My world traveler brother called me tonight and offered to pick up my air ticket using his air-miles to accompany him on a trip to Fairbanks in March to see the A.B. as well as be there to check out the ice sculpture festival. Sounds like we will spend the first week of March in Fairbanks. What say you on this trip? Odds of seeing the lights? Decent yet inexpensive places to stay? Restaurants/bars to visit or stay away from? Anything else to take in during the day? Any and all thoughts/recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast .....i'll hook u up...there are a few of us hiding up here ... http://www.icealaska.com/ ... www.chenahotsprings.com ...... www.pikeslodge.com ..... http://www.menupix.com/fairbanks/restaurants/5301602/Sams-Sourdough-Cafe-Fairbanks-AK ... $$..... www.uaf.edu/museum ..... http://www.menupix.com/fairbanks/restaurants/5301599/Red-Fox-Bar-and-Grill-Fairbanks-AK $$..... www.pumphouse.com ... $$+ www.alaskanturtle.com ..$$$ yum!..... www.morristhompsoncenter.org ... http://www.newsminer.com/arctic_cam/ .... http://weather-warehouse.com/WeatherHistory/PastWeatherData_FairbanksMidtown_Fairbanks_AK_March.html and u can't leave out a few beers at the red fox with them local campfire folks!!! .... www.santaclaushouse.com .....Steese Highway just outside Fairbanks. The Steese Highway viewpoint, which has an information cabin, also allows visitors to walk up to the pipeline> http://www.milepost.com/highway_info/trans_alaska_pipeline ...... http://www.explorefairbanks.com/articles/detail/13/how-far-is-the-arctic-circle-from-fairbanks ...

Here are my thoughts......taking a big trip to see the Aurora Borealis is somewhat akin to buying the clearest, brightest scope to go winter hunting in Alaska. There's a very good chance that your view may be clouded, voiding whatever advantage you paid for. But carry on anyway, the ice sculptures can be nice, though check to be sure March isn't too late for them. Sunlight is not a friend of ice, and March is getting pretty light.

If serious about seeing the lights, you should plan on being up until the wee hours, say 3 or 4 AM. If it's not clear, go to bed or hit the bars.

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/Alaska/2014/01/08 is a good source for aurora activity, but predictions are only a few days out. No way to predict March activity, but good odds of seeing it in Fbx in a dark location - IOW, get out of town.

Chena Hot Springs Resort caters to Japanese tourists here to see the aurora. Check atv's links above.

Fixed it for ya!

More:

March 21-23 � Open North American Championship
Unlimited (20/20/27.6 mi.)
http://www.sleddog.org/races/2013-2014-race-schedule-and-results/


Other events taking place will be the annual Alaska Trappers Association Fur Auction on Saturday & Sunday, March 22, 23, 2014 and the Interior Freight Dog Association North American Weight Pull, on Saturday March 22, 2014. The annual Parka Parade will take place on Sunday, March 23 after the last team has left the starting line.

Arctic Winter Games will also be concluding on Saturday, March 22, 2014. Thousands of competitors will be in Fairbanks for AWG from March 15 - 22. We're happy they will be here to enjoy the Open North American!
http://www.opennorthamerican.com/home.php

It'll be "spring", but have warm clothes.

What he means, since you may not be able to translate, is that it's too early to scrape off that warm layer of dead skin that resides beneath the inner layer of "long johns" you haven't taken off since the end of September.

Thanks!

Ever-helpful, I am.

Appreciate all the comments thus far. Would love to meet any of you folks up there that might want to have a beer or two, or three, or........

Great information, thanks a bunch!

I'd almost be thinking end of Jan or Feb would be better than march, but I ain't knowing that for sure.

Have seen pretty good lights in September when you really should not.

Plan the other stuff... this September we saw lights probably half the nights out on a 2 week visit while moose hunting. 11 miles away at our friends home, his photographer wife said they had clouds every night and never saw them....

And as others note, sometimes much later at night... so to speak. Have not seen them by midnight often, get out of the tent to pee at 3am and boom...

If you're coming up at the beginning of March, I would add a trip to Willow to watch the start of the Iditarod. We started doing this a couple of years ago, except we stay with some friends at their cabin near Camp Caswell and ride sleds 25 miles or so to where the dog teams drop onto the river. If you love dogs like we do, this is a must see.

dmmm I forgot !! > www.fountainheadmuseum.com

great info by fellow Alaskans


I like beer! Provided you understand it's an equal rights state.

