The Aurora Borealis

It was a lever 5 night! Level 5!
I have to be honest. When people kept talking about it being a level 5 out of 9, I felt like that still wasn't amazing. It wasn't until I understood that the norm was a level 3/4 that I felt really good about it.

I also need to point out that we had tremendous luck while we were there. No rain, all sunshine, warm weather. But our best luck was happening on this night (and the next). The Aurora Borealis would be a level 5 and the sky was crystal clear.

Park Ranger Eric took us to a place called Wickersham Dome. There were other cars there and originally Eric wanted to hike to a place to sit and watch but it was just too cold so we stayed in the car. We would jump out and take pictures and then jump back into the semi-warmth.

First, I was a slacker and didn't look at how I should be taking these pictures though I knew that my phone had to be on a special setting. So, as we started the stake out around midnight, I sat googling 'how to take pictures of the northern lights' and playing with my camera. Luckily, it was easier than I thought to change the settings and the more I tried to take the pictures, the better I got at it.
Second, we didn't have a tripod. So, we got crafty and would put the camera on the car to keep it still. Even using the strap to prop it toward the sky. Genius, right.

And so, here are our amazing pictures from night 1.

The amazing thing about the lights is how quickly they change. They are dancing and swaying and o two pictures are alike. Lonnie and I watched a video about the lights while at the Museum of the North but I still do not understand them completely. This night we stayed out until 4, an we had an hour drive back to town. Lonnie and I both agreed that without Eric we would've given up long before this moment and gone back to the cozy cabin, it was just really cold in the car. But I'm glad we stayed.
But it was absolutely successful.

Northern Light Hunting night 2:
I will give the details of our 2nd day at the cabin in the next post but now I'll show more pictures of those beautiful northern lights. This 2nd night Eric went with us again but we went to Murphy Dome that night and had already decided to not stay out too late, meaning we wanted to leave around 2am.
We parked at midnight and started waiting. They were so so faint at that moment. Luckily it was still pretty clear, but we knew that we could still miss seeing the lights since we were planning on leaving early. The best times to see them are between 12 and 6, they might not getting truly amazing until 3 or 4... 2 hours go by and seriously, we almost see nothing. And then right as we were getting ready to leave, we saw them. Eric borrowed a tripod from his work and we were able to borrow it and get some amazing shots. We even had a nice guy press the shutter button for us so that we could all be in the picture.

As we drove down the hill they were starting to get even crazier so we stopped again. 

I am still in disbelief that I was able to see this, to sit under the lights and watch them dance and tantalize. Just one more of those times where I wanted to sit and just see, not miss a moment.

Park Ranger Eric gave us these certificates when we got back.