Have you ever been so cold that your ears sting and eyelids hurt? When your nose and eyes start to water, and your fingers are too cold to properly wipe away the now river flowing from your face? That no matter how many layers of clothes you’re wearing, you hungrily wrap yourself in an ugly heavy blanket and perform some form of prancercising to get the feeling back into your toes? All the while, lying to yourself about how cold you truly are? Yeah, this was me a week ago, waiting for the sunrise at Forrest Gump Point, Monument Valley.
After sleeping for less than 4 hours, I thought it would be fun to get up at 3:45am to drive through open ranges into unknown territory, risking my life with every “open range” and “frequent wildlife crossing” every few miles. Any sane person might look at this and scoff. For most people, getting up at such an early hour isn’t an option. I get it. Being awake while the rest of the world sleeps is hard to deal with: almost nobody else is awake, there’s nothing on TV except weird reruns and infomercials, and chances are you’re still too sleepy to do anything productive.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I’ve made a habit of waking up to catch the sunrise when I travel. I’m drawn to those early morning golden lights, the stillness that can’t be found elsewhere. So I ask you, dear reader, is it worth it to wake up early, waiting for the sunrise? And as I reflect on the numerous times I’ve stirred out of bed to catch the first rays of light, my mind is drawn to Shakespeare’s Sonnet 33:
Full many a glorious morning have I seen
Flatter the mountain tops with sovereign eye,
Kissing with golden face the meadows green,
Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy;
February 2018 – I recently returned from a trip to Monument Valley and Four Corners. I love Forrest Gump and figured that would be a great spot for waiting for the sunrise to appear and shine on Monument Valley. I was fortunate enough to arrive a lot earlier than expected and spent quite a bit of time figuring out angles and all that technical junk. And although it was early in the morning, I wasn’t alone. Apparently I’m not the only crazy person around!
June 2017 – I’ve stopped counting how many times I’d driven from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. There was a year (I think it was 2015) where I drove down the I-15 corridor every month. Yikes. During one such trip, I noticed a peculiar art installation off the side of the road and made it a priority to stop every time I passed to admire the Seven Magic Mountains. Needless to say, my photo app on my phone is full of colorful rock formations, but always with a group of people in it, no matter how hard I tried to get them out of the shot. I was determined to not let the installation lose any of it’s je ne sais quoi, so I decided that a sunrise photo shoot was my next project. Scoring a $30/night hotel room in Mesquite, Nevada was key in this venture. I didn’t want to stay in Las Vegas, so I opted for an earlier wakeup call and longer drive. Waiting for the sunrise in the Nevadan desert was so magical and eerily quiet, even though I wasn’t that far from I-15.
March 2017 – I’m blessed with adventurous friends who like to experience life off the beaten track. Ashley and I were getting ready to drive the Extraterrestrial Highway in Nevada and spent the night in Ely, Nevada, as a jumping-off point. As the resident early-bird, I headed out into the hotel parking lot where I plopped it on a curb, just waiting for the sunrise. There was nothing magical about my location: I was amongst sleeping cars, trailers, and could start to make out the smell of donuts frying from a nearby bakery in a dusty, small town. Yet I felt like something special was about to happen. A new day. The start of a new adventure.
**”Circle of Life” added by me. Birdsong…not so much**
November 2017 – Towards the end of 2017, our family dog died and I found myself taking my mom, brothers, girlfriends, and remaining dog up to Big Bear Lake for a quick getaway weekend. I’d never been to Big Bear Lake before and instantly fell in love with it. Our little cabin was down the street from the lake and I found myself drawn to the shores on numerous occasions. Our last morning in town was proving to be clear and cool, so I took the opportunity to drive around to a secluded part of the lake. As I was waiting for the sunrise, I took solace in the crisp, mountain air, full of pine and not something I experience very often. I was fortunate to find a little balcony thing that protruded out closer to the lake, which made for some great pictures and memories.
August 2016 – Sometimes having a staycation is fun, especially when hosting out of town guests. I just love it when my mom and brothers come to town. They’re always up for new adventures, eager to fall in love with Utah as hard as I have. Before they arrived, my youngest brother asked if we could go on a sunrise hike. Sure. I don’t like to hike, but try to take my family on a new trail every time they visit (except during the Winter…I have limits). We scaled Ensign Peak, a short hike behind the Capitol building in Salt Lake City, with plenty of time to catch those first pink hues of the sunrise. Actually, as we were waiting for the sunrise, my brother announced that we could have slept for another 20 minutes or so. Oh well. I’d rather have enough time to relax than try to beat the sun!
June 2016 – My first visit to the US Virgin Islands was for my 2nd destination wedding. After the fiasco of finally getting to St. Thomas for the wedding, I was eager to have the best time ever. My first morning in my cute little villa, I woke with a start. I wasn’t sure what it was (maybe another nightmare of being stranded in Puerto Rico), but I found myself lounging on the sofa, staring out into the dark void. My mind wandered and before I knew it, the sky was turning a beautiful cerulean, then slowly a pinky hue formed directly in my view. Slowly, purposefully, the sun began to peek out over the islands. After it finally rose in totality, I grabbed my camera, tears streaming down my face. For some reason, my body knew that waiting for the sunrise would kick the trip off with a bang!
June 2015 – I guess this is where my love for watching the sunrise was born. I was attending a destination wedding with a friend and we decided that we wanted to catch the sunrise at the Haleakala summit in Maui and bike down the crater before the wedding. Seems like a good idea, right? Actually, it was the best idea ever and set the tone for what turned out to be an epic trip. I mean, how can you beat these views? Granted, we did have to get up at 1:45am to start our journey to this spot, and thank goodness we were still jet-lagged, so it wasn’t all that bad. One of the most beautiful moments was when a melodic voice sang out in Hawaiian, “Lovely Sunrise Haleakalā,” a blessing on the day.
So I guess going back to my original question: is waiting for the sunrise really worth it? If you can’t already guess that my answer is going to be a resounding yes, then you might need to head back to the top of this post and reread all of my crazy stories.
Yes, getting up before the sun is exhausting, and by midday, I could feel it. I was tired, often a little grouchier than I’d like, and ready for a nap. But looking at these pictures just reminds me that sometimes it’s okay to be uncomfortable. It’s a good thing to get out of our comfort zone and experience something a little different, a little out there, a little extraordinary. I don’t feel tired when I look at these pictures. I feel a sense of accomplishment, a sense of connection with Mother Earth, a clearer sense of self.
Yes, getting up early, waiting for the sunrise, welcoming in a new day…totally worth it.
Have you gotten up for the sunrise before? Where? What was your experience like?
PIN ME
