What’s it like to live in the northernmost city in the US? | CNN

Standing on his back porch, Utqiaġvik native Robin Mongoyak reaches around a snow mound and pulls out a frozen caribou leg. Now that temperatures are creeping above zero, he’s thinking about moving the delicacy into a vacuum-sealed bag and storing it in a “proper freezer” until it’s time to make caribou gravy — or aluutagaà q, a traditional Iñupiat dish. As he speaks, he scans the bright sky for snow buntings — a sure sign that spring is well and truly underway in this remote corner of Alaska. By mid-May, the black-and-white birds will be perched on rooftops and telephone poles, warbling away under the midnight sun. “They are special, beautiful birds, but they start whistling, whistling, whistling, starting at dawn,” Mongoyak, an Iñupiat resident born in Utqiaġvik who runs Kiita Tours, tells CNN Travel over FaceTime. It’s like a natural alarm clock — one of those things you get used to living at the “top of the world,” he quips. Over 175 years ago, this US town was left behind in Canada. Here’s what it’s like to live there now Set between Arctic tundra and the icy ocean, Utqiaġvik, Alaska, is the northernmost city in the United States, home to about