Today, Columbus Day, my daughter and I hiked Mt. Monadnock in the dark and cold of a Fall New Hampshire morning - 4:30am, 20 degrees F. By headlamp we ascended the rock and ice of the Marlboro trail. We reached the summit plateau at 6:00am and walked to the peak against 40 mph winds.
We found a nook facing east near the summit and talked while the twilight of dawn illuminated the falling leaves at peak color 3000 feet below.
At 6:53am, the first pixel of the sun appeared in a horizon shaded in blue, violet, orange, and yellow. We watched as it rose into a circular fireball too bright to view, then began our hike down. By 8:45am we were enjoying hot oatmeal and green tea at nearby East Hill Farm.
A sunrise together on the mountaintop with windchills below zero - priceless.
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