Coldfoot Alaska: The Aurora Borealis Tour to Wiseman

The cabin in Wiseman

 When I was up in Coldfoot, I went on the Aurora Tour to Wiseman. You might wonder if it's really necessary to to take the tour. And the answer is, that depends. You can see pretty much the same Aurora from Camp, so if all you want to do is look at them, then you probably don't need to go up to Wiseman. But if you are trying to photograph them, or if it's -30 degrees, you may run into problems. There are lots of lights in Coldfoot. When I was there some miners had a search light on all night, so they could work on their vehicles, and bthere is a bright light at the gas pumps, and  there are semi-trucks coming and going all the time. It tends to wash out the night sky and lower the contrast between the Aurora and the dark. You can walk out away from the camp a little ways, but then you have to worry about equipment/ trailers that are laying around, traffic, and if it's cold, you can't run back inside to warm up. At 30 below that can literally ruin the experience.
In my opinion the tour in Wiseman is great for 3 reasons.
1.) You have a tour guide who sits outside THE WHOLE TIME, while you sit out the boring times in a warm cabin sipping hot tea. When things start happening he/she will run inside and let you know so you can run outside and enjoy them. Some nights the Aurora are out early on, but on others they don't appear till 2:00 in the morning. If you can imagine how cold you'd be by two a.m. if you had to sit out there waiting for them, you can instantly appreciate the fact that you don't have to. It's much more enjoyable to view/photograph the Aurora when your fingers and toes aren't numb with cold, and your face isn't frozen. And the best part is, with the guide, you don't have to worry about missing anything exciting.
2.) The scenery up at Wiseman is much prettier and makes for a much better foreground if you are taking photos. There are three little log cabins in the immediate vicinity, and trees in three directions, and of course mountains. There are also no bright lights like there are in Coldfoot.
3.) Most tours you meet a Wiseman local named Jack. He is a walking encyclopedia on the Arctic. Pretty much anything you want to know about the surrounding area, he can tell you. And as an added bonus he also knows how camera settings need to be adjusted to best photograph the Aurora. That was super helpful (even though my camera was out of focus the first night (sad face)). He keeps you company inside while the guide keeps lookout outside.
My experience was that it was so nice to be able to warm up, without having to worry or wonder if I was missing something spectacular outside. Jack was really interesting, the cabin was warm, and I got to meet new people as we sat inside and chatted. And then, when the Aurora did come out I was ready and toasty and didn't have to worry about whether or not I was going to get frostbite.
 The first night I went, the Aurora barely appeared. We waited 3.5 hours and there were only two little bands the whole time. The second night I went there was much more activity, and so the guide (after an hour of good viewing) said that he would only come inside if it got extra-super spectacular. That happened twice. So most people stayed inside after the first hour and only came out when things got exciting.
I would advise those going up to the Arctic specifically to view the Aurora to plan for AT LEAST 3 nights in Coldfoot (and maybe 1 night in Fairbanks). Sometimes they don't come out, or it's overcast, or a storm is blowing through or something. But chances are pretty good you will see them if you are up there for 3 nights or more. Don't be worried by light clouds, or a full moon either. Neither of those will affect the viewing as long as the Aurora are really showing.

The Aurora over the Dalton Highway

The Aurora over the Brooks Range

Aurora almost straight overhead.

The Aurora and the Ursa Major

Our tour guide Jason.

Inside the cabin, getting warm.

Aurora on a faint night.