It's kind hard to know where to even begin with this post. As I mentioned last week, @mrsbozz and I were set to take our first camping trip of the year this past weekend. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing. We don't usually kick off our camping journeys until Memorial Day weekend, but with the recent loss of our dog Jovi, @mrsbozz was determined to do more than just sit around the house and cry.
She deserves all the credit because it was her that suggested we go camping, and it was her that suggested we go back to Onaway State Park in Onaway, MI. It's about a two and a half hour drive north from where we live. It's also in a relatively remote location meaning you have to take back roads to get to it. That's part of the reason it takes so long to get there.
As you can see, we made it and this was our view for the weekend. Not bad right?
Honestly, if I could change one thing about the weekend, it would be the fact that it was so cold. We had a feeling it would be this early in May, but the wind coming off Black Lake was just brutal at times. Onaway State Park is one of the smaller state parks in Michigan and as I mentioned above it sits on the shores of Black Lake.
There are only about 15 sites right on the water like ours was. The rest of them sit up on the hill with zero view of the water. Needless to say, this early in the season, the upper section was basically empty, but nearly all the sites down by the water were full.
Earlier in the week I had stopped over to @a4xjeeper's house and picked up a stack of firewood to keep us warm through the weekend. He sells it on the side and it was actually quite good wood at a decent price. I paid $25 and it filled about 1/3 of the bed of my truck. It was just enough wood to give us a nice fire both Friday and Saturday nights.
While we were at work on Friday, I was keeping an eye on the weather. There had been reports of a massive solar storm and given the fact that we were basically heading to the middle of nowhere, I thought there might be a chance we could see the Aurora Borealis.
Little did I know what the night had in store!
From what I read online, the waves from the solar storm were hitting the Earth pretty much all day. If it had been dark at 3 in the afternoon we would have been able to see the lights. I sat on the shores of Black Lake willing the sun to hurry up and go down and the clouds to move out of the way.
@mrsbozz had never seen the lights before, so this was a bucket list item for her and quite honestly, it couldn't have been more perfect.
It actually turns out pretty much all of the Northern Hemisphere got a chance to see the lights if it was dark enough and the skies were clear enough. People have been posting photos non stop all the way from Yorkshire to Atlanta, GA. It actually makes me a little sad that the even was so widespread.
Don't get me wrong, I am happy that so many people got to witness the magnificent show, but it kind of makes it a little less special for @mrsbozz doesn't it? We aren't really big social media people, but I can see how it might have been cool for her to post some aurora photos and see people's reactions. Instead, the fact that basically everyone was seeing them, kind of ruined that effect.
Make sense?
We actually didn't quite notice them at first. It had just gotten dark and we were still kind of waiting to see what might happen. I stepped into the trailer to make us both a drink and when I came out, I was like "oh, there they are". @mrsbozz didn't see them at first, and I think that's her biggest complaint about the whole thing.
She was expecting that what you see in the photos is what you would see with your naked eye. If you have seen the aurora, you know that isn't the case. Unless you are in Alaska, Iceland, or somewhere else where they are really intense, the colors only tend to show up via camera. It has to do with the spectrum of light our eyes are able to take in versus what a camera can see or something like that.
Once she started taking photos and actually seeing the colors she was more than content, but she still thought it was dumb you couldn't see the full spectrum with your naked eye.
Our relatives down in Columbus, OH were sending photos and their colors were much more pink than ours. It has to do with the later of the atmosphere you can see and stuff like that I guess. If you want to see some awesome photos from further north, check out @rok-sivante's blog.
It wasn't until after the fact that I heard about some conspiracy with HAARP and the aurora. I'm not going to get into it here, so if you want to dive down that rabbit hole, feel free to do so at your own leisure. My opinion is, whether it was natural or man made, it was still beautiful and amazing to see. Plus solar storms like this have been hitting the Earth for eons and giving the same results. Long before HAARP was even around. You be the judge...
At least count between the two of us, we took about 183 photos this past weekend, so you better believe this isn't going to be the last post you see from along the shores of Black Lake. Saturday was pretty rainy in the morning so we took a day trip and grabbed some photos from that.
By the evening, we were treated to an amazing sunset, plus another welcome surprise.
That's right, Lady Aurora came back, though not nearly as intense as the night before. I grabbed a couple shots before we called it a night and headed off to bed. We also got to see a pretty amazing sunset on Saturday night which I will share in a different post.
There was a point where my wife and I said we felt like it was the end of the camping season (I think due to the chilly weather). I'm happy it isn't, we still have a ton of awesome adventures ahead of us this summer!
