January 2022

January 1st

Guests / Country: 11 guests from Croatia, Germany and USA.
Weather Tromsø: Clear.
Destination / weather: Finnvikdalen / Grønliskaret / Mikkelvika / clear / haze.
Aurora activity: 9/10.
Aurora show: All over, far south, curls, spikes and a couple faint coronas. Three colors visible on the naked eyes.
Tour km: 165.
Tour hrs: 6,5.

January 4th - Private Aurora Chase Dinner

Guests / Country: 4 guests from Germany.
Weather Tromsø: Cloudy / snow.
Destination / weather: Skibotndalen valley / cloudy / snow / haze / part clear.
Aurora activity: 0/10.
Aurora show: No activity!
Tour km: 255.
Tour hrs: 7.

A new tricky night... the weather forecast says strong wind, snow and very cold temperatures which sounds like a strange combo... so I went east for hide me in the forest for the best comfort shelter during the dinner...

But again... the forecast was wrong... it was snowing and little windy, but the temperatures was nice... only 10 minus... and suddenly we had clear sky above us... but, it was little to late for see tonight`s short show which happen 15 mins before we got clear sky...

January 5th - Private Aurora Chase Dinner

Guests / Country: 4 guests from Germany.
Weather Tromsø: Cloudy / snowy.
Destination / weather: Skogsfjordelva river / cloudy / snowy / windy / part clear.
Aurora activity: 2/10.
Aurora show: A couple of bands low on the north sky, some faint spikes. Two colors on camera.
Tour km: 165.
Tour hrs: 6,5.
Wildlife: One mouse and one moose, plus 3 moose on my way home.

I was planned a stay on the beach with fjord view, but it was too windy with blowing snow. So we drove back a few km and settle down in a fishermens shelter by the river, so I could do the dinner away from the wind and the guests had a more comfy relaxed moment.

January 6th - Private Aurora Chase Dinner

Guests / Country: 4 guests from Germany.
Weather Tromsø: Cloudy.
Destination / weather: Signaldalen valley / clear.
Aurora activity: 3/10.
Aurora show: Couple of bands on the north sky, spikes, curls. Two colors on the camera.
Tour km: 210.
Tour hrs: 6,5.
Wildlife: One moose, plus 2 moose and 5 reindeers on my way home.

January 7th

Guests / Country: 9 guests from Germany.
Weather Tromsø: Cloudy / snow.
Destination / weather: Skibotndalen valley / clear.
Aurora activity: 3/10.
Aurora show: A couple of bands on the north, some spikes. Two colors on the camera.
Tour km: 245.
Tour hrs: 6,5.
Wildlife: One moose.

"Romantischer moment" was the first thing Peter (80) said when he was led by his daughter out in the snow, where I had set up chairs and lit the fire in the forest glade at one of the beautiful places I use to stand during my northern lights trips in this valley.

But, he did not just say that… "this is a really beautiful adventure"… and these words warmed my heart.

Because that's exactly what I try to tell and sell to my guests…

Just a pity that Lady Aurora did not cooperate perfectly this beautiful evening with a mega show of the best in a starry sky with millions of stars that lit up the landscape around us with beautiful snow-capped mountains in the dark wooded valley.

The wilderness experience is exactly what I want to give my guests… and a pleasure of silence, the sounds of nature and good conversations around the campfire… and then the northern lights can come as a bonus…

But, Peter was happy he… where I got him on two hands by the fire, while the other guests stood out on the field and photographed the last remnants of the northern lights, and he told me about his young days when he was at camp school in Schleswig-Holstein, where they sat around the campfire and played guitar and sang…

"It was in that time when there were German car brands like Lloyd and Goliath, later acquired by Mercedes"…

Good memories I also recognize myself in when I was a boy scout for 18 years from 1979, before I became a professional guide out in nature 25 years ago…

January 8th

Guests / Country: 8 guests from Germany, Denmark, USA and Switzerland.
Weather Tromsø: Cloudy.
Destination / weather: Dividalen valley / cloudy / haze / clear.
Aurora activity: 12/10 - Season best!!
Aurora show: All over, far far south, RED AURORA, Amazing Aurora Coronas, spikes, curls, 4-5 colors intense dancing curtains (visible for our naked eyes).
Tour km: 285.
Tour hrs: 8,5.
Wildlife: One moose, and a lot of tracks crossing the roads.

First of all... it´s pity and sad some of my guests had to leave Tromsø before this was happen... after four nights with slow and no activity on the sky... thinking about them... and hope they will also experience what we got tonight at theirs next visit...

What a night... What a show!!

486 (!) pictures taken ... so, it will be a hard work to delete the "not so good pics"..;)

First time since 2013 I have seen RED AURORA with my naked eyes! And my guests saw it too ;) After that I told my guests that this is a 10/10 show and the season best Aurora show, but Lady Aurora wasn´t ready with her performance...

The bus at the another side of the bridge left 11.30 pm... but, I am knewn as the guide who stay out later if necessary, and since it was one more band far far south on the sky, I just told my guests; "We`re not leaving before that band are coming back to the north.." ...

And so she did, at 11.50 pm the south band begin to give spikes which is the sign of the show begin... and she went crazy; One of the most beautiful AURORA CORONA I have ever seen... Crazy dancing in 3-4 colors, visible for the naked eyes...

But, lets go back to the beginning...

The weather forecast says partly clear and totally clear after midnight in Dividalen valley... but, it was wrong again...
And then the frustration begin to arrive my mind when I heard from an another colleague; "it was 70% clear in Signaldalen valley, 50 km back... should we return... or just trust the weather forecast...

