I told myself that, since I’m not currently working a 9-5, I’d take advantage of this “funemployment” by starting every Monday with a sunrise hike.
However, up until this past Monday, I haven’t made good on that promise I made to myself (weirdly, a pattern). Mostly, because I’m a fair-weather hiker and the weather has been pretty brutal down here this winter. January and February feel like they’ve been averaging in the 20s-30s, which means that up in the mountains, where the best hikes are, they feel (and typically are) much, much colder.
Last weekend, though, was one of those false-spring weekends. So I set my alarm for 4:00 so that I could wake up and make the hour drive to the Appalachian trailhead between Hot Springs and Marshall to make the additional hour hike to the Rich Mountain Fire Tower, which AllTrails told me had an “absolutely breathtaking view of the sunrise.
Well, it was a bit of a Murphy’s Law expedition. To start, while I did set my alarm for 4:00, it was 4:00 PM, not AM, so when I woke up at 4:45, I was already behind my self-imposed schedule. But saying “self-imposed” makes it sound arbitrary, and it absolutely was not. This isn’t my first sunrise rodeo, and so I know that to see the best colors in the sky, you arrive for daybreak, not sunrise, which is typically about an hour before the main event.
Still, I drove like a maniac (allegedly, and 100% legally, like a maniac), and made it to the trailhead a little after 6:00 AM, which was later than I’d anticipated, but better than what I thought I’d do when I first made these plans. I left my car, pretty confident I could make it 2.5 miles in an hour.
I’ve done the Rich Mountain Fire Tower hike once before, and I forgot how UPHILL it was. I can do 2.5 miles of moderately steep terrain in under an hour. I cannot do 2.5 miles of STEEP, steep terrain in under an hour. At least not in my current winter shape. And so, I did witness the sunrise, but not from atop the perch of a fire tower, but through the trees just after passing a sign that said “Fire Tower .7 miles.”
It’s all for the best, though, because I submitted a fire tower enshrouded by fog. I was hardly able to see more than 15 feet or so in front of me. Naturally, after waiting atop the tower for a full half hour waiting for the fog to burn off, I finally climbed down and started my trek back down to my car. As soon as the tower faded from view, the fog lifted and the day once again turned glorious.
AshevilleExplorer 