A Northern Lights Celebration – $10 Off the Active NorCal Magazine
It’s been an exciting week in Northern California. As people went out to see the Perseid meteor shower on Sunday night, they were also greeted with an impromptu Northern Lights show. Talk about good timing!
You can see photos of the stunning night over NorCal here.
Before I get to what this event means to me, I want to have a little celebration of this magical celestial event with a sale of the Active NorCal Magazine. Between now and Sunday, August 18th, if you use the code “NorthernLights” at checkout, you will receive $10 off your subscription (purchase here).
This annual subscription will get you Issue #14 (recently released), along with Issue #15 coming out later this year. If you’re wondering what Issue #14 looks like, check this out:
To illustrate what this celestial event mean to me, I wanted to share the Publisher’s Note I wrote from Issue #14, which talks about a magnificent Northern Lights event earlier this year:
I have been working on Active NorCal for more than a decade, with this being our 14th print issue accompanying our more than 4,000 online articles, and too many social media posts to count. As with any profession, even one I love so much, there’s always monotony. But on the night of May 10, on my wife’s birthday no less, I was pleasantly reminded why I do this.
We have been highlighting opportunities to see the Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, in Northern California for a long time. It’s far from a perfect science, and every time the event is a dud, the comment section thrashes us. That’s okay. I’ve seen the Northern Lights over Mount Shasta with my own two eyes, so I will never let comment section warriors dim my enthusiasm to give other people that opportunity.
The sun is reaching the peak of its 11-year solar cycle in 2024 and we knew that meant we’d see the auroras this year. In late March, we got a small celestial show, but nothing crazy. Then, the strongest solar storm we’ve seen in 20 years emerged from the sun and, like a firehouse reacting to the ringing of the bell, we were on our trucks and ready to roll.
What emerged was possibly the most fun experience I’ve had in 10 years since starting Active NorCal – the Northern Lights were the best we’ve seen in decades.
I have an 18-month-old son at home, so heading into the mountains to chase celestial events isn’t much of an option for me these days. But even from my home in Sacramento, you could see the aurora glow, and the images that emerged from that night are nothing short of spectacular.
There was plenty of celebration from the community following the rare event, but I think the best quote was from Jake Edwards, known as @scenescapery on social media and featured in our Photographer’s Spotlight in Issue #13.
“It was incredible to see pillars looming above Shasta. Exactly what I hoped for, and more. I’m only halfway through the 400 photos I took, and each one is instantly a core memory to the most incredible night of my life.”
That, right there, is why I love what I do. We probably had 250 people reach out to us to thank us for highlighting the event and sharing our favorite images with our followers. For all the haters who said “fake news” in the past when we posted about the aurora in NorCal, we now had proof that all the coverage was worth it.
I’m typically not a person who reads negative comments or lets criticism slow me down. But sometimes, validation is all the fuel we need to continue to work hard on the things we love. And I’m not slowing down anytime soon.
Zach O’Brien – Editor-in-Chief – Active NorCal
If you’ve been a supporter of Active NorCal for a while now, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. We aim to serve the community we love and share our passion of the outdoors with you. If you’re new to our content, check out the magazine. You won’t regret it.
