Observe summer solstice, courtesy of the ancients
The first day of summer usually means little for most people in the Valley.It means our air-conditioning bills will soar, we'll be cranky because of the heat and we'll retreat indoors.
But the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, has long had mystical and religious significance. This weekend, visitors to Petrified Forest National Park, east of Holbrook, can mark the passage of the solstice with the aid of an ancient solar calendar.
Although watching time move may sound as exciting as watching grass grow, the annual event attracts hundreds of people looking to escape the heat and see a once-a-year occurrence.
"It's really cool," said Rita Garcia, a ranger at the national park.
The park contains hundreds of petroglyphs. One of those is a solstice calendar, a spiral etched into a rock, at Puerco Pueblo, in the central portion of the park. Early people would mark the passing of time by noting when and at what position on the spiral the sun shone. Garcia said people used the calendar to keep track of the seasons and help them determine when to plant or harvest.
"This is how these people learned to track their time," Garcia said.
The best time to see the peak interaction between the sun and the solstice calendar is between 8 and 10 a.m. Saturday, although visitors can still see how the calendar works for several days after the solstice.
As the sun climbs on Saturday morning, Garcia said, visitors will see a dagger of sunlight hit the petroglyph at about 9:10 a.m.
"This is a very special opportunity," Garcia said. "Very few solstice markers are open to the public."
After you've observed the solstice's passing, enjoy the park's other attractions: petrified logs, fossils, hiking trails, scenic drives and Junior Ranger activities for kids, along with visitor centers and museums.
Hundreds of other petroglyphs also are accessible to the public. Garcia said the etchings are pretty sophisticated, considering that they were hammered into rocks.
"It's likely that more than 'Joe was here' was what they were trying to communicate," Garcia said.
Original Source : http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/0620quicktrip0620.html
