I worked later than planned so once again didn't have much time. I planned to be on the summit of Potato Mountain for this momentous event, and arriving at the parking area at 6:30 didn't leave me much time. After fishing around in my pack I discovered that both of my headlamps were missing, so I grabbed the little Maglite out of the glove box and got moving.
It was nice and cool in Evey Canyon but warmed up fast when I got to the road junction. Due to the late hour I went up the ridge route, thinking all the time that I need to pay attention and not do something stupid like step on a snake. Fortunately that didn't happen and I was sitting on the water tank at about 7:10. Since Potato is in the lower front range I couldn't see the sun but there was a nice orange glow in the sky and along the coast, even out to Catalina island.
I hung out there for a while, and I gotta tell you watching the huge full moon come up over the mountains to the east was spectacular. Why does it look so big when it's low on the horizon?
I had to wait for about 20-25 minutes before the moon was giving enough light to make walking easy, but then it was extremely bright. I didn't need any light for the first section, but turned mine on when I saw some other folks on the trail. One of them warned me they saw a rattlesnake lying across the trail just around the bend so I should keep an eye open. I didn't know which bend they meant so I used the light until I was nearly at the end of the road and back to my parking spot. At that time of day every stick looks like a snake....
Just another great day to be out in the mountains.
Halfway up
Last section is steep
Water tank on the summit. Bad spelling.
Looking out towards Catalina.
Moonrise.
