Chasing the Northern Lights in Montana

I had heard about the Northern Lights. I had seen pictures from various sources. But I never realized I’d be able to see them myself. When I moved back to Montana, my buddy Steve pointed out that we can actually see them from Montana. He’d always give me a heads up when there was a chance of the lights popping off.

I eventually learned how to read the NOAA site to tell for myself when there was an opportunity, and eventually bought an app to alert me. We can usually catch a glimpse when the KP is 4 or higher, and earlier this month the KP hit 9.

It was a Thursday, and I have a day job, but the place I wanted to shoot was only an hour north of me. I figured I could shoot all night, sleep in the GFC (full post about the GFC camper later,) and make it back to town before work on Friday. Solid plan.

The dog and I got out to Willow Creek Reservoir a little after 7PM and started setting up. Technically, I did all the setting up–he just ran around sniffing all the things.

It got dark around 7:30, so I started making dinner. I happened to turn around at some point and there they were. Normally, the lights aren’t visible to the naked eye–they just look like white wisps of fog in the sky. But there was color tonight. I grabbed my phone to snap a quick picture, (great way to confirm where the lights are before aiming the big camera,) and they were everywhere. I’ve never seen them directly above me, but there they were.

I left my dinner to simmer and hurried to get the time lapse started on the Sony. With that doing its thing, I sat down to eat and just watch the show.

After awhile I stopped the time lapse, changed the camera angle, and started another time lapse. Every now and then I’d grab a photo with the iPhone just for the hell of it. Best light show I’ve seen.

Eventually, the cold got the best of me, so with the camera running a time lapse, the dog and I retired to the back of the truck. I moved the small bed panels in the GFC, sat my camp chair and table in the back of the truck, fired up the Buddy heater, and settled in to watch a movie on the iPad.

The clouds rolled in around 10PM, so I retrieved the Sony, hoisted the dog up into the tent, and got some sleep.

Morning came early, and after a much-needed cup of hot coffee, we headed back to town to finish off the work week.