IOW's I can stomach it if you buy the first round, but round 2 is on me.

suggestion: take a night vision scope or bino's, what ever you can get without spending too much $.
I used to fly in Fairbanks, US Army, and under the NVGs we'd see GREAT northern lights almost every night. just need to amplify it sometimes.

and before u book rooms ...let me know ....some place u can walk to the store and some are close but across the hwy... cold and slick out is no fun carting things from the store!

Flight are booked, car is booked, and my brother is finalizing room arrangements. I do believe he booked this place:

http://www.fountainheadhotels.com/wedgewood-resort/accommodations-lodging/index.cfm

Now working on fun things to do. Might try some mushing, I personally would love to go snowmobiling as I've never done that, and perhaps a glacier landing and hiking. Anyone in the area up for some beers?

I'd offer to take you out on the sleds but conditions right now suck. What snow we have left is super crusty and the trails are hard as concrete. How long are you going to be up here? The Irondog starts on the 16th and that's always fun to watch.

http://www.irondograce.org/

Are you in Fbx the entire time?

I arrive on March 5th and depart on March 11th.

It's turned into a "Bro's Trip" which is way cool. That last time my three brothers and I did a trip together was about 20 years ago. Two of my brothers will be there about a week earlier and my other brother and I arrive on 3/5.

Thanks for the offer on the sleds! Perhaps between now and then the conditions might improve. My brother has made a bunch of phone calls and just about everyone charges $95/hr. per person for sledding.

Hopefully we will get some snow but the projected forecast ain't looking to good. At least all the waterways are freezing up.

We are scheduled in FB the whole time but are amenable to packing up our crap and moving if/when something comes up. We are totally open! We are going for the lights but want to do some cool stuff during the days. One bro wants to try ice fishing, we all want to try sledding, snowmobiles are on our list, a glacier landing/hiking looks good, etc. Of course, libations are in order every day/night. We rented an SUV so we can go/do just about anything.

Your odds of seeing a good aurora are not very high, but you could well see some aurora and you might hit it just right and see a good light show.

Consider getting Aurora alerts. http://auroranotify.com/alerts/ I've got an aurora app on my iphone. So far, it gives dozens of alerts for every one you can see. Aurora notify will only alert you when they are currently visible.

Any of you guys up there know where four guys can rent and ride some snowmobiles?

Do you mean snowmachines?

J/K.

This is the only one I know of in Fairbanks. If you're willing to come to Anchorage there are a few more options for you. If you are willing to come this way, I'd recommend riding Petersville, it's one of my favorite places to ride and on a clea day the views can be spectacular.


http://ridealaska.net/Snowmachine_Rentals.html

It looks like Chena Hot Springs Resort does tours and rentals.

http://www.travelalaska.com/Things%20To%20Do/Winter%20Activities/Off-Road%20Snowmobile.aspx

Here's a direct link and it doesn't appear that they rent sleds anymore but they do snowmachine, sled dog, and snowcoach tours.

http://www.chenahotsprings.com/winter-activities/

this is at the bottom of that link, John:

It would be worth a call to be sure.



SNOW MACHINE TOURS

Take a day time or evening Guided Snow Machine Tour around areas of the resort only accessed by snowmachine. Experienced Tour Guides show you the resort from trails and areas of the resort you haven't seen before. No experience necessary.

Rates are based on per person.

Adult ages 18+ $65 - Youth (ages 14-17) $32.50 - 45 minute Guided Tour

Note: Must be at least 14 years of age or over to ride.

Two person minimum required to operate either tour.



REV OCT. 01, 2013 5:45 pM

your rite IB, the sleds CHS have ...would be better for them...if I break out my 800 151's/155's RMK's things could go very wrong....They have dog sled rides to.... no good ice fishing ...Lakers are way out of town and u got to know whats going on.... the "planted frakein fish"/ rainbows etc, are full of fresh water shrimp -that hatch do to all the light...we use to pull our house in mid February

8pm as I type 9 below and the lites are ripping!!!in two places rite over head (15 mile n of nenana)and to the ne of me murphy dome.....good stuff

same as above last nite!!!

