Caribou Lake Aurora 001

I was very glad that I had set my alarm for midnight when I pulled up to the boat launch on Caribou Lake. The predicted aurora was dancing across the night sky.

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Caribou Lake Aurora 002

The lake was so calm that the “Big Dipper” could be seen on the surface of the water.

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For several hours the northern lights danced from bright green to yellow, red and pink.

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Caribou Lake Aurora 004

Another photographer that I had met earlier in the day followed my suggestion and went to the same spot. I photographed him on the dock with the radiating colors in the background. He was very grateful for the advice on where to go to get aurora photos. The sky to the right of the dock looks like a face in the northern lights.

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Caribou Lake Aurora 005

A light fog started to drift over the lake. There were about a half dozen meteorites that went across the night sky but this small one was the only one I caught on camera.

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Caribou Lake Aurora 006

The International Space Station passed overhead. See how far the weightless station travelling at almost 18,000 miles per hour moved in the 30 seconds that I had the shutter open. It can circle the earth in 90 minutes.

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Caribou Lake Aurora 7

About the time that we saw the space station, a wolf started howling on the ridge behind us. Shortly after that a loon call echoed across the lake and a barred owl’s unique voice came from the cedars to the south of us. It couldn’t have been a more peaceful night.

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Caribou Lake Aurora 008

The red and pink in the aurora intensified for a grand finale as I checked my watch and found out it was 4:00 in the morning. Three hours had passed without ever realizing it. The aurora subsided as I got into my car to head home.

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