Chasing the Northern Lights: Photos from Colorado and Wyoming
I had arrived in Fort Collins less than 40 hours prior to when my friend Mel sent a Denver7 news article about the possibility of seeing the Aurora Borealis in Colorado that Friday night and into the weekend.
I was too busy at the time to read the article or even respond, but Mel took the initiative to drive over to Maxwell Open Space that night to look for the Northern Lights. She sent over a photo.
“Wow,” I said. “Were your eyes able to see those colors or only your phone?”
She replied that she really couldn’t see any of the colors with her eyes, especially since there was too much light pollution from the city of Fort Collins.
Intrigued, I began to investigate where might be a good place to see the aurora. While there were reports from folks in eastern Colorado of clearly seeing it, it made sense to head north. After all, that was where the Northern Lights were coming from. So despite my recent resolution to always get to bed on time and get adequate sleep, I made an exception for this night and hopped in my car and headed for Wyoming.
Using Apple Maps, I set a destination on a county road called “Indian Hill” just off a state highway northeast of Cheyenne. I picked this road because of the word “hill,” and also because it looked like it was far enough from any city lights.
Nearly an hour of driving later, I got to the approximate destination… and could not find the road. So I continued a mile later until I encountered another gravel road on the right. I pulled off into it and, to my surprise, there were several cars parked at the base of it. Their passengers were clearly looking for the aurora too. So I continued up the road another mile for some privacy, got out of the car, and waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. It did not take long.
I could clearly see the fabled pink and green colors associated with the Northern Lights. I had seen an aurora borealis at last—the first time in my life!
Knowing that I would be doing nighttime photography, I brought a tripod. I would shoot several photos, then climb back into the car to review them as it was a bit chilly outside. Each time I emerged from the car, the aurora looked different. The colors were changing all the time.
In my photos, the colors looked particularly vibrant. In real life, they were a bit fainter.
Still, I was thrilled to see the aurora and even stayed at the same spot for 45 minutes to watch it. Finally, I headed home, arriving at 1:30 a.m.
The next day, my friends (particularly the one dubbed E) were a bit bummed to have missed the Northern Lights.
“I fell asleep at 10:30 p.m.,” E wrote. His home security cameras did catch the aurora on video, and it appeared that he had missed seeing it in person by a mere 45 minutes.
We kept a lookout for the aurora during the next couple of days. Saturday night, however, was too cloudy to see anything.
On Sunday, E sent an article by the Washington Post claiming that there was still a chance to see the aurora that night. Wanting to do a camping trip anyhow, after doing a century bike ride, I drove over to Crow Valley Campground—near the Pawnee National Grasslands about 50 minutes east of Fort Collins—and set up a tent. There was no sign of the Northern Lights when I arrived, nor was there any when I peeked out of my tent every so often for the next few hours.
Ultimately, I set up a GoPro, put it on time-lapse mode, and went to sleep.
The next day I reviewed the GoPro video, which is below. As you can see, there was no trace of a solar storm.
I did awaken to a nice sunrise, however. Also mooing cows. Ones that thought they were bulls.
I did a short recovery jog/walk around the campground and on a bird-watching route before departing. On the drive home, I reflected upon how lucky I was to have seen the aurora on the first night, since the second and third nights turned out to be fruitless.
Hopefully, there are opportunities to see unusual solar activity in the upcoming years. A lesson I took from all this was when the opportunity to see an aurora presents itself, drop what you are doing and seize the moment. Predicting them is an inexact science, and you never know when you will have the chance again.
