{"id":3991,"date":"2016-06-21T12:51:53","date_gmt":"2016-06-21T18:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/?p=3991"},"modified":"2025-01-06T12:29:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T19:29:28","slug":"summer-solstice-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/?p=3991","title":{"rendered":"Summer Solstice 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The <\/a>
The full moon was setting in the west as I hiked to my sunrise overlook, where a mourning dove watched the sun rise from the top of a nearby tree as I performed my ceremony to begin the longest day of the year <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"I <\/a>
I hiked down into this canyon in the 90 degree weather of late morning, looking forward to a dip in the cold mountain stream <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A few wildflowers were still blooming beside the stream <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"I <\/a>
I bathed in the cold mountain stream, and drank its clear water <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Clouds <\/a>
Clouds came over in late afternoon <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The storm began with distant thunder, soon followed by steady rain <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"I <\/a>
I took shelter in a big cave beside the stream <\/div> <\/div>
\"I <\/a>
I watched the lightning and listened to the thunder, dry inside the cave, where legions of daddy longlegs spiders ran harmlessly over me in their search for food <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The stream kept flowing down the canyon, barely noticing the rain <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"After <\/a>
After the storm moved off, I watched the water coming down the canyon from my bathing ledge <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The rock ledge revealed its true colors after the rain <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"What <\/a>
What a fantastic place to spend the longest day! <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"In <\/a>
In early evening, the clouds broke up, and sunlight returned to the canyon <\/div> <\/div>
\"Reluctantly, <\/a>
Reluctantly, I prepared to leave the canyon, grateful for the cooling storm <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"With <\/a>
With the lower trail destroyed by landslide, I climbed straight up through the steep forest, hand over hand, until I reached a view above the canopy <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"I <\/a>
I reached the spot along the trail where rocks of contrasting color spill down from the bank <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The old trail was completely washed out in places by deep gullies <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Penstemon <\/a>
Penstemon was blooming in this gully <\/div> <\/div>
\"I <\/a>
I contemplated the gap I’d have to cross to regain the trail <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"I <\/a>
I was halfway up when the day’s last light spilled into the canyon <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Last <\/a>
Last light caught the north slope <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The storm had moved off to the west <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Just <\/a>
Just before sunset, I neared the top of the trail <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"From <\/a>
From the road down the mountain, I watched the last light of the longest day, shining through the storm in the west. Further down the road home, I saw the full moon rise behind the mountains in the east, and later, after the stars came out, I saw a meteorite falling directly in front of me, as if to mark the end of the solstice. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,60,58,66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hikes","category-mogollon-mountains","category-southwest-new-mexico","category-whitewater"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/IMG_5693a.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3991"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4016,"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3991\/revisions\/4016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}