Yes, it was just September but it was fall in Alaska. The Aspen had turned, and we spent a full week immersed in their glorious colors.
We had actually planed this trip for last year, 2020, but the Wuhan bug changed all of that. The travel restrictions were so mind boggling, that we delayed till now. Here we were in Fairbanks to view and hopefully capture the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis, which ever term you choose to use.
There are six of us traveling in our rental car, Dottie and I, and our two daughters and their husbands, Robin and Kyle Harder, Renee and James Hall. One of life's special treats is to travel with family.
Fairbanks, September 11, 2021
Fairbanks is the home of the World Ice Carving Championship, and it is coming February 14th ~ March 31st, 2022. This is a very unique time in Fairbanks, when Ice Carvers from all over the world come and do their sculpturing. Too, by mid February Fairbanks has generally come out of it's Deep Freeze, and the weather for the Ice Carving Championship is 5 ~ 10 degrees for highs and lows from -5 ~ -10. I captured photos of a few photos from the 2019 Championship, that were saved in the Ice Museum.
An Ice Carving? Nope this is side walk painting and just in front of the Ice Museum. The painting looked just as real as the real thing. One sure stepped around to avoid slipping on the ice.
Photo of Video presentation on a carving in the from of a slide. The little one didn't care how cold it was. "I'm coming down just watch me". She was dressed for Fairbanks in February..
Photos of video presentation to capture the use of lights within and on the sculptures. The daylight hours are actually very good this time of year; as in mid February it its about 9 hours of daylight, and by the end of March it has risen to 13 hours of day light.
OH! This is Alaska's favorite rental RV. We've driven our own RV to Alaksa three time, but do not pass by the idea of flying and renting. But by all means go for the full summer and for nothing less than 3 months.
These are the Ice Carvers tools plus electric grinders.. One of the benefits of ice cravingis is if the artist makes a mistake, he just adds a little water and tomorrow his mistake is erased and he can start over..
James in his Ice Halo. We are now in the cool room at 20 degrees within the Ice Museum, and most of the carvings they have on display were created for the 2019 Championship. The Ice Carving was cancelled in 2020 because of Covid.
The Ice Bar - Yes, a stocked back bar looks inviting. Cool!
If there might be a saloon and beer near by, trust our kids to find it. James and Renee having been associated with Anheuser Busch; they are our Professional Cerveza Tasters. Kyle doesn't mess with the tasting, he's on for the bottle.
Kyle is in the middle of his ice slide ride, but he'll tell you that from this point to the end is a speedy dude.
Robin and Kyle in their Ice Halo's. I'm not sure if Kyle's smile is from the Cerveza or the speed of the Ice Sled?
The Artist was in the Cold Room and we on the outside, but he put on a quick carving show for us. He was using an electric grinder for this carving. Neat!
Chena Hot Springs Resort on the Chena River - Sept 12th
Download(the download will give you a full screen width photo with very vivid colors. To return just hit your back button)
Chena Hot Springs was founded over a hundred and ten years ago by two Gold Mining brothers, Robert and Thomas Swan. By 1905 Robert was suffering from rheumatism and needed a place to calm his pain. The two brothers set out to find the hot springs. It took them a month to reach the hot springs after searching for it in the interior of Alaska's harsh landscape. In 1922 twelve small cabins were built to accommodate visitors. The twelve cabins developed, and they have become one of the most famous resorts in the interior of Alaska. Famous enough for that Department of Agriculture has had their chemists analyze the properties of the hot water.
The fall colors of our our morning walk. This is a gergeous location and a wonderful resort facility.
The large spray from the high left is actually from an old jet spray head used in gold mining operations. They have reduced the pressure and now pump hot spring water offering on a great water massage. Mickie liked it.
Lookie Here, if we are not soaking in all the goodness of these healing waters. Where the two ladies behind us are standing is the inflow of the stream, and that water is Hot. A few minutes in that flow was heap a plenty.
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This Resort is a "Class Act"
The Kids took a walk up the mountain to where the Aurora Yurt is located. They took these photos with an iPhone. Pretty darn good photography.
From the dome with an iPhone showing the Hot Spring Valley. Too, there is a runway just starting at the last building. Flying here is only for the brave at heart, plus young pilots.
Sunday night - the 12th
As shown in the above photo we are down in the valley for shooting this grouping.
These Aurora photos were taken the first evening we were at Chena. The Rp index was '3', which indicated that the Aurora would be good. We gathered at the Activity Center about 10:00pm, where we could wait on the Borealis to develop.
We began taking these photos about 12:30 pm. Having never photographed the Aurora we relied on Mr. Google for some suggested settings. Our lens were f4 at our smallest aperture, so we played from shooting between 6 seconds and 30 seconds on lens speed and varied our ISO settings from 1600 to 3200. Thank you Google you leading us down a good path. The stars in the sky, accented by the Aurora, are magnificant.
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Canon R - 16mm 20 sec at f4 IS0 3200
Renee caught this one perfectly with the vertical streams, and look at the Big Dipper and the North Star dead center.
See what just a few minutes make in the view. As the Aurora moves so does our view of the intensity of the vertical stems. Awesome!
Download Canon R - 16mm 20 sec at f4 IS0 3200; The Aurora peaking over the mountain ridge with the RV Park on the left.
Renee captured the Bid Dipper again.
Download Canon RP - 6 sec at f4 IS0 1600
Again the light from the Activity Center is evident, but still look at not only the Aurora but look at the star decked heavens.
Download Canon RP - 16mm 6 sec f4 IS0 1600
One could not see the total color when shooting, and it was when processing that the beautiful red band became evident. 
Download Canon R - 16mm 20 sec at f4 IS0 3200
The light you see reflecting as window panes is exactly those from the viewing room in the Activity Center, and someone has the room lights turned on. The viewing room was actually pretty neat, as one could escape the cold to warm up and get a cup of hot chocolate. It is getting late so we grab our cup of hot chocolate and mosey back to our cabin. It is about 2:30 am So Good Night All.
These two young people were working the refreshment bar in the Activity Center. Both are College students from North Carolina and are taking a fall sabbatical to work in Alaska. Neat happy kids!
Download Canon R 16mm 20 sec f4 ISO 3200
From the Valley this is as pretty as it gets. The beauty of the Northern Lights.
Come on Willie sing us another verse, and we’ll move on down the road.
Wait a minute, we're not leaving the Hot Springs, as tomorrow, Monday, we're off to the top of the mountain to capture the soul of the Aurora Borealis.
