Last night I messaged my hiking friend, Matt, and suggested we meet at 6:00 this morning rather than the originally planned 6:30 so we could be sure to be up on the mountain for the sunrise. As always, he arrived punctually and when we left my apartment around 6:15, there was no hint yet of the sunrise to come.
I’m sure you can imagine our surprise when we arrived at the Pan Toll turn off and encountered…
We waited around the blocked-off road for awhile, hoping a ranger would show up and remove the sign and open the gate but at 7:05 decided to drive back down the road to Boot Jack and hike from there. At first it seemed that the cloud cover would prevent us from seeing much of a sunrise but as we parked, I looked east and saw the sky awash with color through the trees…
Not wanting to miss the beautiful display of color we had awakened so early to see, we walked quickly to the Boot Jack campground where I knew there was a clearing and we would be able to have somewhat unimpeded views of the East Bay…
Weather: about 55F, partly cloudy, a few sprinkles
Unbelievable photos!
Thanks!