On October 10, 2024, my husband and I spent our anniversary in Yosemite National Park. We were already several days into our trip and camped down at Lower Pines campground in Yosemite Valley. Although it was well into Autumn, it was still warm enough to pass off as a summer’s day but deep into the season that the mosquitoes returned back to the pits of the underworld. Pure bliss!
After devouring our anniversary meal of grilled steak, shrimp, and bell pepper around the campfire, I periodically checked the Aurora app to see if I could get an update on whether there was a chance of seeing the northern lights from Yosemite.
In the days leading up to this day, there were news of a possible strong geomagnetic storm that had the potential to reach all the way down to California, as it did back in May 2024. Our hopes were low given our location, but still hopeful.
If you’ve stayed in one of the Pines campgrounds, you’ll know that phone signal is limited, and most times, you won’t get any data signal there. It has improved over the years, but signal is still very limited during the day.
Luckily at night, when most have gone off to bed and usage is low, you may be able to get data. That’s what happened. At 10:45 pm, I received an alert from the Aurora app that said the Kp index was strong. The Kp index is a measure of how strong the geomagnetic activity is. It is rated 0-9. The alert said we were at 7.67. It was high. We went from hopeful to HOPEFUL.
We put out our campfire and decided to make our way to Tunnel View in hopes of seeing a glimpse of the northern lights. Tunnel View is a historic site with a scenic overlook of the valley. It’s an iconic photography spot that has graced countless posters, postcards, and magazine covers. This epic viewpoint with the aurora lights? Sounds like a plan!
We arrived at Tunnel View around 11:05 PM and saw about 15 people with their set up tripods and cameras, a common sight here at this popular photography spot.
As we were parking, we didn’t see any aurora lights with our eyes though, just some sparkles from the headlamps of El Capitan climbers and stars glimmering beyond. “I doubt we’ll be able to see the aurora lights down in California,” I said.
Lin went to the viewpoint first while I scrambled to get my headlamp, camera, tripod, and batteries. When I found him at the viewpoint next to the short stone wall, I immediately asked him if the camera could pick up the lights. And he said yes.
On camera, a bright neon pink band engulfed the sky.
I stared deeply into the sky but my eyes struggled to see this pink band. The sky was lighter than usual, but that could have easily been due to the moonlight or a placebo effect.
Even our phone cameras could pick up the aurora lights! The photo above was taken with an iPhone 13 Pro Max.
Since we were in the valley, mountains stood tall to the left and right of us. What if we went to a higher vantage point? It was slightly past midnight, but we were curious how it would look at our favorite viewpoint of all of Yosemite, Glacier Point. We headed there.
A 45 minute drive later, we parked amongst 20 other cars, and walked to the far northern side of the trail. Photographers occupied the area with tripods set up all along the railing.
We took some photos of the main view but the light was faint and dim to the eyes. About 20 minutes into our photography session, I looked left and saw a bright pink band (this time with my eyes) across the sky. We moved spots to situate ourselves more that direction.
Then we saw pillars of light dancing across the sky, with the brightest lights coming from the most northern direction. It started to get brighter and brighter. Photographers, including me, were shouting and laughing in amazement. It was such an incredible event to see, especially in our home state of California.
The light show peaked for about 20 minutes before the lights started to dim down. By this time, it was around 1:30 AM and we were both running high on excitement, but at nearly 7,200 ft, it was windy and it started to get very cold so we decided to head back to our campground.
How grateful I am for being able to witness the aurora lights down south in CALIFORNIA! I never would I have imagined seeing the aurora lights this far south. This was the most memorable gift for our 13th anniversary, and one that we will remember forever.
Can you normally see the aurora lights from Yosemite National Park?
Typically, no. But on this day there was a ‘severe geomagnetic storm’ that caused the aurora lights to be seen across North America and far down south.
Can you actually see them with your eyes?
At Tunnel View, no, we could not see it with our eyes. We could only see them on the camera.
At Glacier Point, yes; however, it is not as vibrant as you think.
The sky was a faint pink with some light green seen at the base but it definitely is not as bright as the photos portray. I would say about 35% brightness of what you see in photos, BUT, it is still really amazing to see it light up and move in the sky.
To answer the question, yes, you can see the aurora lights with your eyes SOMETIMES, depending on how bright it is.
Why could the camera see the lights better than our own eyes?
A camera can do long exposure and collect light for longer. Our eyes can’t do long exposure due to limitations in the biology of our photoreceptors. If you think about it, we also have a hard time seeing color in the dark. We lose our color sensitivity in low light.
For more, check out our cool timelapse of the aurora lights at Tunnel View and Glacier Point on my Instagram @vhappyoutside 🙂
A post shared by Jane | outdoors & the fun times (@vhappyoutside)
