# Who needs fireworks?



## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

When you have the Lady Aurora putting on private shows? Last night was phenomenal and the show got going by 10:30 before the daylight had fully faded.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

When I was up in British Colombia on my bear hunt there was a spectacular show going on. 

Everyone should be able to see them at least once in their lifetime.


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

Wow, those pics are spectacular!


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## Buckfinder (May 23, 2009)

Wow!!


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Wow - gorgeous!


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

You need to come back to Utah. That would make the lights even more spectacular for you.


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

That is amazing!!


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

One of my three bucket list items:


See the Northern Lights
See a firefly
See a giant redwood


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Bax* said:


> One of my three bucket list items:
> 
> 
> See the Northern Lights
> See a giant redwood


+1



> See a firefly


They are cool! Saw my first one back in Kentucky. They are crazy when they are thick in the air and you are driving down a highway... you get glowing streaky guts on the windshield.

But, we have them in Utah. Most people dont realize it, but you can find them in Highland Utah along the walking path that follows this creek bottom:

40°24'46.97"N 111°48'42.98"W

-DallanC


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

DallanC said:


> But, we have them in Utah. Most people dont realize it, but you can find them in Highland Utah along the walking path that follows this creek bottom:
> 
> 40°24'46.97"N 111°48'42.98"W
> 
> -DallanC


Seriously? That is awesome. Playing with fireflies was one of my favorite things as a kid when we'd visit family back east. They make great war paint to squish on your face!


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## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

johnnycake said:


> When you have the Lady Aurora putting on private shows? Last night was phenomenal and the show got going by 10:30 before the daylight had fully faded.


So genuinely interested. What are the daylight hours now for you? I'm guessing it's starting to be light early and late. Is there ice off the lakes now?


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

DallanC said:


> +1
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah! I remember when they were in the news a while back. Unfortunately I didnt get to see them last time they were visible. Wasnt sure if this was an every year thing?


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

caddis8 said:


> So genuinely interested. What are the daylight hours now for you? I'm guessing it's starting to be light early and late. Is there ice off the lakes now?


This pic (no edits/lighting adjustments) was taken at ~10:45pm on Saturday. And it starts getting light on the horizon about 4:30ish. Dawn and dusk are hours long events from here until mid-October. 









There are openings on some lakes at the inlets/outlets. The ice is about 20" thick but it isn't really safe enough to drive on, but it is fine for walking. I stopped ice fishing early this year due to rain making things weird for most of February. We had 2-3 weeks that month where my favorite lakes had 6-18" of standing water almost everywhere on top of 30" of good ice. Since then temps rarely got below 10F, making it a bit more likely that a truck could find random soft spots (and several did). But the rain did make for lovely crust conditions on the snow which got us out ptarmigan hunting a lot more during that time than I normally do.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Are there still firefly's up around Charlston along the Provo Rive just above Deer Creek? After fishing the Provo we used to have them all over the place but that was back in the late 60's and early 70's.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

I had no clue they were out here. The link below has a GIS sighting map:









Western Firefly Sighting Submission Form


Share your western firefly sightings here!




nhmu.utah.edu





We knew them as lightning bugs back east. We had hundreds at our house as the loved the yucca blooms for mating. Most of my youth was spent with them flickering every night during the summer. Fun memories. Will have to check out some of the regional "marshy" areas and the map.


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

I have heard that the Spanish Fork river bottoms gets fire flies, but I have never seen them.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

Critter said:


> Are there still firefly's up around Charlston along the Provo Rive just above Deer Creek? After fishing the Provo we used to have them all over the place but that was back in the late 60's and early 70's.



The last 2 reports I have heard about Utah fireflies have been in the Heber Valley and an area near Goshen that had a colony of them reappear a few times. I've never personally seen them in Utah.

Agreed they are so cool. They made a major impact on a vacation to the BIL a few years ago. We went from a car full of cranky souls to a happy group singing the "Fireflies" song along the highway outside of Champaign Illinois.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

We'd lay belly down on the grass and stare across at ground level watching them light up as they lift off, its a cool effect them shooting up in the air.

-DallanC


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

Catherder said:


> The last 2 reports I have heard about Utah fireflies have been in the Heber Valley and an area near Goshen that had a colony of them reappear a few times. I've never personally seen them in Utah.
> 
> Agreed they are so cool. They made a major impact on a vacation to the BIL a few years ago. We went from a car full of cranky souls to a happy group singing the "Fireflies" song along the highway outside of Champaign Illinois.


What is BIL?


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

Brother in law.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

Should have none that. Just assumed it was a place you visited and nothing was ringing a bell. 

Sorry your brother in law is so cranky 😁


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