Crack of Dawn at Farch Mountain

Last week, I was talking about where to go fishing in Portland with my Uncle and he was listing off all these lakes that I have now forgotten. Anyways, we started talking about scenic points and he mentions Farch Mountain having a great view of the sunrise. He jokes, "Wanna wake up at 4AM and drive up there? wahaha" Calling his bluff, I look at him deadpanned and go, "sure, lets do it!"... "ooh ok.. we'll go then, sure you can wake up?"

Haha when 4AM rolls by, I feel like crap and just snooze until 4:30AM. Then Wilton runs up the stairs bursting with energy, "Chad! Are we going? It's 4:30! I just ate two burritos!" The kid stayed up all night for this haha and I didn't have the heart to say no. I check out the sunrise time and it's 5:36. It takes about an hour to get there. So I'm like if we're gonna go we gotta go now!

About 30 minutes of driving, I start hitting the twisties to go up Farch Mountain. The sky is already brightening up, yet it was kinda foggy. Crap. I shrugged it off because we already drove so far. Twisties always bring a smile to my face, so I step on it. Wilton's been kinda quiet, so I look over and ask him if he's alright. He mutters that he's a bit carsick, so I dial it down a bit. I wasn't going fast just for the fun of it, I wanted to get there on time too! Apparently I didn't slow down enough. I totally forgot that he had eaten two burritos right before the trip. He ended up not going to see the sunrise at all. He threw up in the back of my car into a bag (thank god I had that bag)

I was probably about 5-10 minutes too late. When I left the parking lot, I had about a 1/4 mile trail to walk up to the viewpoint. From the parking lot the sun was poking out already...nooooooooooooo. But it made an awesome picture:

ooOOOoo, if I only had a better camera

Once I saw that starburst of a sun, I booked it.  Running like mad up the trails and I encounter the steps.  DUN DUN DUN

How far up? HOW FAR??

Luckily it wasn't that far up (but on my way down there was this heavy-set dude that was struggling so hard to get up there.  he had to rest every 3 steps.  ah man, poor guy).  When I made it to the top, I was gasping for air......

.....because the view was so breathtaking! (couldn't resist. i know, it's an illness and i believe its contagious)

Wish I was here before it rose.

I like this rock formation

Mt. Hood: Where snowboarding happens.

Above the clouds

What I saw when I first got up there, made me go Wow out loud. 

Staring at this kinda trips me out

The trees directly across from the sun provided a cool backdrop.  Yeah, I was alone, my uncle didn't wake up and my brother was passed out in the car.  But it was so awesome up there, even if it was by myself.  The sun was slowly rising, a sea of clouds below you, and five mountains in the distance all around you.  It was peaceful and quiet, I just let my mind go blank for a few minutes.  So relaxing... until the mosquitos found me.  RUN!!!!