mountain sunrise
Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills: Capturing the #Sun in Public Parklands in the Great Outdoors

The summer and winter solstices arrived on June 20, 2025. Depending on where you live, summer or winter has officially arrived!

“Both the Winter and the Summer Solstices are expressions of love. They show us the opposition of light and dark, expansion and contraction, that characterize our experiences in the Earth school so that we can recognize our options as we move through our lives.” — Gary Zukav

Solstice Dawn's Early Light
Solstice Dawn’s Early Light
Pink skies create amethyst snow
Winter Dawn

Our first summer weekend in 2025 has been rather cool and cloudy. No complaints as it had been warmer a few days prior. Temperatures peaked at 94°F (34 °C) on June 9th in the Spokane, Washington area. More than 20 degrees over the historical average of 72°F.

In keeping with my subtheme of the great outdoors, my choices today feature sunrises and sunsets. I also included images of the sun in and around national parks. These encompass both private and public lands.

A Whole Lotta Light!

During the Summer Solstice, Northeastern Washington gets a LOT of light! Here is what the WeatherUnderground App tells me:

daylight image graphic

The images below show how far north the sun sets. They also show how late the sky stays light. Both shots were taken at 10:00 pm Pacific Daylight Time in different years.

late night summer sunset
light in the 10pm Eastern WA

“The summer night is like a perfection of thought.” — Wallace Stevens

Join me on some of my road trips, as we check out some summer and winter sunshine.

Let’s start in Mexico and work our way north, shall we? We spent a few winters in La Ventana, Baja Sur, Mexico, for windsurfing and board sports. Sunrise is at 7:00am. Beaches are located in federal zones and are not privately owned, and are free to use and camp on.

Baja Sunrise
Early Baja Sunrise

Our next stop on this contrived road trip is San Diego, California. A view of the setting sun from Shelter Island on the downtown buildings rarely disappoints.

Shelter Island Marina San Diego
Shelter Island Marina, San Diego

As we head north, we will take a side trip to Scottsdale, Arizona, to see a desert sunrise.

desert sunrise
Desert Sunrise

Back in Southern California, another desert scene greets us near Victorville. This is a subdivision of private homes in Helendale, built around the Mojave River Aquafir.

Mojave Desert Sunrise
Sunrise in the Mojave Desert

As we head along the California coastline, we are greeted by a foggy Malibu morning at Malibu Pier.

Malibu Sunrise

As we make our way into Northern California, we arrive in the Sacramento Delta, where summer winds are king. Sacramento County Parks operates the marina and camping facilities on Sherman Island. The levee area shown below is leased on private and state lands.

Day is Done
Sunset Sailing Session
Summer Sun sets on windsurfer getting the last bits of wind.
Which way to the road?
RV camping

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you.” – Walt Whitman

Leaving California, we drive through Oregon and enjoy the views along the Columbia River Gorge. Multnomah Falls is within the jurisdiction of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Visitors must pay to park from May through September.

Multnomah Falls sunburst
Multnomah Falls

A 35-minute drive along Hwy 84 gets you to Hood River, Oregon, home to incredible summer wind sports!

OR morning light

You might be lucky to view a winter sunrise on Western Idaho’s Hwy 84.

Winter Sunrise Idaho

Back in Washington, we called the North Spokane RV Park home from February to March 2021…

RV Camground home
Winter Dawn RV Park

… before we moved into our forever home.

Home in B&W

“The summer solstice is a time for strength and vitality for action and movement.” — Carole Carlton

Fancy a Visit to a US National Park this Summer?

US National Parks require entry fees to drive into each park. In 2024, Yosemite National Park implemented a timed entry reservation system. This applied whether visitors intended to camp overnight or simply sightsee along the highways. More National Parks are requiring timed entry reservations. This is due to the fragile state of the roads. Many park ecosystems are impacted by excessive automobile and RV traffic.

Is your favorite National Park on the list for 2025? Please visit this website: National Park Reservations for continuous updates.

