Aurora Borealis! (08-27-14)

To say that I am obsessed with the Northern Lights would be an exaggeration, but not much of one!  I have practiced with the new camera, and even had to get the hang of the tripod.  I’ve never used this one before. 

We left Whitehorse because the Northern Lights were supposed to be active and we were on the hunt for a dark place with a northern exposure.  We found it at Morley Lake.






There is a space science website that you can go to that tells you when the aurora is going to be active, so for the last week, (since its been dark enough at night) I’ve been checking the website and staying up many times till the wee hours, just waiting for the lights to show..  Most nights it has been too cloudy, but we finally got lucky!


As I was sitting, staring out the window in between playing a game on my phone at the lowest light level possible, I saw a green arch in the sky.  First I thought my mind was playing tricks on me, but when I realized it wasn’t, pandemonium ensued.  It must have been comical to see us try to get dressed and put shoes on in the dark. Finally we ran outside- without jackets.  I was too awestruck to go back in and get one, so I was frozen by the time we went back in.

I kept playing with the settings on the camera and I think I finally got the hang of it, somewhat.  It was still pretty cloudy, but the aurora was active for about 30 minutes, at about 2:00 AM.




It started as a ribbon across the sky.  We thought it would be on the northern horizon, but it was directly above us!











It would get bright, then fade away, then get bright in a different place.












 

I should have tried to move a little for this shot- it was hard to see in the dark and we didn’t want to put on any lights.

Sometimes it looked like a curtain, with greens and reddish purple.

It would change color from green to white

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  There were times when it would swirl around, and move from one area of the sky to another.
















The following day we moved about 150 miles, and checked the aurora forecast.  This time we prepared better- shoes were lined up and untied, ready to put on, jackets were right by the door ( I still  didn’t take the time to put mine on!) and we threw the cat in the bathroom so he couldn’t try to escape. Its really dark outside the cities. We spent a lot of time the night before, making sure he didn’t try to get out while we wrestled the camera equipment out. So, we were ready, just in case.


I didn’t even have time to doze off this time.  The lights showed up at 11:40!  thought we were lucky to see them so well the first time, but the display the second night was  mind boggling! We were on a ridge, with great visibility, and finally, there were very few clouds in the sky.  I did a little better job taking the pictures this time!













 





 

Muncho Lake to Lake Watson (06-11-14)

We left Muncho Lake early in the morning, because we know there is a mineral lick about 14 miles down the road and apparently the animals flock to it early in the day.  We met Donna and Glen there and the four of us hiked the short trail to the look out.  Although the view was pretty awesome, we were disappointed that we didn't see a single animal.  Oh well.

Soon enough we were back on the road, where it seems the chance of seeing wildlife is much greater.  We saw another porcupine, stone sheep and these two black bears on the short drive to Liard Hot Springs, which was our next destination.

Liard Hot Springs is a famous stop along the Alaskan Highway, and with good reason!  Paul and I have been to many hot springs and we couldn’t think of any that were as nice as this one. There are two pools. The closest one has the hottest water and it cools as it enters the lower pool where it is mixed with cold water. 

The setting is completely natural but the bottom of the pools are layered with round gravel, so its really clean, as well.    We got here early in the day, since its only about 40 miles from Muncho Lake, and so we walked the short boardwalk to the springs twice while we were here.

One of the things we've realized about traveling in this area of Canada and the U.S. is that since it never really gets dark (still twilight at 1 AM) if we want to sight see,  we can always drive later in the day.

In fact we could go on a 4 mile hike after dinner if we wanted, although our bodies are conditioned to slow down at that point in the day. Usually the three of us will just play cards or have a campfire after dinner.

We tested the travel theory out on the day we drove through Watson Lake, Yukon. There are two things we wanted to do here, and it was our intention to spend the night, but most of the RV parks have closed.

Our first stop was the visitor center, where we would pick up discount tickets to the Northern Lights planetarium show.  And that's where things went a little awry.  The woman we spoke with strongly recommended we change around our entire itinerary. 

The road we were headed towards- Top of the World Highway, is all torn up, and will be in better condition later in the summer.  And if we want to see whales, which we do, now is the time to head to Juneau. So, after doing some calculations, we changed around our travel plans and are headed to Juneau.

In the meantime, we checked out the Signpost Forest- #1 on our list of things to see. It started in 1942 when a U.S. soldier stationed here was asked to repair  the directional signposts. He added one for his hometown of Danville, IL, and a tradition was born. There are now over 77,000 signs in the forest.

I was looking forward to the Northern Lights show.  I am really hoping we’ll get a chance to see them before we leave Alaska in the fall.  I did enjoy the information presented about how and why the auroras can be seen, but with today’s technology, I expected a much better visual presentation.  It looked more like an old film, with washed out colors.  Next time, I would skip this presentation (these pictures are NOT from the presentation)! 

After the show, we left town, and put some more miles behind us.

Boreal/Borealis (Minnesota, 09-01-12)

Sometimes I'm a little slow to connect the dots.  Several times in our travels we've heard the term Boreal forest.  I just figured it referred to the types of trees that grew in that particular kind of woods, but then we came to northern Minnesota, and I began checking daily to see if we had any chance of fulfilling a long time ambition of mine- to see the Northern lights. Northern MN is one of the better places in the lower 48 to actually catch a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis or Northern lights.  It finally clicked with me that a Boreal Forest is" a forest located in a Northern region".  Much to my disappointment, solar activity is very low right now, which means I probably won't see them, but I found a great website for  checking the activity level  (http://www.softservenews.com/Aurora.htm) , so I will continue to check it every day while we are here in the “Boreal states”.

We've spent the last few days in the awesome little town of Grand Marais MN.  It's right on Lake Superior, and has a small harbor and a cool little waterfront area with shops and restaurants, all within walking distance our RV park. We were extremely tempted to put the boat in the water, but didn’t.

The other night we went to one of the seafood restaurants right on the water, although our plan of eating outside on the deck was foiled by the wind and the sudden temperature drop.

We spent one afternoon hiking to two waterfalls in nearby Grand Portage state park.  The falls were ok, but nothing spectacular.  The hike, although not too long- 4 miles- was difficult due to the heat  and high humidity.

While exploring the area,  we stopped at the Grand Portage Heritage Center, even though I thought I had learned enough about the Voyageurs at Voyageurs National Park.  I was so glad we stopped though- turns out there was a lot more interesting information to be had about that time in history.

In the 1700s, Grand Portage, MN was at the center of the fur trade. This is the spot where the Voyageurs left the water and had to carry their goods along a 9 mile stretch of land. It was here that the Montreal Voyageurs would rendezvous with the western Voyageurs and swap goods. At the Living History exhibit several of the North West Company buildings have been reconstructed. 

We chatted with a fellow making a birch bark canoe in the same manner they were made hundreds of years ago.  While showing us how they were put together, he taught us about how amazing the birch tree is and why it is uniquely perfect for building a canoe.

So, here are some interesting facts:
Birch bark can be peeled from the tree without causing damage to the tree, if done correctly (and he explained how to do that).
Birch bark will rot in the sun but will not rot in water, in fact, water makes it stronger. If a canoe is stored in the dark or used in the water regularly, it will last for hundreds of years.
The bark is used "inside out" for the canoe because the outside, white bark is dead, rotted by the sun, and the orange bark is fresh and waterproof.  A birch bark canoe can carry much heavier loads than it’s aluminum counterpart. The wood of a birch tree is digestible by humans, and is non-toxic.  It is used to make popsicle sticks and tooth picks.