i know- i said in the last post that it was my last night in the rv in healy, but as i was preparing to leave for anchorage on monday the aurora forecast for that evening showed great promise. i decided one more night wouldn't throw a wrench in anyones' plans. turned out to be a good decision, and would have been a perfect night had the clouds stayed down near anchorage where they belong. here's a recap:
around 7p that evening i discovered that i could watch "the walking dead" episodes online. i'd seen much of the first three seasons, but never actually saw the entire first episode of season one. while watching it (and episode two) i kept an eye on the aurora short-term forecast, and at 9p the buzzers started going off. it looked like south was the way to go after checking the map of cloud cover for alaska, so i pulled up stakes and headed to the area just south of denali that i photographed from a few nights earlier. clouds, thick clouds. so i headed up to june creek, which was about 35 miles north. even thicker clouds. turned around, drove back to healy and plugged the rv back in and resumed watching "the walking dead". less than 15 minutes went by and the aurora forecast was ringing louder this time- we were going to get a big show if i could find some clear skies. checking the cloud map again, 100 miles to the south near trapper creek looked like the closest area with clear skies. by this time it was almost 2a. i had been up since 630a and was already starting to drag... but it took me all of 30 seconds to talk myself into unplugging and driving south. who knows when i'd have a chance to shoot the lights again, and i had to go that direction anyways the following day to get to anchorage. so i unplugged and hit the road again, with a quick stop at the tesoro in healy to grab a miserable cup of lukewarm coffee. i stopped at a pull-off just north of cantwell to take a look up. clouds still covered the sky, but the big show that had been forecast had started and was showing through.
around 7p that evening i discovered that i could watch "the walking dead" episodes online. i'd seen much of the first three seasons, but never actually saw the entire first episode of season one. while watching it (and episode two) i kept an eye on the aurora short-term forecast, and at 9p the buzzers started going off. it looked like south was the way to go after checking the map of cloud cover for alaska, so i pulled up stakes and headed to the area just south of denali that i photographed from a few nights earlier. clouds, thick clouds. so i headed up to june creek, which was about 35 miles north. even thicker clouds. turned around, drove back to healy and plugged the rv back in and resumed watching "the walking dead". less than 15 minutes went by and the aurora forecast was ringing louder this time- we were going to get a big show if i could find some clear skies. checking the cloud map again, 100 miles to the south near trapper creek looked like the closest area with clear skies. by this time it was almost 2a. i had been up since 630a and was already starting to drag... but it took me all of 30 seconds to talk myself into unplugging and driving south. who knows when i'd have a chance to shoot the lights again, and i had to go that direction anyways the following day to get to anchorage. so i unplugged and hit the road again, with a quick stop at the tesoro in healy to grab a miserable cup of lukewarm coffee. i stopped at a pull-off just north of cantwell to take a look up. clouds still covered the sky, but the big show that had been forecast had started and was showing through.
a couple quick clicks and i'm back on the road to find the break in the clouds. i found my break just 30 minutes later at summit pass south of cantwell (and after nearly plowing through a herd of caribou that appeared out of nowhere on the road).
the display wasn't very bright (the images you see have been brightened quite a bit in adobe lightroom), but it was big, lots of colors, and moving fast. pulses of light were shooting all over the sky. clouds were on the northern horizon and moving my direction.
it was also getting cold. and the wind also was blowing. it may have been the first time i'd really felt cold in the last few months. despite having a chemical handwarmer in each pocket, one in each boot, and a spare pair in my pockets my fingers were so numb after about an hour that i couldn't operate the shutter remote or manipulate the settings on the camera. i took refuge in the rv and run the engine for 15 minutes to warm them back up again. by the time i got back out, the clouds were advancing further into my sky.
it appeared that the brightest and most colorful portion of the aurora (which was covering roughly 70% of the sky by this point) was behind the advancing cloud cover. it was almost 4a. the display was starting to fade, i'd already gotten about 275 photos and was content with that. got back in the rig and headed south to finish the drive to anchorage. i figured i might as well get home and sleep there since i was only 4 hours away now. unfortunately, the lights flared back up as i neared hurricane gulch. so i got out again to take some more. again, i didn't know when the next chance to get out on a clear night with a good aurora forecast- how could i not stop? i hiked through about 50 yards of thigh-deep snow to get off the road and at the edge of the gulch. the display was well past its peak- diffuse and lacking the different colors that were visible at summit pass.
i crawled back into the rv for the last time and looked at the clock. 740a. fuck, i was tired. i drove a few minutes and decided that it'd be silly to attempt the drive to anchorage at this point, so i found a quiet spot in the denali state park, climbed in back, and sort of slept for three hours. it's four days later and my brain and body have finally recovered after that night/morning.
i've finished moving items from the rv into my apartment. this weekend i hope to have cleared out everything stored at a couple friends' houses from when i moved away two years ago (thank you bekah and david for holding on to my junk). the rv will go to storage and be listed for sale on craigslist. hopefully i'll find a junker 4x4 in the next week and after that i look for work. if i can find a job soon enough, i may be able to keep from having to sell the rv. wish me luck.
most every image i post on here is available for purchase on my website. give the gift of natural beauty while supporting your local artisans this christmas. i'd hoped to be able to offer photo calendars this year, but the company that i print through is not able to offer that at this time.
have a great weekend.
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