A little aurora borealis outing
It felt like years since I’d been out on an aurora hunt, but I see in the blog post archives that I was out four times last Fall. In any case, I miss seeing Lady Aurora, and there have already been a few good shows this year, so when I saw a Level 7 forecast for Wednesday (August 17th), I decided to make a serious effort to get out.
The forecast indicated that the strongest displays would be to the south, so I decided to go south, to Carcross and beyond. Though it wouldn’t be dark enough to see the aurora until after 11:00 pm, I went down early in the hope of getting some nice evening colours or perhaps even a nice sunset.
I had a nap, got up and double-, triple-, and quadrupled-checked that I had everything I’d need for the night, and at 9:40 pm I was just north of Carcross on the South Klondike Highway. This is about Km 124, with Montana Mountain ahead – Carcross is at the base of it.
Clouds were sort of a wild card this night, clearing then coming back at various places. Most of the sky cleared as I got south of Carcross.
I decided that the broad view from the Bove Island viewpoint would be a good starting point, but I figured I might go as far south as Tutshi Lake, another 30 km south, if the aurora display got good.
As the moon rose at 11:36, there was just a hint of aurora. But within a few minutes the sky clouded over, and it looked highly unlikely that it would clear again, so I headed north looking for other opportunities.
The sky was mostly clear at Emerald Lake and there was a nice vertical ray of aurora developing, so I stopped there. The wind was screaming so I parked the Tracker at an angle that would be me some shelter so the wind wouldn’t shake the tripod. As I was shooting another car stopped and the driver was soon out shooting the aurora as well.
The photo above turned out to be the best one of the night. That ray faded and returned a few times, clouds came and went, and I finally got bored with it and went home. There were a few good photos posted in my aurora group, I think from 01:30-02:00, but it certainly wasn’t the night we’d all been hoping for. I was pleased that I was able to get out successfully, though, (and any aurora is a good aurora!) so I’ll keep watching for other possibilities.
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That south Klondike Highway has some stunning views for sure… the Bove Island viewpoint for me would be a high point of a ADV bike or car ride any day of the year… but I realize it is just one of hundreds. Thanks for sharing.