A Wonderful Night

Last night I spent the night on tour in Talkeetna. It is getting dark enough this time of year that it was worth putting in a Northern Lights wake up call. Last night at about midnight, I got the call in my room. Me and two other tour directors raced outside, knowing the window of opportunity could last just minutes. I ran out barefoot in shorts and a t-shirt (it was about 40 degrees outside) to see it. It was a tremendously unimpressive display, largely due to the fact that there was too much light around us (the sky was dark enough, kind of). But it was a really awesome evening, in the sense that it was a full moon, the big dipper was perfectly visible, and the outline of Denali (Mt. McKinley) was visible in the distance with the Northern Lights dancing just above the mountain, however faintly. The two other tour directors and myself discussed whether it was worth running down the trail to get away from the lodge and the bright lights from the lobby, but also decided it was dark enough that we wouldn't see any bears if they were present. It was worth freezing my feet off for, I can say that. No pictures, as they were too faint to see anything, sorry.