Here is the list of National Parks that require a timed entry reservation to drive on the roads:

  • Acadia National Park
  • Arches National Park
  • Carlsbad Caverns National Park
  • Glacier National Park
  • Haleakala National Park
  • Mount Rainier National Park
  • Rocky Mountain National Park
  • Shenandoah National Park
  • Yosemite National Park
  • Zion National Park
  • Muir Woods

The National Park Service recommends visitors read this website for more information. This is especially important for those planning to visit any US national park in 2025 and beyond. Plan your visit!

If you have an entrance pass, you still need to make an advance reservation for the timed entry. I have an America the Beautiful Lifetime Pass, which I was eligible to purchase at the age of 62. Along with this, you need to show the timed entry reservation. Present it at the park kiosk to enter the parks listed above.

Once you are inside your favorite National Park, take time to witness a sunrise or sunset (or both?), and appreciate the great outdoors!

We cherished our sunset walks as a family when camping in the high country of Yosemite National Park.

Half light of Tuolumne Meadows sunset
Sunset Walk On Lembert Dome, Tuolumne Meadows (Yosemite)

An interesting phenomenon occurs at 9900 feet elevation when the sun sets. Alpenglow!

alpenglow on Tuolumne Meadows
Evening Alpenglow on Tuolumne Meadows

“There’s always a sunrise and always a sunset and it’s up to you to choose to be there for it.” – Cheryl Strayed

brown swatch

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post. Please use your own original images, whether new or from your archives.

  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently from mine.
  • Please create a new post for the theme or link to a recent one.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

Sharing for Johnbo’s Cellpic Sunday.

mountain sunrise
Local 4:00 am summer sunrise

I can’t wait to see how you interpret this week’s theme! Creativity is encouraged, so please share your own photographs (old or new), poems, original short stories, or music inspired by the theme. Join me next week as we explore the theme “PATRIOTIC” with your country’s flag or other flags.

awesome week bitmoji

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108 comments

  3. I’m still adjusting to our summer 10pm sunsets. Enjoyed your creative roadtrip and variety of sunrise/sunset pictures. Just updated my project list for July so I can get back on track. Ill be jumping back in after my June break of too much other stuff going on to keep up the weekly blog cadence.

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  14. The summer solstice arrived here in the UK at 03:45 on 21st June, Terri. No, I wasn’t awake to see it, but there were a lot of people at Stonehenge to see the sunrise that morning. The same happens at the winter solstice, although they get a bit more of a lie-in then.

    I enjoy sunrises much more, especially in the winter months. They happen at a time when I am up and about. We get some spectacular sunrises where we live, but our home is positioned so that we can’t see any sunsets at any time of the year.

    Of course, there are some parts of the world where there is little difference at what time the sun sets and rises all year. My sister lives in Brisbane and she tells me the sun sets and rises about an hour earlier/later during the summer compared to the winter months. When she returns to the UK, she’s always amazed by how it doesn’t get dark until 10 pm in early summer. She’s not so keen on the 4pm darkness in the winter, though.

    Your foggy Malibu morning at Malibu Pier is eerie but beautiful. Foggy mornings and evenings are something we don’t get so much anymore, but I remember them well from my childhood days, especially the sound of the fog-horn sounding to warn ships of the coastline.

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    • It’s always interesting to read the times when the solstice “landed” in different parts of the world, Hugh. I would expect most people see one or the other depending on the time of year.
      Hans and I traveled to Southern California in 2010 from San Diego along the coast. We caught Malibu at a good time in the coastal fog. Fog makes for some compelling images! Thank you for reading, and I wish you a wonderful day!

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  21. I always enjoy seeing you showcase the wonderful landscapes of the western US. There are some lovely glowing images here (that alpenglow shot of Tuolumne Meadows is especially lovely), but one of my favourites was the more muted foggy Malibu Pier shot 🙂

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    • Thank you, Sarah! It was a last minute spark of inspiration to share those road trip photos of the various angles of the sun. Since Malibu is situated on the southern-facing area of the coast, it made for a unique sunrise on the ocean.

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  22. There is nothing more beautiful than sunrises, and sunsets. I love the Evening Alpenglow on Tuolumne Meadows, photo. It has a dreamy effect, and so gorgeous. 💗

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  23. Hi Terri, you’ve shared so many great images here! I love the various travels you’ve shown us and the information about the national parks could be useful for anyone planning to travel that way in the future. So much gorgeous light – have a great week!!

