When I announced “Happy Hogback Day!” to our fellow hikers this weekend, I was met with a lot of curious looks. Time to explain.

Our neighborhood is perched on a mesa, and we enjoy long sightlines to the east. For most of the year, as soon as the sun rises, rays wash into our east-facing windows. But in winter, when the sun travels south, a ridge interferes with our sunrises. Sunlight doesn’t stream in until well after sunrise — after the sun emerges over the hogback. (Hogback is a geological term for a rocky, spiny ridge.)

February 25 is a special day at our house. On February 25, the sun has traveled far enough north that it rises over the eastern horizon. The hogback no longer delays our sunrise.

Sounds silly, I guess. But keep in mind, with 14,000-foot Pikes Peak due-west of our house, the sun sets as early as 3:00 in the afternoon in winter. Daylight is in short supply around here. Hence the celebration of Hogback Day.

Yesterday, we celebrated Hogback Day by getting a different perspective. We scrambled through brush and cactuses up to the spine, then bushwhacked to an outcropping we’ve dubbed Solstice Rock. (As you might guess, on the winter solstice the sun rises over this outcropping.)

It was a sunny, warm day featuring Colorado’s extraordinary deep-blue sky. A perfect way to celebrate Hogback Day 2012!

Sunrise photo by Patrice Rhoades-Baum
Group shot (Mike & Jake & Patrice) at Solstice Rock by Michael Baum