There’s a mountain near Nondalton with steep sides and a broad, flat top, and at the top of that mountain you can catch an FM radio signal from Anchorage.

When she was younger, Deloris Alexie would climb the mountain with her friends, listen to Anchorage music and share a beer or two. They camped by a creek at the foot of the mountain. That was years ago. She loved the view from the shores of Six Mile Lake; the snow-capped mountains around Nondalton and the smell of the fresh Alaska air.

She remembers salmon-filled summers at fish camp, and the rock of the boat on the open lake. Sometimes the mountaintops disappear under clouds that roll in low over the water; on other days the lake reflects nothing but blue sky. There’s no place like it in the world.

“It’s so beautiful,” Deloris said. “I’m gonna go home here pretty quick.”

It’s been a long time since she’s been back.