January 11, 2024
I love a good sunrise run almost as much as I love a good swimming hole run. Brian doesn’t share my enthusiasm for getting out when it’s still dark outside (and it was a Thursday, so he had to work). Which meant I was on my own for this one.
I left the house at 5:25 and arrived at the trailhead at the trailhead a little after 6:30. I was relieved that there weren’t any other cars in the parking lot. I took a moment to enjoy the star-filled sky and quiet before hurrying into the woods. I feel much safer in the woods than I do in a dark, deserted parking lot.
A few feet up the trail I stopped to adjust my headlamp. As I was standing there, another car pulled into the parking lot. Not wanting to be seen, I took off up the trail.
I was using Brian’s poles because I’m thinking about buying some for the Cruel Jewel 50 miler we’re doing in May and wanted to try them out. I was pleasantly surprised by how natural they felt. I wouldn’t use them for a race where there is a lot of actual running, but for a race like Cruel Jewel which is mostly just steep climbing and descending, I feel like they will be extremely helpful. The only problem I was having, was that every once in a while one of the joints on the poles would come loose and I would have to put it back together.
About a half-mile up the trail, I looked back and saw a headlamp. I wasn’t too concerned because I felt it unlikely that a murderer would hike two miles up a mountain in the dark and freezing cold to kill somebody. Surely there were easier ways? But I picked up my pace anyway.
As I neared the top, I had to watch out for icy patches and was again grateful for Brian’s poles.
It turns out that Yonah Mountain’s overlooks are mostly on the southwest side of the mountain and are not ideal for viewing the sunrise. I was able to find one spot where it was just visible. I perched myself on the side of the mountain and dug my puffy coat out of my pack. I had been comfortable on the way up, but it was windy and cold once I stopped.
I kept waiting for whoever was behind me to show up because I was standing at what seemed to be the only spot on the mountain that offered a view of the sunrise and I couldn’t think of another reason why someone would be out climbing a mountain so early on a freezing cold morning. But nobody ever showed up.
The sunrise was stunning.
As I made my way around the mountain, there was one spot that was encrusted with a thick coating of ice. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen! I’m guessing the entire mountaintop had looked like that after the storm and that particular spot just hadn’t gotten any direct sunlight to melt it.
It was much windier on the backside of the mountain. My hands and arms were already so cold they were aching because I’d had my mittens off to take pictures.
I moved as quickly as I could on the icy trail. The poles proved just as helpful on the way down as they had been on the way up. I stopped about halfway down to take off my coat. A little after that I passed three guys who were heading to the top.
I was home and eating lunch by 10:30.
When Brian got home from work, we figured out how to lock the poles so they don’t keep coming apart while you’re running.
The Running Nemophilist 