This is a part of my Cirque of the Unclimbables climbing trip in 2019.
Please search for “TheCirque2019” in my blog search or look for #cirqueoftheunclimbables in tag cloud for more posts from this trip.
August 27th – Day 17
As our last day at the fairy meadow camp came close, I focused more to take landscape photos than climbing photos. I had checked the weather forecast in detail last 3 days if there was any chance to see the northern lights.
I took this photo on the night of the 25th. It was not strong and the cloud was too thick to see it clearly. The weather forecast was better for the next 2 days, so I counted on the night of the 26th. I went to sleep early and woke up around 24:00 at the night, and I saw a thin light coming straight out from Parrot Beak Peak.
That was the start of the northern light show!! It kept coming and lit up the sky in green. It was spectacular!
The show was on all night. I was awake and taking photos until 4:00 am. I had never seen the northern lights this close. It was an unforgettable experience.
Of course, I woke up my friends and watched the show together.
The sky was so clear, so I took a little nap and went to take the sunrise photos.
The first light hit the top of Lotus Flower Tower at 6:00 am. It was like a fire torch. Then the whole area came alive.
After taking photos, I ate breakfast at the location and slowly hiked back to the camp. It was bright enough to see the details of my surroundings when I was walking back. I focused on distant peaks lit by the sunlight. As I walked back, however, I found so many gems spread on the floor of Fairy meadow.
It was so beautiful and I took so long to go back to the camp.
My friends were enjoying the sun on the wall. It was at noon when I took this photo above. My climbing partner Botch was at the camp by himself, so we decided to hike down to Glacier lake because we had to fly out from the lake the next day. The weather forecast looked bad for the next few days even worse for some more days later; Yes, a big storm was approaching for the area.
I and Botch left a note at the camp for other members, and we hiked down the trail. We arrived to Glacier lake by 17:00 and there were 3 other people about to fly out. They were going to fly out soon with the same pilot as we booked with. Then the float plane came and took all 5 of us out from Glacier lake!! We were so lucky! As we fly out, other member came down to the lake and saw us leaving!
The float plane headed to a luxury fishing lodge near by, and that was our stay for the night!!
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To be continued…
Sea to sky 