Leech Lake Summer Solstice – A New Season Begins
June 19, 2018
Summer is here again in Leech Lake. June 21st, 2018 is Summer Solstice. This is the official first day of Summer and the longest day of the year. Here are a few fun facts about Summer Solstice:
The further north you are, the more sunlight you’ll see during the solstice. Leech Lake is definitely “Up North” and a great place to soak in the extra rays of sunshine. Our beautiful resorts offer limitless opportunities to watch the sunset over the lake.
The name “solstice” comes from the fact that the sun appears to stand still. While the sun will appear to stand still, the sun’s relative position in the sky at noon does not appear to change much during the solstice and its surrounding days.
Many in the Leech Lake area will be dancing the night away. Summer Solstice 2018 falls on the first day of Moondance Jam in Leech Lake. Moondance Jam is an annual rock and classic rock festival held in mid-July in the Leech Lake Area near Walker, Minnesota. It is recognized as Minnesota’s largest rock festival and the premier classic rock festival in the United States. The Jam has gone from being a party for a few hundred family and friends back in 1992, to a rock ‘n’ roll and camping celebration that entertains tens of thousands today. This is mainly due to the fact that it has maintained a clean, safe, and friendly atmosphere, along with open festival seating for general admission ticket holders.
The world’s biggest bonfire was part of a solstice celebration. In 2010, a world record for the tallest bonfire was set in celebration of Summer Solstice! The people of Alesund, Norway created a 132.71 ft. celebratory bonfire!
Although we would discourage visitors to attempt a world record-breaking bonfire, we hope to see more than a few campfires.
Hot weather follows the sun by a few weeks. If solstice is the longest day of the year and gets the most sunlight, doesn’t the weather heat up for a few more weeks? It’s because water, which makes up most of the Earth’s surface, has a high specific heat, meaning it takes a while to both heat up and cool down. Because of this, the Earth’s temperature takes about six weeks to catch up to the sun.
Lucky for Leech Lake our extended forecast for June/July predicts highs in the mid 70’s to low 80’s for the next few weeks!
The Earth is actually at its farthest from the sun during the solstice. Many people think that Solstice is when the earth is closest to the sun in actuality the earth is closest to the sun during Winter in the northern hemisphere. Winter is also a beautiful time for visitors to head to Leech Lake but let’s not talk about Winter quite yet.
Thousands of people gather at Stonehenge to celebrate. Last year, 37,000 people attended. Many have long believed that Stonehenge was the site of ancient druid solstice celebrations because of the way the sun lines up with the stones on the winter and summer solstices. Despite no proven connection between Celtic solstice celebrations and Stonehenge, these days, thousands of modern pagans gather at the landmark to watch the sunrise on the solstice.
While most of us won’t head to Stonehenge, there are plenty of ways to celebrate in Leech Lake. Choose from one of our amazing lodging options – view the sunset from the lake, the beach or the dock. Maybe head to Moondance Jam in Walker, MN. However, you decide to celebrate we hope you decide to stay with us at Leech Lake!