Sunrise to...Almost Sunset

    I know what your thinking, “this is a trip gone wrong story!” Yes and no. No, in that I was able to accomplish what I had set out to do. Yes, in that my trip didn’t go exactly how I had planned it. However, are they adventures if something doesn’t go as planned? Or when something unexpected doesn’t happen? 
    Originally, the whole purpose of this trip to Chattanooga was to visit my sister at college, we’ll let her think that, but for someone that enjoys adventures and the outdoors, I couldn’t resist checking out some cool places around the area. My goal was to start the day catching the sunrise and end it with the sunset. 
    The 4:45 am alarm came quick, I rolled my self out of bed, literally! Knowing my struggle with getting up in the morning, especially when the night sky is still dark, I pre-packed my belongings and had the car ready leave. But before I leave town there is one thing, one must get, and that is coffee. Not just any coffee, but Dunk-in Donuts hot coffee with cream and caramel. Yum! Now I am ready to go. 
    I make the 2-hour trip down to Chattanooga and get into town just before sunrise begins. As I enter the state park on Signal Mountain the sun is slowly creeping over the horizon lighting my path to my final destination. Unexpectedly, my path included a 10-mile drive on a gravel road which I did not know, so therefore the drive took a little longer than expected. Finally, at about mid sunrise, I reach the area to park my car and made my way down the short, but sketchy gravel road to the cliff side known as Snooper’s Rock. 

  I kid you not when I say, my breath was taken away, jaw found a new floor and the first thing that came to my mind was “yooooo, where am I?” Within my first two steps on the rock, I was taken away and couldn’t move. The view I saw was like nothing else I had ever seen; a crisp golden color peaking over the horizon, a layer of soft pillow like clouds beneath the cliff side hovering over the rivers bend and greenery of all kinds surrounding me in every direction. There were already other people that had beat me to the spot to take in the same experience as me and take some photos with their cameras and drones; pretty sure they got some pretty rad photos for their Instagrams. Personally, I almost forgot to take pictures because I was so taken away by the view. My camera stayed in my bag for the first 10-15 minutes I was there as I took in one probably the best view in Tennessee or at least in Chattanooga. I spent little over an hour at the cliff side, took some pictures once everyone had left and I was by myself before the sunrise was over. As I was leaving the state park, I took some additional pics of the area before going to meet up with my sister. 
    In the time we had until sunrise, my sister and I hung out around town. We met up with some family for lunch at Slick’s Burgers, 5 out of 5 would recommend this place to grab some lunch if you visit Chattanooga. Afterwards, we wandered around downtown to see some of the Iron Man competition taking place next to the river. Then proceeded to check out the popular Chestnut Bridge that makes a great place to wind down after a long day. Before making our way to Lookout Mountain we grabbed some Cold Stone Creamery to cool off from the humidity.

All cooled off we headed up to Lookout Mountain to catch the sunrise, we knew spots were limited for parking, so we tried to get up the mountain early. We arrive just before 5 pm giving us about two and a half hours till the sun was due to set. Down a naturally made rock staircase and a short distance from the parking lot my sister and I made it to Sunset Rock. Being a popular spot, unfortunately, we didn’t have the place to ourselves, but sometimes that is not all too bad. Listening to people’s reactions when they walk up, can be….quite the entertainment! The Instagram rock spot was crowded with people; therefore, we had to find a different spot on the cliff side, and smart me remembered to bring my Madera hammock. Off to the side of the entrance to Sunset Rock, my sister and I found a couple trees to hang the hammock up to catch the sunset and grab some cool photos. As we waited, the two of us watched as people were attempting to rock climb the cliff side beneath us. If you haven’t seen rock climbing, I mean real rock, not those carnival rock walls, you will have a whole new respect for the sport. In my opinion, rock climbing is one of the most, if not the most, physically demanding sport on earth. If you want ripped arms, I suggest you do rock climbing.
    Sunset creeps closer; however, so does something else. The sky was getting dark with the sun still having a pretty far distance to go before disappearing under the horizon. A loud roar cries from a distance, my sister and I look at each other, “are you kidding me?!” For a second we debated on staying or going. The question was whether it was worth getting soaked or not to see if we could still get to see the sunset. After looking at the sky we decided that there was probably a slim chance at us catching the sunset. Feeling sprinkles as we packed up, both us sprinted back to the car before the rain started to poor. Not even five minutes being in the car the rain came and we were in the car staying dry! So, if you plan on going to Chattanooga yourself or with a friend, I definitely recommend hitting up one of these spots! And hopefully, you will be able to see the sunset without a storm interfering.