I attempted to visit far northern Alaska last winter, only to be repelled by temperatures that dipped to -65 F, without wind chill. The aurorae further south, though, were amazing, and compelled me to give it another try.

It was significantly warmer this year -- a low of merely -40 F -- still not particularly comfortable when sleeping in a car for ten days, particularly for those of us from Southern California. The good news, however, is that I managed to avoid becoming a polar bear snack and, in the process, was able to capture some beautiful and rarely photographed landscapes along with an assortment of arctic wildlife.

This image is of the last light on a range just south of Deadhorse, as far as one can drive without working for an oil company (which, happily, I don't).