Solitude Sports is where you will find real world reports and gear reviews of quiet sports like bicycling, kayaking, backpacking, hiking, cross country skiing and more.

This past weekend, the Northern Lights or properly, the Aurora Borealis, were predicted to be visible in much of Northern Michigan. Having been fortunate to have seen the Northern Lights on a few occasions and having been lucky to photograph them last year, I gathered my camera gear and headed out to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to try my luck. As it turned out, the geomagnetic storm peaked during the daylight hours and they were barely noticeable. The Milky Way turned out to be the real show for the evening. A few hours alone, in an obscure location in the dunes was very peaceful – crickets, wind rustled leaves, and the howl of a few coyotes kept me company.