Wow. Your familiarity with and love for those wild Alaskan landscapes really shone in the story (although I was filling in the pictures with memories of the American West, which is a place I know) -- I'd wondered whether the amazing detail and world-building arose from a ton of research or from personal experience. That last photo is absolutely how I was picturing Sheppard's ravine.

I don't know why there aren't more Runner stories either! I think I've read three other than this one. (Sheppard, Sheppard and Ronon, Ronon and Zelenka.)