My sister had found and booked a Northern Lights tour with Alta Adventures. They take you in a mini bus, driving to places away from the city lights of Alta, in search of clear skies to view the northern lights.
We gathered near the cruise ship just before 8, and were assigned out bus. We were on bus 4 with Roger as our guide. Our first stop was their office, where we got some information about the northern lights, led by our guide.
Then we headed out. There 8 people in our bus. 2 couples who were traveling together from the Orlando area, my sister and I, and another couple.
We drove north, and Roger stopped at a few locations to get out of the bus to check conditions. He finally settled on a spot which had a mountain nearby that helped block some of the wind, with a decent clear amount.
We got there around 924pm. Using the night mode on my android, I got some nearly daytime photos of the area.
We were going to have to leave by 1040pm, because of maintenance that was being done in a tunnel that led back to Alta. So we waited a while but nothing really showed up.
While waiting, my sister and I got to talking to Roger. He is from the area, but went to high school near Tromso, and then was in the Norwegian army for 38 years. He also traveled ro Niagara falls last summer.
A little after 10, most of us got back in the bus for some hot chocolate and a danish. Then it was back out for a bit. Then around 1040, we started back towards.
As we approached the tunnel, traffic was stopped (they were only letting 1 side at a time go). Low and behold, the northern lights appeared! We jumped out and took some photos.
Back to the ship around midnight. Time for bed!
