Aurora Borealis

Our last trip into the BWCA, Fourtown Lake

 

Aurora Borealis

 

Our camp was on a large granite shelf on the northern end of Fourtown Lake deep in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, (BWCA). The evening was hot and humid. Night proved to be stifling inside the tent; Pop and I slept on top of our sleeping bags in our undapants. Sleep was difficult laying in a sweltering tent while sweating profusely. 

 Around 1am Bob woke us up. Bob was usually the first one up and out in the wee hours of the night to take the walk of relief. Pop was usually next. The commotion of unzipping the tent flap for nightly relief always woke me to make haste to take my own walk. This breathless night was no different. I not so reluctantly gave up the comfort of the rolled up sweatshirt pillow and Duluth pack wedged against my back like a shim. Both Pop and I were quite pleased to escape the tent oven to find the hot, humid, but fresh outside air refreshing.

 

In the dim light, we met both Bob and Ron standing on the granite ledge in their undapants. My need for relief was great, but Bob delayed relief pointing toward the north end of the lake. Bob pointed out the most intensely vibrant neon green veil of iridescent color of light dancing above the tree line. We grew weary standing on the granite barefoot straining our necks looking up. We lay down on the cool rock out cropping. Cool was a relative term, it was cooler than the air. The four of us lay there on the granite in our undapants enjoying the light show. 

 We watched the Aurora Borealis for over an hour. The light display danced across the heavens. Stars and the Aurora reflected off the glass smooth lake surface. Our discussions were brief and hushed. Eerily it seemed we could hear, or perhaps detect the magnetic electric field from light show.

 

Sometime after 2am off to the right of our campsite we heard a wolf howl. More wolves chimed in. An answering wolf came from not too far to our left. Their mournful howls seemed to keep in time with the shimmering neon green aurora. We lay there for a long while enjoying the light show and wolf serenade. The thought of crawling back into that blast furnace of a tent repulsed us, But wearily, sleep began to overtake. 

 

We reluctantly braved our tents.