Aurora
We had been driving all day but had only been looking for a new campsites four a couple of hours. We had looked at five but we were looking for something special. The Kp index (prediction for auroras) was high at 7. We needed a camp spot that had a good view of the eastern sky. Southern Yukon and northern Alberta are heavily wooded so finding a clear view of the sky would require an open spot. That meant camping by a lake or river.
I searched the map and found what looked like a perfect spot on the west side of a lake just off the highway. It was even in a small designated campground. It was only an hour down the road. When we arrived at the turn off an EarthRoamer turned down the road in front of us. We were thinking they were going to take the last spot! The short road through the trees was tight but the EarthRoamer squeezed through and found a great spot right on the shore. We traveled a little farther and found a spot tucked in the trees. About an hour later we discovered that great spot near the shore was not so great as it happened to be the boat ramp. A fisherman came along with a boat and asked the EarthRoamer to move. We got lucky. If we had parked there, in our tent camper, it would have meant packing up to move. The EarthRoamer just drove to another spot.
That night we sat up waiting for an aurora but it never happened. We went to bed disappointed but you can’t really predict where a solar storm will light up the sky.
We decided to stay in camp the following day to look around and clean up the camper. We were thinking that maybe the next night we might see something. It turned cold that night and we huddled in blankets near the shore until a bit after 9:00. The sky was clear but again, no aurora. Disappointed we went to bed. Around 1:00 I woke up and need to take care of some business outside. I stepped out of the tent to a sky dancing with green light! You never know how long it will last so woke him up to get his camera ready while I took care of business. Then we walked to the edge of the lake where we spent an hour or so taking photos. Click the video below to see our time lapse of the northern lights.