During the summer, Anchorage gets about 20 hours of daylight and the sun doesn’t set until around midnight.

5,000 Awesome Facts, National Geographic Kids

That is a lot of sunlight. A lot of sunlight to run around the town and go mountain bike riding, river rafting, and other things that are available to do during summer in Alaska. A lot of extra time for Charley Waffle to play, play, play. She would be in heaven. All that time for balls and flying discs.

From about April through August is when Anchorage is basically light all day long, except for a brief twilight time around midnight to 4. It’s not abnormal to see people running around town and doing things in the middle of the night. Even when the sun dips for the few hours it’s light still can be seen in the twilight eve. Everything is still visible during this twilight time, so much so that automatic street lights don’t even go on. However, during the winter the sun will rise around 10:45 a.m. and set at 3:45 p.m., with the rest of the time being in darkness.

There is a myth that has been told that Alaska has 6 months of light, and 6 months of total darkness. However, that is not the case because the furthest north point and south point are the only places where it is 50/50. Alaska is not north enough to experience such extremes.

The reason for such the long, sultry summer is due to the Earth’s axial tilt, which determines when and where a place will be exposed to the sun. Time zone boundaries also play a part. Where Alaska is situated puts it into direct sun for longer than other countries.

The sun does not set for 84 days In Barrow, Alaska, which is the northernmost village far above the Arctic Circle!

Whenever somebody says “there is not enough time in the day,” have them check out Alaska in the spring and summer.