October 9.
3:30 AM. Getting almost ready. I rush my daughter… We shall not not be late today!
4:15 AM. Meeting with a couple of colleagues. There is a bit more people than expected at this time, and parking is limited…
4:30 AM. The ascension begins. Our headlamps look like little fire-flies. The small parade follows a long path in the trail that is made difficult by the darkness of the night. We are well equipped trying to find the best way among the big stones. Our bags have water, snacks, warm clothes and even hot coffee.
5:45 AM. We arrive at the top. I forgot that there is a road accessing the summit… Tens of cars are getting parked and people gather religiously around, finding the best spot for their camera and trying to have a natural shelter with enough view. The wind is nasty, blowing softly in every little holes of your body, and getting warm is tough. Everyone is freezing. We welcome the hot coffee and cocoa carried all this way. But despite bonnet, gloves and 4 layers of clothes our body struggles. We change spot with the hope of being more protected and sit embraced to each others to keep us warm.
Suddenly, a red halo begins to appear already. Our “god” is slowly coming to us.
6:00 AM. the red area intensifies then shades into orange and yellow. We can see the light approaching. The atmosphere is getting tense, people are ready, anxiously waiting for him.
6:33 AM. Et voila! There he is! It slowly appears, majestic, big, wearing a warm yellow dress and rising in the sky like a one man show. The sun!
Round of applause. The mountain is celebrating. But the public is attentive, each milliseconds is a new picture. We can “see the time” flying. We forget our frozen fingers. The wind suddenly stops. It is like a prayer.
6:39 AM. The big round is full, spreading a warm yellowish color around Another 5 minutes and the parade finally begins to spread out. We are slowly packing and finding our way, hoping that walking will warm us quickly. We have to go back down the hill now, and we’ll surely enjoy the million colors of the fall.
It is another day on Earth.
NB.
Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, at 1,530 feet (466 meters), is the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard and the first place to view sunrise in the United States from October 7 through March 6. https://acadiamagic.com/CadillacMountain.html
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