Alien Encounters on Mt. Henry

I took advantage of a late season dump of snow and some well-timed solar coronal mass ejections to ski up to about the 7100' contour of the Mt. Henry trail. Just below Scenic Point. I had designs on climbing Henry the next day but massive wind loading on a mandatory slope crossing scared me off. Instead I got an excellent display of northern lights as a consolation prize. Picture me shivering on the edge of a cliff in 50 mph winds laced with tiny stinging ice-snow, completely agog at the sky and trying not to move as my iphone's camera prompts me to hold still for 3...2...1... while trying to capture long exposures handheld (it was too windy to use my little tripod.) Over and over again into the wee hours of the morning. It was simultaneously gorgeous and absurd, the way most of life's best moments tend to be.