There's Something About The Sunrise...

I’m a morning person, I always have been. Maybe it’s from growing up on a farm, where hungry animals mean everyone is up and about working early, woken by the chorus of noisy calves or cockerels crowing. Or from years as a teenager spent getting up at 4.30am every morning to go swimming training before school and college.

Who knows, but I love mornings…

I don’t take the time nearly as much as I should do these days, to get up and appreciate the sunrise from a mountain top, choosing instead to succumb to the lure of staying wrapped in a duvet in a warm and comfortable bed, but when I do, I’m always glad for my efforts.

Back in April (when sunrise wasn’t quite as early as it is now in the middle of summer!), I joined Rachael, Sam, Roo and the guys from Paper Cut Media for a few days of filming a wee bike edit in the Lake District. You can judge the results for yourself here, and here, and hopefully enjoy the beautiful scenery and feel inspired to get out into the hills, but regardless of whether you do or not, we had a great time making it. It rekindled my love of an early morning adventure, and I’ve found myself setting my alarm increasingly earlier on numerous occasions when the weather and my proximity to the hills looked like coinciding to allow a good sunrise mission!

Rach on breakfast duties before sunrise

Sunrises are totally amazing….every single one is different but all are awe-inspiring, mind-blowingly beautiful. It staggers me every time I see one that nature can produce something so special, so uplifting, something that instantly makes you feel happy, full of hope for life and for the day ahead. Like a giant paint brush is washing beautiful warm colours across the sky.

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

A new beginning every single day, like the slate has been wiped clean from yesterday and everything is starting again. While sunset for me brings out emotions of sadness, of things coming to an end, the sunrise inspires hope for new beginnings and new opportunities.

For me, sitting atop a lofty summit, watching the sun come up and bring the world to life is one of life’s greatest pleasures.

The early alarm never ceases to be a shock to the senses, but once you’re up, and hiking or biking up high, you’ll have forgotten all about it.

Pre-dawn hike-a-bike. Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

You wait, shivering in the cold, yet smiling because it feels like you’re the only one in the World witnessing this. The quiet, the calmness, the serenity, the rest of the World sleeping whilst you’re stealing an extra few hours of the day to yourself, before the World wakes up and the noise of human interference starts.

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

Senses are heightened. The only sounds that of a few birds, your own breathing, and the breeze.

You can tell when the sunrise is coming, the dark clouds in the East start to glow pink as pale morning light surrounds them.

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

The distant pink glow becomes fiery orange, like the horizon is on fire, and still, there’s a sense of everything waiting for what will happen next. Then the sun slowly rising like a golden orb, bringing warmth and light to the darkness you’ve been waiting in, awakening all of life. It’s magical. The sky erupts with colour and in that moment you’re left breathless with wonder.

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

That transition from night into day has to be one of the most inspirational phenomena in the universe.

There is nothing quite like a sunrise to remind you that we are lucky to be alive, right here, right now. A powerful spectacle created by nature to remind us that time moves on, everything passes, good and bad…Whatever happens, our World slowly keeps on spinning, and as chapters of our lives end, others will commence. A new day will always dawn.

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

It’s the easiest time of day to sit still, be calm, feel gratitude and at peace. To feel a connection with the World and life around you, forget all your troubles and to lose the sense of urgency and stress of normal life.

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

Artists, poets, writers, and almost all who have witnessed them over centuries past have been inspired by the sunrise…

 “How sweet the morning air is! See how that one little cloud floats like a pink feather from some gigantic flamingo. How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of nature” Arthur Conan Doyle

And how could you not be? There’s just something about it…

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

If you’ve never witnessed a sunrise from the top of a mountain, I suggest you make the time to do it. Go alone for quiet and solitude, or go with friends to share and appreciate it together.

It’s the earth’s incredible free show, and it happens every single day if you can be bothered to make the effort to witness it. Pick a clear night, set an alarm, get yourself out of bed and up to a good vantage point, and watch and wait as the new day dawns. I guarantee it will put you in a better mood for weeks.

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

And by the time the rest of the World wakes up, you can smile smugly knowing you've witnessed something that so many others have missed! 

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

There's no denying it, I’m a sunrise addict...