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
Temperature aside, looks like it was amazing there. Especially that sky! We either didn't get the nice lights this far down, or I just missed them. I have friends in Tokyo who got good shots, but I'm a bit south of them. Oh well. I can enjoy all the photos anyway!
It really was a pretty perfect weekend. I'm glad my wife pushed me to get the trailer ready in time.
Very cool camp site right on the water. Too bad it was a little chilly, but the aurora sure made up for it. It didn't reach down to southern California, and even if it did there is so much light I doubt you would be able to see them. Those are some great pictures!
Thanks, I am really wishing I had taken my better camera from work now. These were just with our phones and while they are great, I can't help but think they could have been better. It's a pretty cool campground if you can snag one of the sites on the water. In the summer they are never vacant.
Looks a lovely spot for camping and you got the extra treat of the northern lights! Nice one! Any food shots coming up Bozz? Did you get your BBQ rig out from last season you were using.
It was a short trip so we only took the Blackstone with us this time. We had a late lunch on Saturday, so we didn't even fix a proper dinner that night. Our next trip I will probably take the grill too. Might even bust out the dutch oven!
I hope you enjoy your trip. We seem to be some of the few people who didn't see the lights. We didn't realise they would be visible and went to bed. I've never seen them, but I can be happy for those who got this new experience. Digital cameras do pick up light frequencies that we can't see.
Don't get me started on the conspiracy nuts. They will exploit anything for attention.
To be fair HAARP has admitted they can artificially generate the aurora, but I don't think that was the case this past weekend. I'm sorry you didn't get to see them. I think a lot of people didn't know. The local news stations often mention there is a possibility, but usually once they do that it kills the chances. This was a rare exception. I have an app on my phone that I use to track the conditions and it sends me an alert when the chances are high that they might be visible.
That nice outdoor rug with those rocking camping chairs looks fantastic. Aren't those rocking camping chairs just the best?! I love those things!
Yeah, they are pretty awesome. We need to get some lubricant for ours though, the cylinders are starting to squeak!
impressive nature phenomenons
Thank you!
Your captures of the aurora are stunning and two nights of enjoyment, you must be smiling now that you got out of town camping.
I believe people in Cape Town, southern most point over here got entertained with southern lights more bright pinks to red, a blushing sky 😌!
I saw a map that showed they were experiencing something pretty much all over the globe. It was quite the show!
Was a massive solar event, so glad @mrsbozz got to enjoy it, sure you had loads of fun at the lovely spot.
take her on a trip to Iceland or Greenland when it's the season up there, haha! 😼
Believe me, I'd love to! My own pettiness aside, I'm glad she finally got to see them and that I got to share it with her. It was pretty amazing sitting around the campfire on the shore of the lake and viewing them.
Location Location Location. I can feel the cold though, bracing I think we would call it. Good for Mrs Boss it will take time to not miss Jovi so much.
Thanks, it's a process for sure. There are times I still expect to see her around the corner or hear her bark at something.
Yesh it is, we have had dogs all our lives. WE keep seeing a lady who walks two rescue greyhounds and she is trying to get us to goto the greyhound rescue centre to adopt one. It is hard though, I am not sure we could cope wiith another grieving process.
I totally feel you. I don't think I could survive the heartbreak again.
As a person who is a fan of camping. I can say that the location is the coolest camping site I have seen so far the view is breathtaking. Is
Aurora Borealisit somehow like the Northern Lights? I mean look at those very pretty.
Yes, it is another term for the northern lights. This is a pretty special campsite. I'm probably going to share it in another post, but the water is so clear you can see the rocks underwater. It's a really beautiful area.
Cool ... and no strong wind 😋👌👌🧉 , which makes sitting by the fire very good.
RV .. it looks it works good . 😋👌
It's been good to us for the past eight years or so. The wind was hit or miss over the weekend. It was strong during the day then it would settle down when evening came.
You received an upvote of 100% from Precious the Silver Mermaid!
Please remember to contribute great content to the #SilverGoldStackers tag to create another Precious Gem.
Glad you had a nice time despite the chill.. at least the wind died down enough for a fire. Wow! Those photos are awesome!!! It was cloudy here in Jersey, so it was a treat to see your shots of the light show. Your right.. the camera never captures what you see. That part sucks, but you saw it and experienced it.. and that's what matters most of all.
It was quite amazing. There are some settings on my phone I wish I had known about the first night. I might have gotten some more vibrant photos. We both have so many from Friday night.