Last night (and early this morning) we took a tour through Viator to see the Northern Lights. I was filled with anticipation as we boarded the van and headed out of town. Our tour guide, who told us to call him Red, was very knowledgeable and explained how the phenomenon occurred, what to look for and how to prepare our eyes to view the beautiful lights.

The night was very cloudy and I tried to temper my expectations, as it was quite possible that I would not be able to see any of the phenomena. We drove to the first location and Red checked for any activity, which there was very little so he drove out a bit farther. There he said he saw the beginnings of the activity and we all got out and looked around. At first, I just saw clouds.

Then, I started to see light behind the clouds.

Finally, the activity got to be much stronger.

I am so glad that Red talked us into staying a bit longer than we wanted to originally because the activity was low. I was impressed by how much I could see with the naked eye. But even more impressed by what I could see in the camera.

I hope to see more of this phenomena in the future!