If your dream is to dog sled in arctic Alaska and witness the Northern Lights, this travel post is for you!
A vast wilderness of untouched, ice-capped beauty.
The distant sound of a bald eagle’s call
or the sound of absolutely nothing at all
Dark midnight sky with streaks of green ribbons
That’s Arctic Alaska northern lights.
It’s definitely a place I need to go back to and experience multiple seasons in. But, this trip had a mission to see the Northern Lights, which are most visible around March or September when the nights are very dark and the lights are at their peak, but its not as cold as the dead of winter. The days are somewhat normal as well- sunrise around 8 am, sunset around 8pm. So I rounded up a couple of my close friends, packed up my heavy coat and Sorel -40ºF below boots, and bought our tickets to Fairbanks, Alaska.
During the day it was pretty warm (30-40ºF), but at night…..oh at night…..driving up to the arctic circle…..that was the coldest cold I have ever felt. We had a van full of freezing people trying to see the Northern Lights at the wee hours of the morning. We came prepared though, we brought sandwiches and hot chocolate to warm up our bones. We weren’t lucky that night- the geomagnetic strength wasn’t strong enough to see the lights, but this road trip was entirely worth it.
The Northern Lights are actually the result of collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth’s atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun’s atmosphere. Variations in color are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. For Alaska’s northern lights, the most common auroral color is a pale yellowish-green, which is produced by oxygen molecules located about 60 miles above the earth. Rare, all-red auroras are produced by high-altitude oxygen, at heights of up to 200 miles. Nitrogen produces blue or purplish-red aurora.
We made sure to immerse ourselves in as much of Alaska as we could fit in. Tried elk and caribou (can’t eat Moose commercially in Alaska), drank locally brewed beer, signed a waiver and climbed a glacier, visited a geothermal hot spring, drank at an ice bar, Saw Mt. McKinley, and every night we would stay up late to try and catch a glimpse of these beautiful lights in person.
Next stop on our list was Chena Geothermal Hot Spring & Ice bar! The ice bar was in the Aurora Ice museum where they had beautifully intricate ice sculptures on display. We sat down for a few Appletinis on ice stools that were thankfully covered with fur for our bums.
Afterwards, we ventured to the Hot Springs. There were heat lamps between the locker room and the spring except for the last few feet leading into the hot spring, which was frigid in full clothing much less a bathing suit. It was worth it, plus we had a hit of adrenaline getting into the hot spring. The best part was when you put your head back into the warm water and the second you expose your hair to the arctic air, your hair strands would crystallize instantaneously! Around midnight we got out to dry off and layer up so that we could try to spot any Aurora in the sky. You can’t see the sky from the hot spring because of all the steam in the air. The moment we ran outside, we were greeted with quick wisps of vibrant green paint strokes in the clear night sky!
If you want to do a tour like this, the resort offers the ice bar/hot springs/Aurora package here!
Before leaving Fairbanks, there was one more adventure I needed to go on…..DOG SLEDDING! This was probably one of the most memorable parts of the trip. We got to be drivers and passengers on our own dog sled over a frozen river and really put our skiing skills to the test. The dogs were so friendly and outgoing and made the experience such a thrill!
Next up: Glacier climbing was such a remote, off-grid experience! We flew to Anchorage where we spent the rest of our trip. We trekked into the icy wilderness that felt as if we were North of the Wall in Game of Thrones. For a few hours we enjoyed the tranquil sounds of nothing but the crunch of the snow under our boots. This was a glacier that they expect won’t last too much longer, so we really took that into perspective when seeing it with our own eyes.
The booking group we used for tours and accommodations are Alaska Adventure Tours, LLC- however I believe they are not in business anymore, but there are many other Alaska Northern Lights tour companies.
