Sarah WallockHiking Cloud’s Rest at sunrise is an incredibly special way to complete the trail.
I’ve spent three summers living and working outside of Yosemite National Park and my favorite summer memories are from night hikes. I’ve hiked both Cloud’s Rest and Half Dome at night, and now I’m a convert. Although I hate the morning, night hiking is worth it for a multitude of reasons.
Why night hiking is the best:
- Fewer People
- Cooler Temps
- Moonlit, Sunrise and Sun-kissed Views
Fewer people – why hike with hundreds of people in America’s most popular national park, when you could hike virtually alone?
Cooler temps – Sometimes it gets as hot as 100 degrees around Yosemite Valley during the heat of the day. At night it ranges from 30-50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Moonlit, sunrise and sun-kissed views – Standing on a mountain overlooking a valley is pretty special no matter the lighting. But with night hiking, you can see the same view with a diverse spectrum of lighting. Including, one of the most magical times of the day, sunrise.
Nick, my housemates in Mammoth, and I set out at 11:30pm to hit the Sunrise Trailhead for 1am, with a stop for gas. Although it only takes an hour to drive there, we saved time to pack our bags at the trailhead.
Overall, we completed a 15-mile hike in 8 hours with an elevation gain of 3,166 feet.
At 12:40pm, we set off from the parking lot. By 2:30am, we reached the top of the switchbacks and continued wandering through the dark. I was paranoid about missing the fork in the trail here, because back in 2016 when I did this hike, our group made the wrong turn and added an extra 5 miles to the hike. Not again! I made sure we stayed on track this time!
Around 3:50am, we arrived at the “Cloud’s Rest 2.5 Miles” sign. Before reaching this sign, I was nervous we would get to the summit too early and freeze. Luckily, two things happened. One, it wasn’t very cold out. Two, our timing ended up working out perfectly for sunrise. We arrived at the summit around 4:40am. The sunrise was around 5:30am, so we got to enjoy the stars and the first light.
The five of us cracked open our snacks: Gatorade, rice cakes and lots of chocolate. The stars shone above us and we could faintly make-out the ridgeline of the mountaintops. In that moment, there was nowhere I would rather be.
Living at Mammoth has been challenging at times, to say the least. But it’s the moments like this and access to nature that make the move all worth it. And it goes without saying, that the company made the trip! Having our little Mammoth family join us on this midnight adventure was a delight.
The morning light illuminated Yosemite Valley and the faint blues and pinks were as beautiful as I had remembered from night hikes before. It was majestic and otherworldly. Below, we saw Half Dome, the twinkle of Fresno far away, and 360-degrees of massive mountains.
For that 8-hour journey, I was completely present. I wasn’t thinking about where I could go or where I had been, but just embracing the moment.
Hiking Cloud’s Rest at sunrise is magical. It’s adventure in its purest form.
In 2016, when I hiked Cloud’s Rest for the first time at sunrise, I sat on the mountain just taking it all in.
Why don’t people do this every weekend? Why can’t I? Waking up at sunrise on top of a mountain surrounded in vast wilderness, this is what life’s about.
In that moment it was on Cloud’s Rest that I knew wanted to adventure every weekend. Not the “Oh hey let’s drive 3 hours from the city to go on a cool hike” adventure, the type of adventure that you live and breathe. The adventure in your backyard. The Wednesday night snowboard or the Thursday afternoon paddle. The weekends on mountaintops and the nights under the stars.
Six years later, I stood on the same mountain with six years of adventures under my belt.
For the past six years across two continents, two countries, and too many cities to count, I have made it my mission to make the weekends count.
And this is is just the beginning.