As a Aurora Guide who are experts to find clear sky for our guests... I decided to gamble and continue to drive up in the cloudy valley... and most of the times it`s smart to follow the got feeling you sometimes get..;)

We was first (?) in the valley at 8.45 pm... at least the best place by the bridge was free... and at the moment we stopped it was a bright Aurora stripe in a cloud crack, so I pushed my guests out fast as possible, so they could at least see that one...

The next two hours we got lovely Aurora, even a great corona... but, only visible within the clouds...

And we got lucky... north sky was totally overcast, but the activity was so good so it show up on the partly clear sky straight above us, and on the south sky, where the clear sky got better and better... and from 10.15 pm the NW sky begins to be clear, and at 11.20 pm we got the the Red Aurora on the south sky...

Spaceweather.com forecasted a great Aurora show the night after, at January 9th, but very often when they forecast a date out there it`s normally happen the night before... Why..? I have no clue... but, at least, after 16. Aurora season and over 1700 nights out under the sky of the Northern Lights I knew that..;)

The Kp-index was low... so was the solar speed also; only 320 km/s... but the Density was high; early in the evening it was 25, then later over 45, so therefore we got this great show far far south on the sky... a show they probably also saw far south in Europe, southern states in US, in Australia (Tasmania and Melbourne) and southern island of New Zealand...

My camera: Nikon D750, Nikkor 14-24 mm f/2.8. ISO 1600-6400, AWB, shutter speed 1-5 seconds.

All my pics will soon be published on GuideGunnar`s FB page >>

January 11th

Guests / Country: 8 guests from Germany.
Weather Tromsø: Cloudy.
Destination / weather: GuideGunnar`s Camp Aurora / Dåfjord / part clear / clear.
Aurora activity: 1/10... a weak one...
Aurora show: Just a of couple of very faint bands low on the north sky in few minutes.
Tour km: 140.
Tour hrs: 7.
Wildlife: A lot of moose tracks crossing the road... on my way home on the same road; 5 moose.

January 13th

Guests / Country: 6 guests from Germany and UK.
Weather Tromsø: Cloudy / snow.
Destination / weather: Langsundet / Soltinddalen / Skogsfjordvatnet lake / part clear / cloudy / snow.
Aurora activity: 2/10.
Aurora show: A couple of bands on the north sky between the clouds.
Tour km: 170.
Tour hrs: 6,5.

January 14th

Guests / Country: 11 guests from Germany, Belgium, Mexico and Pakistan.
Weather Tromsø: Cloudy / snow.
Destination / weather: Finnish border / Balsfjord / part clear / cloudy / snowy / very strong wind.
Aurora activity: 3/10.
Aurora show: A couple of bands all over the sky, some spikes.
Tour km: 310.
Tour hrs: 8,5.
Wildlife: 2 moose.

News from Spaceweather.com:

"G2-CLASS GEOMAGNETIC STORM: Surprising forecasters, on Jan 14th a crack opened in Earth's magnetic field. Solar wind poured through the gap to spark a G2-class geomagnetic storm. The timing favored observers in Europe, where auroras spilled across the Arctic Circle as far south as Germany: "Despite the brightly shining Moon, it was possible to see auroras with the naked eye," says photographer Laura Kranich, who watched the display from Kiel. "Solar Cycle 25 seems to be a really good one considering that the maximum is still at least two years away." The lights were also visible from Poland, Denmark, Finland and Sweden."

It`s pity that we didn`t had better weather here in the north when the best show was going on early in the evening... when we arrived the Finnish border where the only clear sky was visible, we just capture little of it...

After a hard return with heavy snow and very strong wind we found a new gap of clear sky in Balsfjord and saw little bit more, but after I had drop out my guests, and on my way home at 3.30 am the second huge show arrived, and then the sky was partly clear on the coast...

January 16th

Guests / Country: 11 guests from Australia, Russia, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Ireland and Germany.
Weather Tromsø: Cloudy / snow.
Destination / weather: Takvatnet / cloudy / clear.
Aurora activity: 8/10.
Aurora show: First a couple of bands and spikes on the NW sky through a thin cloud layer, then a very intense 3 colors corona, visible for the naked eyes. Curtains, spikes and curls.
Tour km: 210.
Tour hrs: 8.

FULL MOON AURORA CORONA on the south sky!

This was a night of patience...

First we had to wait for the clear sky, since it was quite cloudy when we arrived... and then we had to wait for Lady Aurora should begin her performance...

And suddenly she show up low on the south sky among the clouds... and what a beautiful Aurora show she gave us, my guests and myself.

3 colors intense dancing corona... visible for our naked eyes...

January 20th

Guests / Country: 8 guests from Germany, Spain and UK.
Weather Tromsø: Cloudy.
Destination / weather: Dåfjord / Mikkelvik / snow / windy / part clear.
Aurora activity: 5/10.
Aurora show: An silence ark, a curl and then dancing Aurora in 2-3 colors.
Tour km: 190.
Tour hrs: 6,5.
Wildlife: 2 moose and 3 reindeers.

January 21st

Guests / Country: 10 guests from Austria, Denmark, China and UK.
Weather Tromsø: Cloudy / snow.
Destination / weather: Ramfjordmoen / Signaldalen / part clear / haze / cloudy.
Aurora activity: 4/10.
Aurora show: Several bands across, curtains, spikes and curls, little movement.
Tour km: 205.
Tour hrs: 6,5.