Auroras

 Friday March 6

We had a leisurely morning (since the original plan had been for us to be up late last night watching lights ). It was another cloudy and unseasonably warm (about -5) day, after the overnight 3 inches of fresh powdery snow. We were pleased that an Arctic hare decided to take a nap right outside the lodge.

 After brunch in town, we spent time with a local artist, creating our own depictions of the aurora using pastels. She grew up in Churchill, moved away as a teenager, and returned in her thirties with an increased appreciation of the place. Her description of the aurora and its symbolism was moving. After our art class, we searched for a rumored arctic fox, but apparently it had moved on. 

The weather outlook was for clearing skies  (with increased wind) for the afternoon. Instead, the clouds thickened and a 30 mph NW wind blew last night’s snow into near whiteout conditions. Then just around sunset, the skies started to clear, although the wind did not abate. We quickly piled into the van to get to some sunset viewing spots before heading to dinner.

 We ate dinner in town and went straight to a sled dog property in the taiga forest to look for auroras. The trees protected us from the wind, and the aurora played across the sky for many hours. The full moon rising added another color feature.  For many of our companions, this was their first time seeing the aurora. There were oohs and ahhs and cheers and tears— and a LOT of photography. 

The pictures today are from our cell phones as the big cameras are still warming up from their 4 hours below zero. 

Pictured: the group’s artwork, our resident Arctic hare, sunset, a small selection of aurora photos