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Post by cabininthewoodsvt on May 18, 2006 7:56:17 GMT -5
I am planning on going to Alaska in the next couple of years. My reasons are unusual though as I have lupus and can not be in the sun. When you have the 6 dark months is it light enough to go out and function outside? I am very curious.
Mary from Vt.
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Post by ugashikrobert on May 18, 2006 11:44:54 GMT -5
Mary:
The amount of daylight in the "dark months" varies greatly by what part of the state you are located in. The distance from the North Slope to Southern tip of the SE panhandle is the same as distance from Texas to Minnesota. The far north only has about 4 months of no sun and its not total darkness but is actually a grey twilight durning several hours of the day. The southern part of the state has over 5 hours of daylight on the shortest day (12/21). We live at Latitude 57 which is actually further south than Juneau and we have over 5 hours on 12/21. The temps are more of a limiter to me than light but to answer your question you will find a lot of people do a lot of things outdoors in the winter. I can not answer for the far north reaches as I have only worked up there for short periods in the winter.
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Post by Washkeeton on May 18, 2006 17:07:45 GMT -5
Welcome Cabin in the woods
lol didnt I just say hi to you on another forum. lol
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Post by 1withNature on May 19, 2006 14:43:53 GMT -5
Mary,
I'm not trying to be insensitive, but another place in this country that has very little actual sunlight is North Eastern Ohio. The military installation named "Ravenna Arsenal" in Ravenna Ohio was build during the cold war, because it has the most cloud cover in the country. This was a plus because the cloud cover hampered spy satellite surveillance. As I say, the beautiful gray skies of Ohio. This may be a place to consider, due to the low amount of actual sunlight, without those extreme temperatures in AK. Not sure if cloud cover qualifies though.
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Post by smwon on Sept 27, 2006 21:49:13 GMT -5
Hey Mary! I didn't see you before... still thinking of Alaska? I sure am!
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Post by mtmamaak on Nov 20, 2006 3:36:35 GMT -5
Hello Mary,
I am a newcomer to this site, too. However, I have lived in Interior Alaska for 5 years. One of the things I love the most about the winters up here is the "dark season" Its not really dark so much as sunless. When the sun goes behind the south mountains for it's two months or so in Dec/Jan, the mornings and afternoons are a beautiful dusky, mysterious purple. And last for hours. We still have about 5 hours of good light - just no direct sunlight. I don't suffer from sun deprivation, and love this manifestation of far northern winter. Also, while there is snow (from early October to late May, most of the time!) nights aren't really dark, either. Light from all sorts of sources reflect and make the middle of the night almost as bright as the twilight. I used to have to walk two miles home on trails through the bush at 11 at night, and seldom used a flashlight.
However, you might find the summers more of a problem, as there is just as much sunlight in the summer as there is dark in the winter. The sun only goes behind the northern mountains in our town for about two hours. We have our share of storms and cloud cover, but we also have glorious stretches of cloudless sun-drenched days. We find we just don't seem to need as much sleep in the summer ("sleep in the winter" is favorite motto in Alaska)
Well, I hope I helped to clarify that for you.
Terri in Healy
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