Winter Solstice

December 21, 2010 winter officially begins in North America.  Snow has been on the ground for weeks and temperatures today are up to a balmy 23 degrees, tropical compared to the weekend temperatures of 8 degrees.  I always look forward to the winter solstice knowing that here in Alaska it means that the days are going to start getting a few more seconds of light each day.  Today, Juneau will have 6 hours and 22 minutes of daylight with the sun coming up at 8:46 and setting at 3:08 pm.   A lot warmer and more daylight than the northern part of the state where temperatures have been below freezing and the sun only peaks above the horizon for an hour or so, or in Barrow Alaska where the sun set in mid November and will not rise again until mid January. 

My neighbor,before relocating use to have a Winter Solstice celebration.  A great idea if you're looking for another idea to have a party this time of year.  The Winter Solstice has been celebrated in world cultures for over 1000s of years and in such places as  Stonehenge in Britain, Newgrange in Ireland even as far as Machu Picchu, Peru.  I'm all for celebrating the rebirth of the sun so I thought I'd google Winter solstice celebrations and see what sort of world wide customs there were.  Celebrations are there from Amaterasu in Japan to Zagmuk in ancient Mesopotamia.  Everything from costume parties, drying wreaths, lighting candles, decorating trees, gift giving, using the colors of red, green and white to partying for days on end and feasting.  Easy to see where our traditional December Holidays are derived from.

I like the idea of the Inti Raymi or Festival of the Sun but since I don't live in the Southern Hemisphere or have a hitching post to tie the sun to  I might have to pass on that one.  For those interested in celebrating two Winter solstices you  can visit Sacsayhuaman near Cusco on June 24 and see a theatrical representation of the Inti Raymi.

 
Beiwe Festival which is celebrated by the Saami, the indigenous people of Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia worship Beiwe the sun goddess of fertility and sanity.  She travels through the sky in a structure made of reindeer bones to bring back greenery for the reindeer to eat.  Must be their answer to SAD.

Of course we have our Christmas celebrations which are derived from a mix of early pagan holidays from several European countries and the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ which Christianity celebrates on the Roman winter solstice.

I've read that even in Antarctica that parties are given on the Winter Solstice since it marks the 1/2 way point of duty  for those working.  Remember winter solstice occurs in June there.  So  if a winter solstice party sometime sounds like a great idea, choose a theme   and   time and go for it.  You'll have A to Z to choose from!  As for me,  I'm looking forward to those longer days of sunlight!



 

Juneau Icefield Tour

The Juneau Ice field is located in the Coast Mountain Range and is North America's 5th largest ice field with over 1,500 square miles of land.  Covering nearly 100 miles North to South and 45 miles East to West, the Ice field feeds over 38 large glaciers including the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska and the Taku Glacier.  According to the Tongass Forest Service the ice field stretches from upper Taku Inlet north nearly to Skagway and from the coastal waters of the Taku Inlet, east across the borders of the United States into Canada.  

On a very warm and sunny day here in Juneau we decided to take a tour of the Juneau Ice fields.  Twice previously we had attempted the trip and had it canceled due to low visibility and poor weather conditions.  Our trip was a 2.5 hour flight called "Pilots Choice".  You don't know which glaciers you will be able to visit until you are in the air.  Below you will find a map  published by the US Forest service showing our flight.

We left the Juneau airport by helicopter and could see the Mendenhall Glacier in the distance.  Then over the Herbert Glacier , Thiel Glacier and set down at the confluence of the Gilkey and Bucher Glaciers.  It is rare that most trips make it this far but due to the perfect weather conditions we were able to fly as far north as our pilot goes.  We were able to spend about 15 minutes on the ground looking at the crevasses, melting ice and for those who were adventurous even taste the cold water.





Helicopter landing at Gilkey Glacier

Mendenhall Glacier from the air

Tongess National Forest   

Moss on ice

Rhino Peak





Approach to landing on Glacier




 

  Snow and ice depths can vary on the ice field from 800 feet to 4,500 feet with the massive accumulations of ice and snow stretching from the upper Taku Inlet north to Skagway.  Those who are adventurous can even take a dog sled ride on the ice field.

Mountain Goat



 Devil's Paw is the highest peak on the Juneau Ice field and is the international boundary between Canada and Alaska.  The West side of the peak is in the Alaska and the East side is in British Columbia.  Devil's Paw is 8,585 feet high but the ice field elevation base is at 5,000 feet.  The peaks on the ice field have such names as Little Matterhorn, Guardian Mountain, Organ Pipes,and Slanting Peak. Flying past the various peaks you can often tell how they came by their  names.  I was hoping to see a few Mountain Goats along the ridges, but alas that did not happen.  The only wild life we saw was a few hikers sitting along the ridge of Mt. Juneau.  Perhaps another time.  I must say that the flight viewing the Mountains and Juneau Ice fields was spectacular!