Got some badazz pics in an email today of the lights last night.

They never cease to mesmerize us

Cloudy here. Heard though.

PS Post them!

Dunno how... they came in an email and if the wife doesn't put em to photobucket so I can click... I'm a computer dummy...

Put em' up man, you're killing me!

My bro's and I are stoked for this trip. Will you guys up there keep the lights on please??

You'll need to send me a check for the power bill!

really?

what'd they sound like?


and how many beers had you consumed?

Well, they sort of "buzz"...

But that might be the beers buzzing...

Bees buzz, so beers must be able to buzz too.

oh chit I thought that was just from shooting without hearing protection


it's been those danged aurora all along? Who knew?

I heard them buzz once when I was in Healy! It could have been some of those cow patty mushrooms that some damn hippy from Orygun talked me into choking down with my whiskey though. I'll never know.

Thinking you were in the wrong pasture...

Sounded a little like bacon in a skillet. More of a sizzle than a buzz.

Oh it was the right one, just some bad planning on my part. It was a loooong walk out.

PM me an email, best I can do since I have no clue since I dont' have em on photobucket....
Jeff

There were some spectacular northern lights over the Alaska Range near Petersville last night. Check out the Kenny Creek Lodge Facebook page for pics.

My wife and I were in Fairbanks a couple of weeks ago for this very reason. We got one excellent light show and one good light show during our 10 days there. It depends on solar activity and the cloud situation.

You may want to reconsider where you are staying. The Fountainhead resort is in town and you will have to deal with the light pollution when trying to view the lights.
We stayed in three different locations while we were in Alaska. The first was Chena Hot Springs. I am not sure I would stay there again. It is a bit to touristry for me. Although the hot springs are very nice and I would recommend a day trip out there for a soak and tour of the Ice Museum and the Geothermal plant.

The second place we stayed was the Mount Aurora Lodge. It is away from the city and they will knock on your door when the Aurora is active if you want them to. It is run by a very nice accommodating couple. She is an excellent cook and will accommodate any food allergies or general food preferences.

The third was a cabin outside of Fairbanks owned by a professor at UAF which we found on Air B&B. It was also very nice and well appointed. When we were staying at the cabin, we drove up to the top of Murphy Dome to watch for Aurora. I would recommend making the drive in the daylight to get the lay of the land prior to going at night.

During the day we visited the Museum of the North at the University. It was well worth the admission price.
We also did the Fountainhead auto museum. If you are in the least bit interested in classic cars this is a great place to spend Sunday afternoon (winter hours are 12-6 on Sunday only). We were lucky and started a conversation with a gentleman who turned out to be the manager. He took us on a tour of some of his favorite cars and also took us back into the restoration shop.

We also made the drive up the Dalton Highway to the arctic circle and beyond. You are not suppose to drive a rental car on the Dalton. However you can rent vehicles from specialty companies which are equipped for the trip. I chose to take the risk and drove the rental from the airport. The road is not bad if you are use to winter driving. Ironically, I found the section of the highway just prior to the Dalton to be more challenging than the Dalton itself. The views are just fantastic along the Dalton. We went 60 miles past the circle to Coldfoot before we turned around. If you don't go all the way to Coldfoot make sure to take some extra gasoline as there is no service prior to Coldfoot and you will be marginal on getting back depending on the fuel economy of the vehicle you are driving.

There is also a mirco brewry called HooDoo Brewery, they have a nice selection of brews but no food. We relied on Yelp for restaurant reviews and were never steered wrong.

sounds like you did what we did on our honeymoon with the rental car... WTF, it was light almost 24/7 in July... and we were revved up....

The B/B owners wondered where we'd gone.. we got in 4am or so from coldfoot. She said when they got up later they saw the white, now black car and knew.....

Grins.

Wow, those two recent pics are amazing!

March usually is a great time to take photos of the Auroras, since it's slightly warmer outdoors. But all depends on the weather since a cloud cover can spoil things. It means that it's not a bad idea to have the time to spend more than a week up here whenever possible. Search, "UAF: auroras forecast," and that will bring you to an excellent webpage. This one is also good:
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/ovation/

If you "click" on the map that shows Alaska at the left of the screen, and enlarged version will appear on the screen. This version updates itself every 30 seconds or so as long as your computer is connected to the Internet. Just leave it open on the screen while you visit this and other forums
-------

The Auroras this year have been OK, but not as good as previous years. If active and the sky is clear, you can view them from the high ground at UAF, over by Chena Lakes and the Flood Project in North Pole, or by the high ground on the Steese Highway, about seven miles past the Pedro monument (the high point before you start the descend to Chatanika).

