Hello, Hatcher Pass! The first really good Aurora show of the season.

The aurora forecast was for a kp6 storm for last night/early this morning.  With mostly cloudy skies here in Bear Valley, I decided to take a chance and make the 90 minute drive up to Hatcher Pass near Palmer.  Oh boy, was the drive worth it!   Got there at 11 pm, but the show really didn't get going until around 1 am, when it looked like the sun was coming up--but that was the aurora exploding behind the ridges.  She grew and became really active, but with displays that only lasted for 20-30 seconds at a time.  This went on until I finally gave up at 3:30 am and made the drive home.  What a wonderful night.  It was great to be out shooting aurora again.

Bonjour, Montreal & the Great Train ride home.

We flew to Montreal so Devany could check off a bucket-list item and attend the World Championships Gymnastics Meet at the 1976 Olympics Stadium.  Fun watching past Olympic gymnasts and rising stars.  No cameras allowed, though.  We spent an extra day exploring Montreal.  I've worked here before but never had any time to really get a feel for it.  It was fun to be operating in French again, but the city feels more like NYC than Paris.  One great thing is street art everywhere!  

For the second part of our adventure, it's "All aboard" Amtrak to Schenectady, NY.  where we changed trains to the overnight Lake Shore Limited to Chicago, then the Empire Builder to Seattle.  Amtrak has really stepped up their game, so it was an absolutely fantastic experience.  Come along for the ride.

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.