Crowds of people flock to the state during the summer, which is precisely what my sisters, friends, and I did, enriching my trip to America. We planned an impromptu 5-day trip to see the northern lights, as all of them were sick of their jobs. On the other hand, I was delighted to go on a fun trip. The monotony of attending online lectures (conducted back in India) in the middle of the night did not do wonders for my entertainment. The journey begins We took a flight to Anchorage, the largest city in the state. We would’ve liked to travel by boat to Alaska as you can catch some of the most magnificent sites in the world. But our time crunch compelled us to catch the cheapest flight on the nightmare that is Spirit Airlines. A bumpy ride later, we were seated in the car we rented, a mammoth the size of a pickup truck and set on our journey to explore the pristine state. We started towards our final destination, Fairbanks, a popular site for seeing the Northern Lights. Driving along the icy roads was much riskier than we had imagined. I lost control of the car for a few seconds but could safely manoeuvre the car to a rest stop just ahead. We all thanked our lucky stars and my obscure YouTube knowledge. My sister took over, and we continued on. The drive was filled with incredible views, no matter where you looked. Majestic mountains were covered in a light powder of fresh snow in the distance, and lush green trees lined the two-lane highway. We stopped by a lodge in the city of Juneau. We enjoyed various dishes, including the famous Alaskan salmon, freshly caught and grilled to perfection. We wandered into a local park and observed grizzly bears from a distance, shouting and clamouring. Hence, they knew about our presence and didn’t attack us. We passed by the Denali National Park, with clear blue water stretching out as far as the eye could see. The road to Fairbanks also took us through the city of North Pole, with Christmas decorations hung all year long. Grabbing festive-themed coffees, we continued on our journey. Reaching Fairbanks Upon reaching Fairbanks, we took a short break and set off to see the one thing we came for the Northern Lights. It was well into the night, the clock striking 12 when we came by a cosy wooden lodge with large magnificent windows over-looking the valley. Many locals had mentioned that this was the perfect place to observe the phenomenon, with the KP index showing an activity level of 6-very high. We were about to leave the lodge, satisfied by the beautiful star-studded skies and the lovely snippets of the northern lights, when my cousin exclaimed that the lights were dancing. We immediately returned to the viewing spot and saw a trail along which the lights moved, ebbing and flowing along the sky. It was beautiful enough to move us all to tears. After watching the fading wisps of the aurora borealis, we returned to our motel, reaching in time for breakfast. The journey was filled with sights, a bump in the road, and delicious food- I had the Alaska trip I had hoped for. I even got to tick off one thing from my bucket list-seeing the beautiful Northern Lights with my own eyes.
20 Apr 2023
Aditi Iyer
