Willow and I finished up our volunteer time in the mountains last week. The fall colors were coming on strong. Weather was a mix of damp and dry days and we had a short snow squall. We enjoyed lots of time on the trails, remembering the times we shared them with Sky. The night sky was illuminated by the waxing gibbous moon. It’s a beautiful season.
The girls and I were camped at our favorite ‘secret’ lake last week and on the last night, I made a plan to photograph the Milky Way. I went to bed at 10 with the alarm set for 2 am when the Milky Way would be stretched above the horizon. Of course, when I was awakened at 2, my body only reluctantly went outside to make sure I had the plan correct. Well, being offline for several days, I did not get the message that instead of the Milky Way, I was going to see the biggest Aurora Borealis of my life. At first I was puzzled because it was so light out and I could not see the stars but then my mind began to wake up and focus and I could see the waves of light filling the night sky, even as I looked to the south! I had no view to the north because the forest was right behind me. The waves of light seemed to come from directly above me, like a revolving kaleidoscope! And then some major waves came from the north east. I can only imagine what the view would have been beyond the trees.
Last night’s show of the Aurora Borealis was unbelievable. The lights were moving as if in a celestial dance. They glowed, made curtains, pillars, and moved throughout the sky from the northwest to the northeast and back again, sometimes filling the entire northern sky. They towered high above the horizon. They were green, red, pink and clouds glowed purple. Moonlight splashed a glowing light on the snow-covered landscape.
We needed to get up early to start a short trip so the alarm was set for 4:30 am. I rolled over to shut it off and out my bedroom window, I could see the aurora borealis making one huge pillar! I had no extra time for making photos but I did a few anyway and ate a nut bar for breakfast in the car. We arrived at our destination just in time.
The Aurora Borealis put on a pretty nice show last night.
The last four images are looking east.
My Everyday Photos 