When I arrived at the summit, it was still dark, with a faint tinge of orange on the eastern sky. I could barely make out the dark silhouette of the horizon. I wondered what the morning sun would bring.

As I waited through the cold and still dawn, the layers of mountains slowly became visible, stretching endlessly into the horizon with one range overlapping the next until they all coalesced into the boundary between the earth and the sky. Soon, the low angle of the autumnal rising sun cast sharp lines of shadow and light that lit up the fog lying low in the deep valleys.

After standing in that freezing winds for what seemed like eternity, I welcomed the glorious rays of the morning sun. Apart from lighting the vast vistas in front of me, it warmed up heart and soul.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
NC USA