...does not define itself by last night's sunset.
Well I had to start my list of adventures somewhere, so it might as well have been with a hike up a mountain. Mission Peak itself is not new to me, I've hiked the trail numerous times before. However this time was a little different. Instead of just doing the normal hike, I decided to hike to the top in order to watch the sunrise. Everyone knows that I'm not a morning person, and the thought of waking up at 4:15am did not sound appealing. Especially knowing that before I could even see the sunrise, I'd have to hike a 2200' elevation change in just 3 miles. But as they say, no pain, no gain. I just hoped that the gain would be worth all of the pain.
I had already planned out my morning. Wake up at 4am. Out the door by 4:15am. Arrive at the parking lot at 4:30am. Give myself an hour and a half to hike to the top (because let's face it, it's 4:30am and I'd spend the first half of the hike just trying to wake up). Reach the top by 5:50am and watch the sunrise at 5:55am.
My journey began smoothly, begrudgingly waking up at 4am, getting ready, filling up my camelbak with 3L of ice and water and out the door in fifteen minutes. The drive was quick and fast, and as I made my way up Stanford Ave and saw no cars lining the streets, I was filled with hope that I'd get a coveted parking spot at the top since I'd be there so early. The good news is that I was able to get a parking spot right at the top. The bad news is that there was a gigantic road sign warning all hikers that the park is closed from 10pm to 5am and that all violators will be fined a minimum of $300. And enforcing those rules were two police officers in their cars...stationed inside the park just below the first hill. Fortunately a group of hikers warned me before I reached the police that the cops were writing tickets. So me and about 75 other hikers sat around at the gates waiting till 5am rolled around. Because I wasn't able to start early, I now had less than an hour to make it to the top. Cue the Mission: Impossible theme.
The nice thing about hiking so damn early is that the temperature is nice and cool and the sun is no longer an issue. Anyone who's ever hiked Mission Peak knows that the sun is the enemy and with virtually zero shade along the trail, the sun can easily defeat those who underestimate it.
Everyone else is sound asleep
Another nice thing about hiking so early is that you end up hiking through the fog layer which both looks and feels cool.
Hiking through the mist
Above the fog
At this point I had to really kick it into high gear as the sky was getting very light and the sun was just about to crest the distant hills. Jagged rocks and loose dirt be damned, I've come too far to be denied my goal. I finally reached the top with about two minutes to spare. I don't think I could put into words the beauty of it all, so I will just let my pictures speak for themselves.
Needless to say, the hike was well worth it. After about half an hour at the top just gazing at the sun, and watching the stream of hikers make their way to the top, I decided it was time to head back down. As I was heading back down I ran into another hiker who was blasting music from their backpack - Miley Cyrus' "The Climb." Definitely a fitting song.
New Thing #1 - Watch the sunrise from the top of Mission Peak - DONE
Completed July 19, 2014
