Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

On Saturday night, online aurora reports were predicting storm levels. Storm levels pretty much guarantee that there is going to be beautiful arcing bands of aurora above - as long as there aren’t any clouds.  We had a blanket of clouds over Fairbanks, and they appeared to be covering the entire area. However, radar was showing that the clouds would be moving off. My photographer friend Lara posted online that she was going to drive up to Wickersham Dome (past Fox on the Elliott Hwy) and wait for the clouds to clear. I asked Lara if she’d mind picking me up and taking me with her. My car does not do well on snowy, hilly roads and she was driving a 4WD truck.

The Elliott Highway was slick in many places, with drifting snow in others. The wind was howling, and it pushed against the truck hard. By the time we got to the dome area, there were 40mph gusts, but we had clear skies. We got out of the truck to take a few photos, but the wind was so strong, it blew snow and stung our faces. The few photos I took weren’t sharp, as the wind was rocking my tripod too. Definitely not a good place to wait for the aurora, despite the highest elevation on the highway. When clouds rolled in, we decided to head back toward Fairbanks, looking for clear skies, and a sheltered area to set up.

This is one of the first photos I took - while still up on Wickersham Dome. You can see the aurora forming overhead, with the glow of Fairbanks in the distance.

We soon found clear skies and a roomy pull-out on the side of the highway. The aurora still wasn’t very bright and resembled wispy clouds - like in the photo above. Off in the distance we could still see the orange glow of Fairbanks on the horizon. Some people prefer to be in a place that is totally pitch black when viewing the northern lights. I rather like the city light glow (as long as it’s not too bright) and the interest it adds to photos.

We didn’t have to wait very long for the sky to erupt with color. The usual green curtains of light began swirling and arcing overhead. I decided to shoot a panoramic photo, taking three frames and later stitching them in Photoshop:

Three more images of green aurora:

Suddenly the sky exploded with multi-color bands and curtains of light! I have never seen red aurora, and the sky was just filled with blood red color. There was also yellow, and pink, and lavender, along with green, and teal. It was like a watercolor artist’s palette had been splashed into the heavens! Lara and I were oohing and aahing with delight, while snapping frame after frame!

Here’s a photo that I took of my friend Lara photographing the lights:

And here’s one that she took of me photographing the lights:

It was a fabulous adventure, and we didn’t head home until after 3am. Even on the way home, the lights continued to dance overhead. It was hard to pack up the gear and head home, but we were both exhausted. It was a good exhaustion though!

I still can’t believe that the skies were lit up with so many colors. I feel so blessed to have been witness to such an incredible light show.

To make the day even more special, it was my brother Mike’s birthday. I let him know that God was throwing a fabulous birthday party for him! Wish he could have seen it too.

Until next time…

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Brrrrrrr! That’s the sound of me shivering. The cold air is still hanging around, and frankly - we’re all getting a little tired of it. This is what we woke up to on Sunday morning here in North Pole:

There was no light drizzle, but there was quite a bit of ice fog, so maybe that’s what triggered the “light drizzle” forecast. Nevertheless - it was COLD! We haven’t been much above 40 below since then. And I have not left my house, except to run down the driveway and take photos of pretty sunsets, or to occasionally stand outside with Raven while she hurries through potty breaks. In fact, I didn’t even make it to dance class on Tuesday night due to the cold.

Last night the aurora was showing up on the aurora cam. I bundled up and walked to the end of my driveway hoping to see some color in the sky. It must have been really low to the horizon because I didn’t see anything. Within minutes, my fingers were on fire, and I was wearing liner gloves AND wool mittens. Definitely not comfortable photography weather, that’s for sure.

The temperature gauge in my car goes to -39F and then turns into —F. I joke and say it’s my car’s way of screaming profanities at the cold. I didn’t capture the *F* temp, but I got something close enough:

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As I type this, it is -45F here at my house. I had a portrait session scheduled for this afternoon, but the client canceled last night. Frankly, I’m not upset about that, as today is one of those days I’d much rather be inside where it’s warm.  In fact, it is currently 110 degrees warmer inside our house than it is outside. The furnace is working hard to keep the house warm. I can practically hear the oil being sucked out of the tank.

Up until today, we’ve had temps as low as 30 below, but when it gets to 45 below, there really IS a difference. Taking a breath without filtering the air through a scarf (or your gloved hands) can cause fits of coughing. Touching anything metal without gloves for more than a second or two can burn painfully.

The other night, I touched the metal handle on our storm door when I was letting Raven out (without gloves), and my fingers lingered more than a second or two. It was like getting a burn, and I looked to make sure I didn’t get any blisters. I once got a blister on the palm of my hand when I picked up my tripod (without gloves) by a metal leg, after it had been outside for awhile. Contact frostbite is easy to get when it’s this cold.

The birds at the feeders are gorging themselves on seeds. They need to eat a lot to keep their energy levels up and to keep warm when it’s this cold. I don’t know how they survive. I even saw the squirrel out there today. S/he usually stays hidden when it’s this cold, so that was a surprise.

A couple of days ago, when it was only about 25 below, I stopped at Creamers Field for a walk with Raven while out running errands.  It wasn’t a long walk, but I wanted to take a winter photo of the Creamers Field footbridge as a comparison to a summer photo I have.

Here’s the summer photo I took in August of last year:

And here’s the one I took a few days ago:

I think I have the same photo in the fall. I need to dig that one up and see if it was taken with the same vantage point. It would be neat to lay out a triptych of all three images and print it out. If I find the fall image and do that, I’ll share it with you all.

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