Bucket List Trip in Alaska

Birthday under the LightsAn absolutely epic way to bring in my 36th birthday with an aurora explosion on our last group night together in the Arctic Circle.We got home from our Arctic aurora excursion at 5 am, had a piece of birthday cake and went to bed.Such an unreal trip with a great group of people in Alaska.

Quartz Lake, Alaska

With the SpaceX Starship launch countdown to now 48 hours (today’s launch postponed), here is a shot from a special night under the stars near Delta Junction, Alaska.
Our group photographed these quaint ice fishing huts with the aurora dancing when all of a sudden, 56 Starlink satellites shot across the sky for a 7 minute show.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 launched the satellites just hours earlier from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Aurora over Donnelly Dome!

Delta Junction, Alaska.

Castner Glacier, Delta Junction, Alaska

One of the more accessible glaciers in Alaska, Castner Glacier ice cave is a 2.6 mile out and back icy hike, just a couple hours from Fairbanks.

I pulled into the parking lot late as the sun was about to set, as did another fellow with similar hiking aspirations.

We both realized that with the icy and at times deep snowy conditions, it'd be nice to hike with a partner so it was nice to have hiking buddy Guarav to walk with.

Once we set out for the cave and getting turned around off trail a bit, it was special having the cave to ourselves at sunset. With Guarav in the photos, it showed just how giant this cave was. I considered staying around for a couple hours and waiting for the Northern Lights but the clouds rolled in-killing any chances of that idea.

I'm still wondering how the US purchased this absolutely incredible state for only 7.2 million dollars in 1867 (about 125 million dollars today) from the Russians. Interesting comparing this to my favorite team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, which is currently worth 2 billion dollars!

My first Great Gray Owl!

This beauty sat across the river on the top of a pine before diving into the snow behind the trees!

We had only a few minutes with this gorgeous bird (a lifer!) and we were so grateful to have a brief experience with this stunning creature. Fingers crossed he returns before we head home in a few days!

Night 1, Fairbanks, Alaska

Treated myself to a bucket list trip for my 36th birthday in a week-seeing the Northern Lights in Alaska!

The trip is already off to an incredible start-we were welcomed by a severe G4 geomagnetic aurora storm on our flight into Alaska!

I was seated on the wrong side (southern facing) of the plane but a friendly family kept letting me peek my head over and rip a few shots though the window.

Can't wait to see what the skies give us over the next week-I was like a kid at Christmas with excitement seeing the lights dance across the sky. Time lapses also coming soon!

What we arrived to outside of our AirBnb!

Birthday under the Lights

An absolutely epic way to bring in my 36th birthday with an aurora explosion on our last group night together in the Arctic Circle.

We got home from our Arctic aurora excursion at 5 am, had a piece of birthday cake and went to bed.

Such an unreal trip with a great group of people in Alaska.

Now I'll continue on for few days by myself before heading home on Tuesday!

Check out the moose tracks on the side of this image!

Alaskan Pipeline!

Ice fishing is one of the most popular pastimes in Alaska.

Birthday under the Lights

An absolutely epic way to bring in my 36th birthday with an aurora explosion on our last group night together in the Arctic Circle.

We got home from our Arctic aurora excursion at 5 am, had a piece of birthday cake and went to bed.

Such an unreal trip with a great group of people in Alaska.