Coppermine

Thursday’s mission was to serve the westernmost areas of the nation, with several stops in Arizona: Page, at the Coppermine and LeChee chapters of the reservation; K’ai’Bii’To’ and Tonalea, at the Ts’ah Bii Kin chapter; and in Shonto, Nez’s hometown.

Bitsue mostly prefers staying at home in rural Coppermine, where she lives without running water or electricity and where her husband tends to livestock.

Then the crew loaded up their utility trucks and headed toward the small community of Coppermine, about an hour’s drive down the next dirt road, to connect more homes.

Ellen Van Laar, a musician and visual artist who lives on the shore of the lake near Coppermine Point, runs Arts and Adventure, a retreat center.

Some ice caves, like this skull-like formation in Coppermine Point, are rock caves that over time are covered by layers of ice.