Last weekend, I ended up in one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen in my time in Alaska. And that’s saying something, because I’ve seen a lot of beautiful things here.
Mitch convinced Laura, a few friends, and I to join him on an adventure out to this public use cabin he had heard about and visited the week before, so we took his word for its existence, got together supplies for hot dogs and s’mores, climbed into the car, and headed out.
We arrived at the beginning of a bumpy and muddy trail and piled into two side-by-sides for the next leg of the journey. After about 20 minutes of bumping through the tundra, getting out to walk around huge puddles, and seeing few signs of life anywhere, part of me began to wonder if Mitch had lost his mind and was just going to abandon us somewhere in the wilderness. As I sat pondering this possibility, we drove across a stream and rounded a few bends, and an incredible view of a cabin positioned in a beautiful valley atop a stream unfolded before us.
After a wonderful night of potato chips, hot dogs, and s’mores over a bonfire, and good conversations with friends, it was time to head home. We packed everything up in the dark, tucked Mitch into the back of the side-by-side with our friends’ dog in his arms, and started the trek home. A few minutes later, we heard Mitch yell something over the roar of the engine. I could just make out the words “northern lights” and see him point towards the sky to our right.
I looked, and there I saw a magical and mesmerizing greenish smear across the sky. And as I stared out the window, full of good food and in the company of good friends, listening to the sound of the side-by-side, and feeling the bumps of the dirt road beneath me, I decided that I couldn’t imagine a more perfect moment to see the aurora for the first time.
