The summer solstice or longest day of the year has always had special meaning to me. Every fourth year, leap year, the solstice would land on my birthday which I had the fortune of sharing with my twin brother and my grandfather. We all agreed it made sense and was appropriate the longest day would fall on this occasion. Growing up this day would often be spent outside usually playing baseball in the backyard. As far back as I can remember we would intentionally try to squeeze every drip of sunlight from the day. The day however was never long enough and the light would fade before the last out was recorded or the last run would score. We would promise to pick the game up in the morning but late June in Missouri is often too hot and muggy to muster such motivation. I never forgot the importance of the day and would always find some outdoor activity as day turned to evening. Years ago it was golf and most recently it was searching for waves in the cool blue Pacific. As with my childhood the day was never quite long enough, the light would fade on the 16th hole or set before I could find that perfect wave. The days while not long enough always seemed perfect in retrospect.
On this solstice we woke up early with a list of sights to see. We are entering Lassen National Park and must hike the 20 miles through the park because we do not have the required bear canister to camp. We want to take a half mile side trip to see a steaming creek and also stop at Drakesbad Guest Ranch for an extremely rare, on trail, cup of coffee. To complicate all this there is snow covering an 8 mile stretch of the trail. Snow this late in the season means the trail is likely covered from view in wind blown snow drifts. When this happens the trail is often hard to find and we waste hours searching, finding, losing, and re finding the trail over and over.
The steam creek was a site to see and warmed the early morning air. The water in the creek was hot and too hot to touch, definitely a reminder of the volcanic activity which sets just below the surface of the park. We left the steam creek and arrived at the ranch by 10:00am. The ranch was unique and sat in a valley which had the brightest green grass and snow capped mountains in the distance. We had our coffee, talked with curious tourist, and met some fellow PCTers. By the time we left we were behind schedule knowing we had to complete the 20 miles. As we made our way to the snow covered trail it became evident it would take longer than expected. Over the next several hours we pressed on often only guessing by our previous knowledge which direction the trail would take us. The snow today created a beautiful contrast between the green trees, blue sky, and white snow each competing to be the most dynamic color. By the time we worked our way through the snow it was almost 6:00pm and we still needed to hike 8 more miles to get through the park. I really wanted to stop as my feet ached and my mind was drained from the snow maze. Madelyn would not let us quit and insisted we continue. “After all”, she reminded me, “today is the solstice and has more daylight than any other day”. Reluctantly I accepted the challenge and found myself once again trying to extend daylight on the solstice. We hiked hard and fast and the terrain gave way to flat straight trail. I started to believe for a moment we might actually beat the sun and find the perfect camping spot we were searching for. We came close but in the end the sun set and light faded just before we found camp. We found a site, not the perfect site but one that seems perfect for a day that’s never quite long enough.
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