Catching the Sunrise

King Mountain Sunrise Hike 

I have no idea why it took me so long to hike up to the area’s tallest “peak” to catch the sunrise. I’ve been so accustomed to hiking in the evenings to catch as many sunsets as I can that I decided to switch things up today. And man, am I glad I did.On a whim, my brother and I decided to just go for it. So off we went to King Mountain. The drive up there was pretty surreal. The whole city was still fast asleep and completely still. The drive through the parkway was noteworthy as well, blasting some Killers and Kings of Leon, as the crisp early morning air aided in waking us up.We arrived at the trailhead around 4:40am. Much to our surprise, it was beginning to brighten up quite quickly so we hurried along. It definitely helped that we were both extremely familiar with this trail. I had my headlamp on during the initial climb through the woods, so as to avoid tripping over the large rocks and roots, but it soon became unnecessary as we approached the lookout.We arrived at the first lookout at around 4:55am, with the moon still shining brightly high above. A glance to the east, however, revealed that the sun was preparing to burst through the horizon. It truly was magnificent timing on our part, as the moon still shone, while the faint glimmer of the city lights was still visible from our lookout spot. With both of us settled in and my Gopro’s time lapse already chugging away, the sun began to rise over the eastern ridge.I don’t even know how to describe the sight of it all. My brother noted how he felt like the good ol’ Double Rainbow Guy, as did I. There was something about being up with the sun, as it’s first rays of light struck your eyes, a beauty unlike those of sunsets. It goes without saying, but there’s definitely a different quality to it. Maybe it’s the fact that you’d already been up for a few hours and hiked a mountain (or in this case a hill, really), and that on most days you’d still be in bed for another couple of hours.Whatever it was, and however difficult it is to describe, I’m hooked. And I seriously don’t know how I hadn’t done this earlier. We both reached a point where we realized that we could have spent the whole day up there. It was complete stillness and peace and it was amazing to think that we were so close to a prominent national capital.The only thing I would have done differently was actually packing a solid breakfast, as we were up there for a solid three hours. I’m still feeling the effects of three hours of sleep, coupled with a 3am wake up time, but it was more than worth it.It always is.