That evening, the geomagnetic storm had subsided somewhat, yet the Lights persisted. At one stage, the aurora appeared to have wrapped itself around the moon. The strands were twisting so much that one of our local guides, Joe, a Manitoban, said it reminded him of the plaited form of kringle, a bread from his Mennonite upbringing.
My luck finally ran out on the third evening, as clouds overcame the sky. No matter: we travelled to meet dog-sledder David “Big Dog” Daley, one of the local Métis population (whose origins date back to European fur trappers and, before that, American Indians).
We cooked flour-and-water scones, bannocks, over a hearth in his tepee, before this natural-born raconteur charmed us with a tale of how he came to possess a foot-long walrus penis, once used to bludgeon a polar bear.
As I left, Dr Miesch told me that Solar Cycle 25 has only just reached its peak.
“For the next few years, at least until winter 2026, the sunspots will remain really active. There will be a couple more years of great sightings in Churchill,” he promised.