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MENDENHALL VALLEY · DECEMBER 2025 · 2 SORTIES

Winter Solstice Light

December in Juneau gives you about six hours of daylight and the sun never gets far off the horizon. We flew three times in the two weeks before the solstice, including once after dark.

AircraftDJI Mavic 3Hasselblad 4/3" · 20 MP
Sorties2 flightsDec 7 · Dec 18
On this page4 stills · 2 clipsSelected from the full shoot
Height above groundUp to ≈381 ftEstimated from USGS terrain

The plan

The sun barely clears the ridges in December, which means every frame is backlit or side-lit and the snow glows. Flights were kept short and close to home because batteries fade fast in the cold.

The flight path

Scroll the frames. The map follows.

© OpenStreetMap contributors · cones = camera heading · takeoff area hidden

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Height is above the ground directly below, estimated from the takeoff point and USGS 3DEP terrain — not the aircraft's altimeter, which reads from takeoff. Shown only where the estimate is 400 ft or less.

● VIDEO
The valley after dark, a week before the solstice#01 · DJI_0380 · 10 S LOOP
Noon, December. The sun at its highest, which in mid-December is not very high.#02 · HDG 153° · −4.2° · ≈155 FT
Fresh snow on everything. A clear morning after a heavy snowfall, looking across the valley.#03 · HDG 248° · −4.2° · ≈156 FT
The peaks catch the light. Snow-covered trees in shade while the mountains take the sun.#04 · HDG 323° · −4.2° · ≈156 FT
● VIDEO
Snow-loaded spruce under the sunlit peaks#05 · DJI_0394 · 12 S LOOP
Toward the water. Backlit spruce looking out to Gastineau Channel and Douglas Island.#06 · HDG 172° · −2.7° · ≈281 FT

Next flight · 03

Glacier Valley, Late Summer →

MENDENHALL VALLEY · AUG 2023 · MAVIC 3