Overlook in the Brooks Range: Canvas Uncropped

View of a wilderness valley with a river running through the heart of the Brooks Range, depicted in a landscape painting. The mountains appear grey in the overcast light and turn increasingly blue in the distance. In the far north of Alaska is the rugged tundra of the arctic close to where the mountain range ends and the North Slope begins. A closer look reveals wildflowers of bright colours and an array of unfamiliar fragrance. What seem to be fields of grass below are rough and difficult terrain. Just below a layer of top soil is permafrost, that thaws on the surface leaving fields of ice cold puddles between large tussocks. Hidden in the vast distance are wildlife thriving in this harsh open environment. The wind begins to pick up, and patches of rain pass through the valley, and fade into this bleak yet monumental land.