Sunrise Hike in Franconia Notch
This sunrise hike was quite the unexpected adventure. The plan to see a (saturday) sunrise in stunning Franconia started around 5pm Friday night while I was at work. I left work at 8pm, rushed back home to pack all that could and finally attempted to at 10:30pm. The alarm went off at 1am and out the door by 1:30am, for the 2 hour drive.
We arrived at 3:30 am and took to the trail. And was a hike it was π
About .5 mile in my headlamp died (
@loleebs was prepared and kind enough to let me use here's while she used her lamp). Whether it was the fact I overpacked, or was running on 2 hours of sleep, or the absence of a substantial dinner, or just being totally out of shape, or all 4, I was just dragging ass on this hike. My pace was slow and surely arrived on the ridge after sunrise π
. But, luckily a massive wall of clouds on the horizon was blocking the sun and we were able to see the sun rise above it about 15 minutes after our arrival. So, still counts right!?
After setting up to soak in the views, I quickly snapped some videos and photos. It's truly one of the most beautiful spots in New England; the sheer scale of the view with the rows of mountains spanning to the horizon shrinks you, the low hanging clouds in the valleys looks like flowing white ribbons, and of course the crisp air which had this soothing sweet wooded fragrance that eventually lulled me to sleep.
But, this adventure was a good reminder that even if the "point" of the trip is missed, or maybe you're not making the progress you think you should be, it is that the fact you're there spending the effort, the time, for yourself that is the real "point". I find it's very easy to get lulled into that comfortable, caging, routine. Predictability is assurance, stability is security. But, for me I quickly start to become quieter in these routines and my overthinking kicks in. Which is not something I enjoy spending time doing. So, I urge you all to break the routine once in a while. Not saying to go on a hard hike for sunrise and miss it entirely, but say yes to something that's last minute, or new or different. It may just become part of your new routine.
