Time-Lapse Video Shows Summer Solstice In Idaho Mountains
We are heading into the first full weekend of summer and it already feels like a new season. The weather has been warm and the next few days are full of outdoor activities with the Idaho Regatta in Burley and the Highway 30 Music Fest at the Twin Falls County Fairgrounds. Hiking trails are full of people and the Snake River is full of kayaks each day. I had an old man moment last Saturday as I was sitting out on my porch with one of my kids around 8 PM and felt the need to point out that it was now officially summer. My kid acted like they thought that was cool but wasn't really impressed since nothing had actually changed that he could see. That got me thinking about how different the season solstices actually are.
I came across a cool video of the summer solstice in Idaho filmed at Alice Lake in the Sawtooth Mountains near Lake Pettit and Alturas. At that high of elevation, the summer solstice views are still filled with snow covered mountains and icy water.
While that video is pretty, it didn't really show the difference between the summer and winter solstice. Then I found an awesome video from YouTuber Scott Richards that shows the full first day of each season and you can really see how much more sun you get during the summer vs a winter day.
The video is from the UK and shows almost 10 more hours of sun during summer than in winter. Now I get why people call England depressing sometimes. The difference isn't as stark in Idaho though the days are visibly longer. The sun rises at 6 AM in Twin Falls and sets at 9:30 PM this weekend.