At the Arctic Circle, and from Eagle Summit only
100 miles north of Fairbanks, one can watch the late June sun rise without going
below the horizon. When we left Fairbanks, the skies were clear and blue, but
about halfway to the summit, we ran into fire along the road. The road was still
open so we bravely went on.
Once there, even close to midnight, there was enough
light to take good color photos of arctic flowers like the bluebells in the dividers,
but we couldn't see the sun. Finally, at 11:30, I managed to get a photo of a
sickly pale orb peeking out from between the smoky clouds.
Then we headed home, disappointed to have missed
our sun shot, but excited about driving through the fire which was now burining
on both sides of the road. We agreed the trip wasn't a total loss! But then, about
1 am, when we were well out of the fire and looking forward to getting home and
going to bed, the sky lit up in shades of red!
This totally unexpected sunrise, made glorious
by the smoke from the same fires that had shrouded the horizon and prevented our
midnight sun shots reminded us that, to paraphrase an old saying about doors and
windows, "When one photo op disappears, an even better one will appear!"
Bluebells
These tiny blue flowerets are just one of the many arctic flowers
we saw on Eagle Summit. Arcitc flora is often identical to flowers that grow in
lower climes, except that they are always much smaller.