    My post is here https://debs-world.com/2025/06/23/sunset-on-the-winter-solstice-sundaystills/ – just a quick one as we’re travelling north to see our daughter and family.

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  26. These are glorious sunrises, Terri. God is a great artist. I love your capture of the Bajaj sunrise, the one in the desert, mojave, winter dawn, washington. The colours are mesmerizing.

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  29. You have many awesome sunrises and sunsets here in this post Terri. I cannot remember the last time I watched the sun rise or set – yes, that is pitiful, but crime, crime and more crime these days and I am now out of my comfort zone to try to see either and there are too many power lines around my house. Although not in my area, today in Michigan someone walked into a church while parishioners were attending service and the perp was killed by the church’s security guard … amazing for the first part of the sentence, but a church has a security guard?

    You have such a potpourri of shots though and in different places. I especially liked your last quotation (“There’s always a sunrise and always a sunset and it’s up to you to choose to be there for it.” – Cheryl Strayed) because it tells me it is really “on me” to go out and find one. A fellow blogger has posted a few pictures of rainbows and I told her a few years ago that I aimed to find a rainbow and post that photo, but it seems to me most of our rain is either after dark or early morning, or it is severe weather that I’m so happy it is over with, the fun of seeing a rainbow is lost on me. I await our next storm Tuesday which will finally break this heat wave, but already there are rumblings it might be severe.

    Although my post is sans sunrises and sunsets, I am not remiss about having a post about the SUN. I hope you will like it and get a smile or two when seeing the photos. 🙂

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    • Thank you, Linda! I have so many Sacramento delta sunsets, as well as many Baja sunrises I’ve collected. Right place, right time!
      Horrible idea about churches needing security guards. Tragic. We just had a crazy thunderstorm come through with lightning, wind and torrential rain. A long 10 minutes, 😆 Strange.
      I’ll be to read your post!

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      • I am finally here – yikes, almost a full day later. I do aim to see pretty sunsets/sunrises again … some day. I was pretty horrified to hear about that church shooting Terri, but then after I wrote you, there was an interview on my all-news station with a witness. He works at the station as a sports reporter and runs the sound board at his church. He was in a small room and his wife and newborn child were in a “baby/child room” out of the church area. He said everyone evacuated the church to the woods behind, including him, but he could not find his family for 20 minutes and was beside himself. I also learned that there were two security guards, not just the one that was shot in the leg and fire back and killed the perp, whose mom was a parishioner at the church. Crazy world.

        I know some people like a raucous, but non-severe storm, but I am just glad when it is over. You won’t have to water for a while. We have storms Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons/evening but zoom back to the 90s again Thursday.

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  35. Wonderful variety of scenes from around the US Terri 😀 You certainly do get around.
    I enjoyed the marina San Diego, the desert and the sunset on the road ahead in Idaho.

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  37. Beautiful memories of your driving trips capturing the sunrise and sunset throughout the years, Terri. I don’t get up early enough to capture too many sunrise photos. We’re surrounded by trees now so it’s even harder to do it. I maybe able to do it on an outdoor trip.

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  43. Terri,

    Beautiful images. I firmly believe that we should never miss a sunset if at all possible. My contribution was one I captured at Sunset Harbor in Whidbey Island, WA (this was one of many–I couldn’t stop snapping). Have a fabulous week. Joe

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  50. Lovely selection Terri. Love your winter dawn and the beautiful Baja sunrise, and the Malibu morning is very moody. I like the highway shots too, but since I’m almost always driving I don’t tend to take those! I forget just how late it stays light in Washington, though the early winter nights stick with me. Interesting about the timed admissions. I can’t see Volcanoes Park doing that, if only because the entry volumes vary dramatically depending on what’s happening with the volcano. Here’s mine this week: https://grahamsisland.com/2025/06/22/the-sun-comes-up-and-the-sun-goes-down-3/

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    • Thank you, Graham. Hans loves to drive because I take pics when possible. We’re planning to stay home this winter. I do have a sunlamp and know how to use it 😆
      I dont think all NPs can offer timed entry if there are a lot of roads to take through the parks to each attraction. I’m surprised Yellowstone isn’t on that list.

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