The Light Stalker

Hunting for the Northern Lights is a bit of an acquired skill, which is probably why they eluded me, despite valiant efforts, for the first 5 years I was up here.  I signed up for a Northern Lights Photography Class, complete with a midnight walk through the woods to sit out and wait on a cold winter night with a group, but the clouds socked us in, and not a light was to be found.  I signed up for some apps that would give alerts, and would get up in the dead of the night when the kpa index alert went off.  I would drive up to the top of the highest road facing north in town, and wait at 1am, 2 am, starting the car for a bit of heat, layered up, walking about looking for just the right spot.  Occassionally the camera would pick up a faint glow, but nothing I could really see.  I drove north.  I drove south.  I parked in spooky places, and wandered down trailheads armed with a tripod hoping the other cars parked in the spooky places were also hunting auroras and not just silly women who wander into desolate areas at night. Over and over the cycle repeated.   I lost sleep.  I got very cold.  And finally, I gave up.  And then, the northern lights found me.

It first happened on a mild April night.  Yes, April.  There are a lot of questions from traveller's about when you can see the Aurora.  Typically the answer is September to March, when it's dark and cold.  But in theory it can happen any time it's dark.  It just happens more frequently September to March.  

"How do you see them" people will ask.  Alaskans can be blunt.  "Go outside.  Look up" is a reply you often see posted to the question online.  And sometimes that's true, you look up and see it directly overhead, as if those lights are dancing just for you.

"Look North," they also say.  OK, so turns out that is true.  I always figure my house is facing South, but according to the compass on my phone and the old guide to look where the sun rises and turn 90 degrees left to find north...turns out I point a bit Northeast.  So turns out I am situated in a reasonable place to catch the lights from time to time.

I often hear lights are the most active between 1 and 3 am.  Unfortunately, 5 nights a week, that's when I am the least active.  But, there are exceptions to all rules, and the best lights are the ones that you see, so for me, those are pre-midnight lights.  Like these ones.

So how did I catch such a glorious display?  Sheer luck.  I went to a dinner party in Anchorage, and was making my way home about 10:30 at night.  As I was driving down the lane, there was a thin, low film that looked like a cloud, but it had smooth edges, and was very well defined.  That doesn't look like any other cloud I have seen, I thought.  It was pretty fascinating to me, so when I parked the car in the garage, I wandered out and stared at it.  It seemed to be moving, like a ripple in the sky.  And then I saw a faint tinge of green on the horizon.  So I ran in to get my camera.

By the time I set up the tripod, adjusted the settings, and was ready to go, the sky exploded in neon greens.  I quickly switched to my phone camera to get all of these shots.  My 'real' camera is a bit too sensitive to allow for a 3-6 second exposure by shivering hands directly overhead.  Nowadays phone cameras are so good I just flick to night mode, point, shoot, and try to hold my breath and be still for the exposure time.  I have a Samsung S21.  No filters, no edits.

There's seeing the Northern Lights, then there is having them expode in greens, puurples, and whites directly over top of you.  I was shooting the horizon, staring up, and just pointing the phone directly over my head.  It was magnificent!  They are unfurling, wriggling, dancing all across the sky as they go.

I mean, it was just WOW.

It was worth the wait, that's for sure.

This is the kind of fire I like to see.

And you don't have to be way out in the boonies after all.  I was standing out in my driveway, with one other couple who came out to watch the lights as well.

I absolutely love being in the last unit on a dead end lane, on the last property allowed to be developed looking down on the river.  I often feel like I am much further away from civilization than I am.  When I look out my front windows, you cannot see another building in the view...well, except for the lights on the mountainside across the river a few miles.

Sometimes people see images in the light.  This one definitely has something, I leave it to you to see what you see, but I think I see a moose.

On this very day, I was having to make a decision about moving or not moving.  Obviously I took this as a sign, and stayed put!

So, if you intend to be a light stalker as well, find a northern looking spot on a clear night.  Be extra watchful on nights where there is a solar storm, negative Bz values and/or high kPa.  You can learn the science, or what has been more effective for me this year, join a facebook group of aurora watchers who share all of this info, photos, and stalking tips.  When the lights start in your area, the posts explode as well, so it can be a good reminder to get up, and go out.

If you are coming in from outside of Alaska and are intent on catching the lights, there are a lot of Aurora tours.  Many are further north in Fairbanks and have cozy cabins in remote areas to wait for the lights.  You might want to give yourself a buffer of a couple of nights, because cloud cover, snow, and low solar burst activity are hard to predict as far out as booking your trip.  But more importantly, be prepared to be amazed when you are least expecting it.  You can catch gorgeous displays on the flights in or out, at the airport, in Anchorage at the Glen Alps trailhead, in Eagle River at the Mount Baldy Trailhead, up at Hatcher's Pass, on the Knik bridge.  Just watch the posts and....look up as they say.