveling thousands of miles to their grazing lands for the summer. This youngster was several days behind the rest of the herd, making him easy pickings for predators or hunters. It's unlikely that he survived the journey, and I'm honored to have been awake long enough to spend a few moments with him in such a spectacular place.

The encounter led me to write a poem (albeit not a good poem):

I am a caribou. Traveling from here to there-ibou, Covered in extra-warm hair-ibou. Oh no, there's a bear-ibou! Gives me a scare-ibou. I am a caribou.