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posted: September 30th, 2016 |
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This page actually begins with 8 photos of the Aurora Borealis at around 11:20 PM on August 31st. Then we jump to September 2nd at around 2:20 AM with more Aurora photos. Then we jump to around 11:20 PM on that same date (September 2nd) with more Aurora photos. After that we go to just 4 photos taken on September 3rd and then 3 photos taken on September 4th. The remainder of the page shows only photos taken on September 8th as we travelled to Eagle Summit, on the Steese Highway, and arrived there. September 8th also continues on Page 2. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin August 31st |
On August 31st Kazuya stepped outdoors and witnessed the most amazing display of Aurora that he has seen to date. He hollered at me to come out, but by the time I got my camera ready and my shoes on and actually got outdoors, the best part of it had finished. If I remember correctly, there is a name for this type of display, but I cannot recall it. All photos in this row were taken with a handheld camera, so you can detect motion in the shots in which you can see stars or trees. These were all taken from 20 meters in front of our house.
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 Aug31st_001 _AuroraRC |
 Aug31st_002 _AuroraRC |
 Aug31st_003 _AuroraRC |
In this row the final two shots were taken by me with my camera on a tripod, but the best of the display had already finished.
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 Aug31st_004 _AuroraRC |
 Aug31_4 _AuroraRC |
 Aug31_5 _AuroraRC |
Here are the final two shots from this date. Of course, we actually took 30 or 40 shots, these are just the best ones. Kazuya is not sure which way the first shot in this row should be oriented, it might be correct, or maybe it should be rotated 90° to the left or right. In Photoshop, when you increase the exposure enough, you can see tree branches on all sides of the photo, so it was taken while looking pretty much straight up.
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 Aug31st_006 _AuroraRC |
 Aug31_6 _AuroraRC |
| End August 31st, Begin September 2nd |
Now it's September 2nd and we are being treated to another amazing display of the Aurora Borealis on this date. It was pretty amazing for at least a portion of every night this week. These shots were also taken from about 20 - 30 meters in front of our house and in the first and third shots you can actually see some light from our front window in the lower left portion of each photo.
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 Sept2_1 _AuroraRC |
 Sept2nd_001 _AuroraRC |
 Sept2_2 _AuroraRC |
In the first shot in this row you can again see our front window.
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 Sept2_3 _AuroraRC |
 Sept2nd_003 _AuroraRC |
 Sept2_4 _AuroraRC |
Here are three more Aurora shots.
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 Sept2_5 _AuroraRC |
 Sept2_6 _AuroraRC |
 Sep2_13 _AuroraRC |
In the third shot in this row you should note that in the upper left corner there is a meteor or comet or something.
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 Sep2_16 _AuroraRC |
 Sept2_7 _AuroraRC |
 Sept2nd_024 _AuroraRC |
These three shots were taken from 200 meters or so up the road from our house.
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 Sep2_17 _AuroraRC |
 Sep2_20 _AuroraRC |
 Sep2_21 _AuroraRC |
Here are three more shots which were taken from 200 meters or so up the road from our house.
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 Sep2_26 _AuroraRC |
 Sep2_27 _AuroraRC |
 Sep2_28 _AuroraRC |
And here are the final three more shots from this date, taken from 200 meters or so up the road from our house.
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 Sep2_31 _AuroraRC |
 Sep2_32 _AuroraRC |
 Sep2_37 _AuroraRC |
| End September 2nd, Begin September 3rd |
On September 3rd we walked up the road about 1/2 mile from our house and were treated to this amazing view of the Alaska Range down near Delta Junction, Alaska. Both shots in this row feature Hess Mountain (11,940 ft = 3,639 m) on the left and Mt. Deborah (12,339 ft = 3,761 m) on the right.
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 Sep3_1_DeltaMountains _SteeleCreekRdRC |
 Sep3_5_DeltaMountains _SteeleCreekRdRC |
The first photo in this row shows Mt. Hayes (13,832 ft = 4,216 m) and the second shot again shows Hess Mountain. These mountains are about 88 miles (142 km) away from this location.
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 Sep3_6_DeltaMountains _SteeleCreekRdRC |
 Sep3_7_DeltaMountains _SteeleCreekRdRC |
| End September 3rd, Begin September 4th |
Here are three shots of our property in the morning light as the lighting conditions change from summer to autumn. In the third shot you'll notice that there are quite a few leaves already on the ground on September 4th.
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 Sep4_1 _AutumnYardRC |
 Sep4_2 _AutumnYardRC |
 Sep4_3 _AutumnYardRC |
| End September 4th, Begin September 8th |
On September 8th we went out the Steese Highway all the way to Eagle Summit to see how much things had changed since we took our trip out there on June 23rd and 24th. WOW! Autumn is here.
