End of season, Seward.

We always head down to Seward as many times as we can when the tourist season is over.  Sitting on the shore of Resurrection Bay hoping the whales come in is always a treat, and there's a little more elbow room--although this weekend the place was packed with locals camping on a gorgeous weekend.  Probably our last motorhome trip of the year as we're heading to Montreal for ten days.  By the time we get back, there should be snow in Turnagain Pass and it will be time to park it for the winter.  

Shooting aurora in the rain.

Well, that was certainly a first.  There was a monster auroral display last night, but as usual this season, it was completely cloudy here in Bear Valley.  I happened to look out the window around 11 pm to check the sky and the aurora was so intense you could see it behind the clouds.   Got set up outside and waited and started to see a couple of holes in the clouds.  There was a quick intense blast around midnight, and then total cloud cover, wind and rain moved back in.   

A cloudy treat at sunset.

We just don't get really cool clouds very often in Anchorage, so tonight was quite a treat.  Big, billowing Midwest style clouds at sunset, rain showers rapidly moving over the city, and then Denali coming out for a good night show as it began clearing up.  Hopefully it stays clear as the aurora forecast is strong for the next couple of nights.  Click images for full-screen.

Finally, a bit of a light show early this morning.

We've been having aurora withdrawal here in Anchorage so far this season.  The clouds have not been cooperating, while Fairbanks, Delta, and North Pole have been hogging all the strong displays.  Finally early this morning we had clear skies and some color, plus some really nice Milky Way.  It wasn't a super active or strong show, but it sure felt good to be back outside between 1:30 am and 3 am on a warm night with just the owls hooting for company.