I recently had another opportunity to get out of town and do a bit of shooting. I knew right away that I wanted to visit Shenandoah National Park, but I wasn't sure where I wanted to go. I figured that I wanted to do something new and started poring over maps and trail suggestions. When I came across the hike for Hawksbill summit, things started falling into place. It was a relatively short hike with a beautiful vista and the drive was not too long. While the summit is on the western side of the mountains, which would normally present a good sunset but not a good sunrise, I found that the summit faced northwest and the sun would be rising mostly from the north. There was really just one problem, viz. I would have to get going very early in the morning if I wanted to get there on location before dawn. I figured the drive would take at least 2½ hours, the hike would take another 45 minutes, and I would need time for setup. Adding it all up, I found that I needed to depart from home no later than 2:30 AM. Ouch! Fortunately, it was all worth it.

Summer Sunrise on Hawksbill SummitView of the summer sunrise from the summit of Hawksbill Mountain in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. I took that shot at a bit before 6:00 AM. I took the following at 5:20 AM:

Summer Skies at Dawn from HawksbillSummer skies at dawn from the summit of Hawksbill Mountain in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia.

And I was home by lunchtime.