From this morning around 1:00AM:

That's frickin awesome Ray.

We love the ones that include the reds in them. Don't see those that often , but then we are usually only in AK 2 weeks every fall only.... makes it tough.

Two of my brothers are on their way up tomorrow and my other brother and I will join them next week. Can't wait for my first ever visit to Alaska, can't wait to hang with my three brothers, and hopefully cross off seeing the AB from our bucket lists!

been com the last couple nites ...but is supposed to really be going to nite ...a solar flare or something happen yesterday and is enroot

Damn, my two brothers already up there got a pretty good light show last night. Good for them, a big bummer for the two of us not yet there.

well my kid .blew up his sled today 5 miles south of chena pump / rosie creek .......3 year warranty should help ...he was headed to the ice classic in nenana ... ...where have the two bro's been thus far?

Not too sure. I haven't spoken with them yet, just got a couple of emails this morning with some great lights pics.

Thanks.
-----------------
And yes, the red color has been common this season as you can see below:

I can only hope to see one like that. Wow, green and red....way cool!

One more day then headin' your way...

If it's clear and you drink coffee, you should get to see the lights. Thurs and Fri are your best bets.

http://classic.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=fai&wuSelect=WEATHER



A series of 3/9 forecast nights coming up.

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/Alaska/

What kind of camera u using? great shot!!! I go to sleep before 10pm 95% 0f the time...I get up to the drain the monkey.... and take a look ..but I have missed the red ones thus far.

I used a Canon 5DII for the photos above, but sometimes i also use a 7D with similar results, although the 5DII allows for higher ISO speeds with less digital noise than the 7D. But digital noise is not a problem with taking photos of the Auroras, since you can remove most of the noise with PhotoShop or the NIK noise-removal plugin. I also use ultra-wide lenses with wide apertures (around f/2.8).

You can use just about any digital camera brand (Nikon, Canon, and so forth), and this is what I do (camera on a solid tripod):

a. 600 or higher ISO (even 1,000 if very dark outside)
b. From 11 to 13-second exposures
c. Lens and camera on manual mode, with the lens manual-focused to infinite (the mark on little figure 8 on the lens barrel)
d. Viewfinder covered with electrical tape, before pressing the shutter release button

Some cameras include a viewfinder curtain, but mine don't. So I cut three pieces of black electrical tape and make a small curtain to cover the viewfinder. I look through the viewfinder to make sure that everything looks right (compose the image), move the tape down over the viewfinder, and then press the shutter button. The first image will show on the screen, so I look at it carefully to make sure that the horizon is correct, the focus is good, and so on. If everything is fine, then I just keep on pressing the shutter button over and over again to take a bunch of photos.

I need to learn to use our stock cannon powershot G12 better! thanks!

On my way up! Sitting in Seattle airport waiting for my connection to Fairbanks. Can't wait to join my bro's, see Alaska for the first time, catch some lights (I hope), and have a blast. If anyone is up for a beer, on me, let me know.

Robert

so u..... are the one bring this snow !!! a after work beer sound good to me ...

How was the trip?

Trip was fantastic! We were able to see lights on 3/6 nights; the two brothers that got there earlier saw lights, real good ones, on their first 4 nights there (7/10 nights). We were able to cross-country ski in two different beautiful locations, we took in the ice sculpture festival multiple times, we took a road trip to Denali (town totally shut down but the park was open for 12 miles), and we were able to go dog sledding too. The only thing we wanted to take in but were unable to find a single option to do so was a back-country snow machine tour. We called everywhere and couldn't find anything. The hot springs had an option but only if you wanted to pay good money for a 45 minute single file "ride" around their property. No thanks to that.

Unfortunately, due to timing and scheduling conflicts with my bros, I was unable to hook-up and have a beer with atvalaska. I am still bummed about that and will make it up next time as I am sure to go back. Great time, great people, and beautiful (and frigid cold) country!