Mark the year’s shortest day at Winter Solstice Celebration night trek
The winter solstice is the darkest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
But after the darkness and the cold comes the dawn of spring … albeit very, very slowly.
The Lake County Forest Preserve District wants to celebrate the coming of the light with a Winter Solstice Celebration from 4 to 6 p.m. Dec. 21 at the Hastings Lake Forest Preserve in Lake Villa. There will be two educator-led night hikes at 4:15 and 5:15 p.m. Each will last between 30 and 45 minutes.
April Vaos, environmental educator with the Lake County Forest Preserve, has led this event for several years.
“This is an event I like to do every year to kind of celebrate winter solstice and get people outside,” she said. “We invite people to come when they’re able to and we run hikes, we drink hot cocoa by the fire and we have pelts out of animals that have different adaptations for winter.
“We will have examples of animals that hibernate, animals that are still active or ones that have migrated away. They can see how animals make it in the winter. A lot of times people are worried about animals, but they’ve adapted to our winter and they can survive.”
The earlier hike still has some daylight and is a good option for families with young children, she said. The later hike is entirely in the dark, making for a completely different hiking experience, she said.
“Being out in winter at night is really cool because it’s a lot quieter,” she said. “It’s really calm and serene in a way that is kind of special.”
If it is a clear night, hikers may see stars. They might hear owls or coyotes and perhaps see animal tracks, either in snow or mud, she said. People tell her they are excited to be out in the forest preserve at night.
“It’s so peaceful and beautiful at night,” she said. “A lot of times, people will bring lights and you don’t need it. Our eyes can adjust and it’s so cool to see at night like that. I think a lot of people really like hiking at night and having an excuse to be out in the winter, celebrating that first day of winter.”
People are advised to dress in layers. The pavilion is heated and there are fires to gather around.
The winter solstice ushers in winter for the astronomical calendar, marking the day with the shortest daylight and longest night in the northern hemisphere, she said.
“On winter solstice, we have nine hours and five minutes of daylight, which doesn’t seem like a lot,” she said. “On summer solstice, we have 15 hours and six minutes of daylight.
“Now we are over the hump of, this is the shortest amount of daylight we will have and now we’re coming back up. Even though it is in very little increments. Even though we are coming into winter, that’s why you will sometimes hear winter solstice being called the celebration of light.”
She’ll talk a bit about the lore of the winter solstice, something people have been acknowledging for hundreds of years, she said.
“People have been celebrating it in one way or another,” she said. “Almost every culture has something that talks about ending and reflecting on the year and starting anew. Which is good to think of this time of year. For winter solstice, I think it’s great for us to think about that and take a minute.”