It’s 11pm and the temperature is close to freezing point and I am outside like a kid with a new toy enjoying and photographing the wavy green lights in the night sky. It is a moment to savour and a moment of luck as only two hours earlier the sky was blanketed in thick cloud. I had two objectives for this trip. The main one of course was to see and photograph grizzlies in the wild. My research did not let me down and Katmai delivered in spades. To round my short trip I decided to try my luck at seeing and photographing the aurora something that fascinated me from childhood. These are produced by solar storms interacting with the earth’s atmosphere and attracted to the magnetic poles. There are a lot of variables that must be satisfied before we see one so they are elusive and a rare prize. My research for this online pointed me to Bettles in Alaska so here I am! Bettles, population now down to 8 only just retains the status of a city within the US and is the smallest in the country. If it wasn’t for the fact that we are 35 miles north of the Arctic circle there would be tumble weed blowing down the main street. There is no road access and the few dwellings tend to hug the gravel airstrip which is the lifeline of this place. Occasional barges do make it up the river to deliver supplies and, fascinatingly in the winter with snow covering the tundra the people here carve a road 30 miles through the forest to meet up with the Dalton Hwy allowing road transport down to Fairbanks some 200 miles away. This is a place that is truly “off the grid” and the few remaining locals like it that way. As my host Eric puts it “I was born in the wrong century, I should have been here 100 years ago”. Hopefully my photos capture the essence of this faded wild west wannabe town and the last couple of pictures feature the aurora. Mission accomplished, I am coming home soon! 
