“Aurora Breaks the Horizon” – Saturday November 21, 2014
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This wasn’t the best aurora on Saturday night by far, but I felt it perfectly encapsulates the evening. I hiked out to Angel Rocks in the Chena River State Recreation Area. It was a new moon and it was DARK! I’ve done a lot of solo hiking, and my fair share of walking at night, but when I turned my headlamp off it was difficult to see 2 feet in front of me on the start of the trail. Throw in the howling wind with the creaking and cracking trees and I’m not ashamed to admit that I was a little uneasy for a bit.
After about half a mile on the trail I came out of the woods and into an old burn area where the trees are sparse. The stars started to provide a bit of light. There was some diffuse aurora and the Milky Way spanned the sky. I hung out here for a bit to take some photos, and for a brief moment some rays of aurora started to break over the horizon. The wind was blowing the trees like mad, the forest was dark, the stars were bright – and it just felt so cool to be out there.
Here is the full gallery from this evening
Nikon D7000
Tokina 11-16 mm f/2.8 lens
Focal Length: 13 mm
ISO: 1600
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 20 sec
