Sunday, April 26, 2009

Sunrise Hollyburn Ridge



Got some nice shots of the sunrise from Hollyburn Ridge today. I remember meeting a guy on Thunderbird Ridge a couple of winters ago. He had dug a bench in the snow and was quietly reading a book overlooking Fromme Mountain. It was a beautiful place to stop and appreciate the view.

We spoke for a bit and he said the view at sunrise was awesome there. I paused and asked how he got then in time for sunrise since this was on Grouse and the gondola doesn’t start running until 8:00 AM. There's a brave hike after the gondola ride to get there. He said he worked on the mountain so he would go early having slept on top of the mountain. I thought that was a really good idea. I thought about doing the grind in the dark and then hiking up Dam mountain and Thunderbird ridge to see the sunrise and thought naw… that’s an awfully long way especially in the dark.

My next best brainstorm was to try it on Hollyburn Ridge. I could climb up in the dark with my miner’s light they use for midnight snowshoe fondues. I was ready to go one day but the weather said rain so there would have been no visibility. Today was the perfect day. Forecast said yesterday would be cloudy but today would be sunny.

I was shooting for getting there an hour before sunrise but didn’t get there till half hour before sunrise. It was later than I had hoped so I didn’t need the lights. I made it to the first ridge on the base of the summit when the sun rose.




From the peak it was full blown and the rays of light were beaming down the mountains into the valley’s. It was awesome. The sunrise thing is kind of a process to experience. Just like a sunset in reverse. My father was big into photographing sunsets. I like sunrises. Makes me think of that song Boston by Augustana. It symbolizes new beginnings. I remember jogging on the beach every day for a while for the sunrise in Bray outside Dublin. That was awesome too.


I like the Lions from Hollyburn Ridge because you can get a peak of what’s behind the Lions.

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