The Chase

heavily photoshopped, no regrets

We got to see the Northern Lights!!!

For a couple months now, I've hoped we could go far north when northern lights were expected to break into Wyoming and Colorado. Last Thursday was the first time I was actually able to leave home to chase the aurora borealis. I am officially addicted now!

tiny hints of northern lights over the Denver metro

We watched the weather and smoke forecasts prior to the big event. We'd planned to go to Estes Park and drive up Trail Ridge Road. The forecast there, though, was cloudy and possibly stormy. So we thought perhaps Fort Collins or Cheyenne. But both were forecast to be too smoky. So were Fort Morgan and Sterling.

The only north part of the state, which was about all Lizard thought he could handle, with a possibility of clear skies was directly east. I thought perhaps Last Chance might be far enough from the metro city lights for us to see what I expected to be a tiny band of color.

Denver metro northern lights

Neither of us had ever been to Last Chance, so we didn't know we passed right through it. We kept thinking we would find this little town with the final gas station before the Kansas state line. I could see what looked like smoke to the north. I kept trying to look for color as we passed through one tiny little blip on the map after another. Nothing was open.

Last Chance

Finally, at 8 p.m., I noticed two beams of white emanating from the "cloud" of smoke. I knew that wasn't smoke. I told Lizard we found northern lights, and I pulled over on the very next county road, which had power lines, but what we saw was so overwhelming, I didn't mind the distractions.

straight out of camera

Once I got out of the car, the white "cloud" was no longer white. The tint on the car windows had camoflaged the pink and green. The naked eye view wasn't intense, but it was most definitely northern lights, and I could see them! I snapped a phone photo, and it captured an explosion of color! I'd heard that often happens, that the aurora is more dramatic via digital images.

straight out of camera

We watched the lights dance all the way up over our heads for about 15 or 20 minutes. I took a few photos. The wind was blowing, so I had a hard time keeping the tripods still, but my phone has image stabilization, so my photos aren't too bad, in my opinion. They are not perfect, but they captured what might be one of the best nights of my life.

filtered

We decided to continue looking for Last Chance because I was getting low on fuel. Next thing we knew (had to wait a long time for cell phone signal), we were 39 miles from Burlington, where I hoped we could get gas. Gas was available, but food was not. Both of us were hungry. All we had in the car were cheese crackers, cashews and a few chocolate mint wafer cookies. Oh, and one bottle of water.

filtered

We kept seeing fields of flashing red lights. Lizard thought they might be directional assistance for flights. We noticed the outline of a windmill, and Lizard announced, "They are windmills, and a lot of them!" Boy, there really were! Fields and fields full of them for miles!

All the way back into the metro area, almost everything was closed. It was after midnight, and both of us were hungry. We finally found a McDonald's in Limon. I didn't know what I was going to eat; I don't eat beef because it's too hard for me to digest. They had chicken Big Macs!

We got home about 2 a.m., so it was a long day. We both were so exhaused, we both fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows. I think we both will be dreaming about northern lights for many days to come!

heavily photoshopped, no regrets

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