Two weeks ago, I embarked on an unexpected trip to the North Shore of Lake Superior and Duluth, Minnesota to chase the aurora borealis. It might seem like an odd destination to most, since Minnesota isn’t exactly known for northern lights sightings. I was in that same boat until I witnessed the aurora borealis firsthand from Chicago’s Montrose Beach (about 5 miles from downtown) twice in one week!
Around midnight on Monday, October 7th, social media lit up with reports of auroral activity to the north. Despite the late hour, I raced over to Montrose Beach, which offers an unobstructed view north across Lake Michigan. And there they were! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would see the northern lights for the first time in the middle of Chicago! I was immediately captivated by the science behind them and why they were visible so far south.
It turns out a powerful G5-class geomagnetic storm, a disturbance in Earth’s magnetic field caused by intense solar activity, pushed the aurora much further south than usual. The strength of this solar storm interacting with our atmosphere allowed the aurora to be visible at lower latitudes, and the clear skies and minimal light pollution over Lake Michigan made for ideal viewing conditions in Chicago.
I came home at around 2 AM on Tuesday morning, completely overwhelmed by the experience. I still couldn’t believe my what I had seen. Anyway fast forward 36 hours and it was the middle of the working day on Wednesday, when I saw an alert go out from the NOAA that we were under a G5-class storm watch! The flare was expected to hit some time Thursday or Friday. Surely it couldn’t happen again within a manner of a week!
I quickly started browsing for locations where I could see the lights. At first I checked tickets for Banff National Park and Iceland. Both places had outrageous ticket prices and frankly the weather also looked iffy in Banff. Looking at the map above, I noticed that Minnesota was in the red zone. I looked at driving directions from Chicago to Northern Minnesota, but that entailed 8+ hours in the car on a working day. When I went over and looked at award availability on United.com, I noticed that there was saver space on a United flight the following day to Duluth. A quick comparison with prices on Aeroplan revealed the same flight for 6,000 miles + 47 CAD each way, sealing the deal on my impulsive aurora adventure. Please note that Aeroplan miles
Next step was booking a rental car as well as hotel. It turned out that the rates weren’t too exorbitant with AVIS at $50/day. My search for accommodation in Duluth proved challenging, with most hotels either fully booked or demanding exorbitant rates exceeding $400 per night. While Choice Hotels aren’t my typical preference, I decided to explore their options using Choice Hotel Points. To my relief, I found availability at the Lift Bridge Lodge for 45,000 points per night. Although a steep price compared to the more economical and superior Nordic Choice Hotels, it was a far cry better than the alternative $400 price tag. Yes, I realize this isn’t really a true deal, but given the short notice, I thought this was reasonable.
Pressed for time, I hadn’t had a chance to research ideal viewing locations for the aurora borealis before my impromptu trip. In fact, I arrived at the airport a mere 30 minutes before departure! It was during the Uber ride to O’Hare that I frantically consulted a dark site finder, managing to identify a few promising spots for aurora viewing in northern Minnesota.
Given the cloud cover upon arrival, I opted for a dark sky location near McGregor, Minnesota, instead of the North Shore of Lake Superior. Much to my disappointment, a promising lake (facing north) I had discovered on social media was inaccessible due to an ongoing hunt and subsequent safety closures. Luckily the lady working at the Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center was kind enough to direct me toward another lake in the area facing north.
After a tense 30-minute drive, I arrived at Dam Lake, where the sky held the promise of a vibrant sunset. Although there were more high clouds than anticipated, I remained optimistic that they wouldn’t hinder my aurora viewing experience. From what I read, a few high clouds were ok.
There I stood waiting for the sun to go down and the sky to darken. I was so excited about the prospect of seeing the northern lights that I was impervious to the mosquitoes buzzing around my face. On a normal day, I would’ve left the area in an instant.
About 30 minutes after sunset the sky began to darken enough to where one could recohnize some minor shades of pink in the sky, not caused by the sunlight hitting the clouds. If you honestly didn’t know what you were looking for, you would prob ignore this.
The sparse cloud cover which I presumed wouldn’t be a problem actually ended up being a problem initially. I could barely see the lights through the gaps in the clouds. It was only when the strength of the light reached Kp9.3 that the sky began to explode with color.
My cameras at the time were facing north, but the lights really started to kick off toward the east oddly enough and so here I was scrambling to reposition my cameras as the lights began to move around.
The show escalated to a fever pitch of excitement, leaving me convinced that Thor was about to make a grand entrance via the Bifrost. All this unfolded under the watchful gaze of a waxing gibbous moon, adding to the already surreal atmosphere.
As the aurora borealis danced southward, I was drawn to an unremarkable parking lot, where a solitary light cast its glow upon trees ablaze with autumnal splendor. I didn’t have much foreground to work with in the dark, nor was I sure when the show would end so I didn’t venture away from the scene.
As the aurora borealis faded, I found myself navigating the unpaved backroads of northern Minnesota. The pitch-black night made composing photographs a real challenge. Every passing headlight sparked a momentary paranoia, an absurd fear of being perceived as some lurking figure in the darkness. I certainly didn’t want to frighten some random farmer or worse yet a dog in the middle of the night. I eventually pulled over near a bridge running over a creek as the lights gently began to dance once again.
A few thousand feet ahead, the aurora twisted in the sky, a chilling replica of the Dark Mark. I pulled over, half-expecting to see a hooded figure apparating onto the road. Surely, the Death Eater responsible couldn’t be far behind? Maybe I should have bought that wand at the Wizarding World after all.
I’d been on that deserted road for a while when a creeping sense of paranoia took hold. A Chevy sedan had cruised by several times now, each pass a little slower than the last. I told myself it was probably nothing—another aurora chaser, maybe someone lost. But the rational part of my brain couldn’t shake the image of a robbery unfolding in this isolated darkness. I immediately hopped in my SUV and sped off toward the main road.
I made a quick detour on the way back, stopping to photograph a field of hay bales I’d spotted earlier. At this point the aurora was still going strong but cloud cover really started to make its way north. I probably would’ve stuck around, but a dog started barking in the distance and I certainly didn’t want to wake up the neighborhood at 1 AM.
Arriving at my hotel in Duluth, I stepped out of the car to find the northern lights dancing overhead. Right in the middle of the city! The show was still going strong, so I grabbed my camera and headed back towards the lakefront. I couldn’t believe it. The boardwalk was deserted, the lighthouse beacon cutting through the darkness, and above it all, the aurora borealis shimmered and pulsed. I’d always pictured seeing the northern lights in some remote, icy wilderness like Iceland, not above a city in the contiguous US. Just unbelievable!
It was probably 4 AM before I finally crashed, exhausted but exhilarated. Part of me wished I hadn’t booked that hotel room. Maybe I could have chased the aurora all night, driving those dark highways until the first hint of dawn. But then again, “we live only once” cuts both ways, doesn’t it? Sometimes you have to know when to call it a night and recharge for the adventures to come. And the next day was just as fantastic as the night of auroras (more on that later).
Resources I used to find the Northern Lights:
For Finding Dark Skies:
Aurora Forecasts:
Cloud Forecasts:
Apps that might be useful:
Did you see the Aurora Borealis on October 10? Where did you see it from?
Were all the colors visible with naked eye.
Here in Minneapolis, the pink color was visible with naked eye but all the rest were only visible via camera
When the sky exploded in color, it was VERY visible to the naked eye. Of course it wasn’t as vibrant as some of my images. It was psychedelic and I wasn’t sure whether it was lack of sleep or the lights . They really do dance! I wonder how they look farther north in like Iceland etc.