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 Sep8_01_OnWayEagle Summit_AutumnColorsRC |
 Sept8th_009 _SteeseHWYRC |
 Sept8th_010 _SteeseHWYRC |
Here are three shots showing autumn colors. Here in Central Alaska the primary hardwood tree species are birch and aspen, so we only get yellow and gold colors in the trees. Sometimes some red will show up in the tundra, but only if there is a good frost early enough. The outlined area in the second photo shows the area of the third photo.
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 Sep8_02_OnWayEagle Summit_AutumnColorsRC |
 Sep8_05_06Overlay_OnWayEagle Summit_AutumnColorsRC |
 Sep8_06_OnWayEagle Summit_AutumnColorsRC |
Autumn colors along the Steese Highway. The third shot shows me and our rig at Milepost 57.3 on the Steese Highway - the Davidson Ditch Wayside.
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 Sep8_08_OnWayEagle Summit_AutumnColorsRC |
 Sept8th_042 _SteeseHWYRC |
 Sept8th_047 _SteeseHWYRC |
The first shot in this row shows Kazuya and our rig at Milepost 57.3 on the Steese Highway - the Davidson Ditch Wayside. The second and third shots show more autumn colors.
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 Sep8_10_OnWayEagle Summit_AutumnColorsRC |
 Sep8_09_OnWayEagle Summit_AutumnColorsRC |
 Sep8_12_OnWayEagle Summit_AutumnColorsRC |
All three shots in this row show Blueberry bushes. You'll notice that the berries have been frosted and were rather shriveled up, but they were still delicious. We ate several handfuls and they were very refreshing.
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 Sept8th_057_Steese HWY_BlueberryRC |
 Sep8_16_OnWayEagleSummit_ AutumnColors_BlueberriesRC |
 Sept8th_061_Steese HWY_BlueberryRC |
Now we have left the paved portion of the Steese Highway. The pavement ends at Milepost 80.3 or something close to that. The first shot in this row is just before Twelvemile Summit and the final two shots were taken at Twelvemile Summit (Milepost 85.5).
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 Sept8th_072 _SteeseHWYRC |
 Sep8_18_OnWayEagle Summit_AutumnColorsRC |
 Sep8_19_OnWayEagle Summit_AutumnColorsRC |
These three images were all taken at Twelvemile Summit. The center image is a two-shot panorama.
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 Sept8th_101 _SteeseHWYRC |
 Sep8_20_21_AutoPano_OnWay EagleSummit_AutumnColorsRC |
 Sep8_22_OnWayEagle Summit_AutumnColorsRC |
Here are two more shots of Blueberries. You can easily see that it was still easy to pick a nice handful of them for a snack. The third shot was taken just a short distance before Eagle Summit - our first sighting of snow so close to us.
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 Sept8th_102_Steese HWY_BlueberryRC |
 Sept8th_107_Steese HWY_BlueberryRC |
 Sept8th_119_ EagleSummitRC |
Here are three more shots which show basically the same snowy mountains as previously. In most of these shots you can see piles of tailings - the "leftovers" from gold mining operations. The outlined area in the center photo shows the area of the third photo.
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 Sept8th_120_ EagleSummitRC |
 Sep8_33_34Overlay_OnWay EagleSummit_AutumnColors_SnowRC |
 Sep8_34_OnWayEagleSummit _AutumnColors_SnowRC |
Now we have arrived at Eagle Summit Wayside. The elevation here is 3,685 ft (1,123 m). This afternoon we will be climbing that little mountain you see on the right side of the first photo. The second image is a two-shot panorama. We'll climb the little mountain on the left side of this image. The third shot was taken looking kind of the opposite direction. It shows one of the mountains which we climbed when we were here back in June.
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 Sept8th_127_ EagleSummitRC |
 Sep8_40_41_Auto Pano_EagleSummit_RC |
 Sep8_38_ EagleSummit_RC |
Here are three "autumn color on the mountain" shots. My, what a brilliant red!
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 Sep8_43_ EagleSummit_RC |
 Sept8th_133_ EagleSummitRC |
 Sep8_44_ EagleSummit_RC |
The first shot in this final row shows a Moss Campion (Silene acaulis), which was in amazing bloom when we were here back in June. The center shot shows more autumn color in the small plants and the third shot shows, well, what is it? Does anybody know?
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 Sep8_45_EagleSummit _MossCampionRC |
 Sept8th_137 _EagleSummitRC |
 Sep8_48_ EagleSummit_RC |
| End Page 1, but September 8th Continues on Page 2 |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Now, please go on to Page 2 for the continuation of this adventure. |
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