June 22, 2018
Well, this was different! It was 9:40 pm when we left the
small village of Circle, AK – just up and broke camp and decided to leave with
fresh coffee in our thermoses. We knew
we had to drive 54 miles of winding gravel road to get back to Eagle Summit where
we wanted to try to stay awake to see the sun not set at 1:26 am. The longest
day of the year was yesterday. We couldn’t get to Eagle Summit by then, but one
day off was close.
We had driven this stretch of mountain road (the Steese
Highway) past Twelve Mile Summit and Eagle Summit to Circle that afternoon,
planning to camp in town, and then slowly make our way back to Eagle Summit to
watch the un-sunset the next night. However, that just felt like too much time parked
in a very small, pretty God-forsaken town with lots of mosquitoes at the parking
spot by the lake where we were going to spend the night. Besides, the sun was still
3 ½ hours away from getting low on the horizon; it was shining brightly at 9:40
pm. Who needs to sleep?
 |
| Tundra at Twelvemile Summit |
We were in the Land of the Midnight Sun! Where the sun
doesn’t set – at least at the Arctic Circle and north OR at Eagle Summit at
3,685 feet. Because if you’re just a few degrees latitude south of the Arctic
Circle, but you are standing at a high enough elevation, the sun will appear to stay above the horizon. That’s
what we wanted to witness.
When we arrived at Eagle Summit Wayside about 11:45, we
hiked the trail to the top of the highest ‘mound’ wearing sweatshirts, coats,
mittens, stocking caps and carrying a sleeping bag. We sat on the tundra, to
wait for the sunset show, knowing we’d have to wait 1 ½ hours. Oh, how the wind
blew across that mountain top! Waves of wispy fog soon moved in and eventually
the low hanging clouds out on the horizon obscured most of the descending sun.
The longer we sat, the colder we got! At about 1:00 am, we decided to head back
down the mountain trail to the warmth of the Siesta and watch the last hour
from the comfort of the front seats. By 2:00 am the sun hadn’t “set” as in
dipped below the horizon. It had just
slid to the right and then had begun its next day’s ascent.
As the Earth turns and the sun shines! What a marvelous
system!
 |
| Birch Creek near the town of Circle - 10:00 p.m. |
 |
| On Eagle Summit |
 |
| About 1:00 a.m. |
 |
| 2:00 a.m. |
We had driven this stretch of mountain road (the Steese
Highway) past Twelve Mile Summit and Eagle Summit to Circle that afternoon,
planning to camp in town, and then slowly make our way back to Eagle Summit to
watch the un-sunset the next night. However, that just felt like too much time parked
in a very small, pretty God-forsaken town with lots of mosquitoes at the parking
spot by the lake where we were going to spend the night. Besides, the sun was still
3 ½ hours away from getting low on the horizon; it was shining brightly at 9:40
pm. Who needs to sleep?
When we arrived at Eagle Summit Wayside about 11:45, we
hiked the trail to the top of the highest ‘mound’ wearing sweatshirts, coats,
mittens, stocking caps and carrying a sleeping bag. We sat on the tundra, to
wait for the sunset show, knowing we’d have to wait 1 ½ hours. Oh, how the wind
blew across that mountain top! Waves of wispy fog soon moved in and eventually
the low hanging clouds out on the horizon obscured most of the descending sun.
The longer we sat, the colder we got! At about 1:00 am, we decided to head back
down the mountain trail to the warmth of the Siesta and watch the last hour
from the comfort of the front seats. By 2:00 am the sun hadn’t “set” as in
dipped below the horizon. It had just
slid to the right and then had begun its next day’s ascent. 
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