Nordlys Aurora tur med fotografi

I’m giving a 5 star rating without actually having taken the tour. Why? Because yesterday, the day of this nighttime tour, I was texted by the owner who told me it was cloudy with little likelihood of seeing the Aurora Borealis. Needless to say we were very disappointed and texted back and forth to see how late the situation might change. In the end, we cancelled and were immediately refunded our money. The tour operator lost income for the night by being honest and forthcoming. I hope those qualities will serve him well - we certainly need more people like Adam and his crew. If we come back this way, Adam’s company will be the first I contact.

Tour was scheduled for a Monday, but the operator contacted us and asked if we could reschedule to the next evening as the weather was going to be poor. We were able to do that, so the operator scheduled us for 10pm the next evening. As it turned out, the weather was too good. Since it doesn’t get dark in Alaska in early August until around midnight, the start of the tour was pushed back to 11pm. Our guide, June, picked us up at about 11 and we set off for the adventure. June drove us out of town towards a state park for about 30 minutes and found a deserted road to park on. Unfortunately, it was still too bright and the ‘lights’ weren’t expected to be terribly bright that night. June moved the van to another spot, facing north and we settled in to wait. She said patience was the most important tool we could have. Eventually, she noticed a very slight discoloration of the northern sky. We all bailed out of the van into the chilly night air. Sure enough, there were slight smudges of greenish light. We took some pictures and then things settled down. We got back in the van to warm up. We thought maybe that was it. Then, about 15 minutes later, brighter smudges appeared in the east. And then the show really began. Beautiful tendrils of ghostly green light burst into view. There were shooting stars to add to the excitement. There were also smudges of red and purple lights for variety. We watched for about an hour, taking many pictures. Finally, the lights seemed to fade a bit and we were freezing, so we called it about 2:30am. June would’ve stayed until dawn. She was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the lights and did a great job. Highly recommended.