Last Aurora Hunt of the Season?

A couple of nights ago the northern lights were suposed to be out in force, so I went north from Anchorage in search of my prey – Aurora Borealis.

After driving over an hour north, pulling off into dark corners along the Glenn Highway.  I thought, again the prediction maps were just a tease. So since I was already out wandering around in the darkness, I decided to find a spot and take some star trail photos. I stopped at Thunderbird Falls in the Chugach. The wind was occasionally biting, but it stayed in the high 30’s so I knew I’d be comfortable for the length of time these photos would take.

There was a very slight green haze along the horizon, so I still had some hope that my quarry might make herself seen. It was a half mile hike to a viewing area in the valley, and the waterfall. While the moonlight  was strong, it wasn’t able to illuminate the falls, but I could hear and slightly make out the stream below the cliff side I was walking.

After taking a couple of shots of the stars, nothing all that stunning, I got to a place where I could clearly see a mountainside off in the distance. My plan was to take a couple of shots  of the stars over the mountains and then call it quits.

Then suddenly – out of a corner of one of my shots – I saw it.

The elusive aurora.

Over the next hour it would go from highly visible in small spots to only visible through the camera’s long exposure. But since I missed the epic show in January… this was good enough for me.

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