This sunrise hike in Phoenix, Arizona remains at one of the most beautiful and rewarding hikes I’ve done. The reason being that the sunrise that greeted my friend and I as we reached the top was truly breathtaking, and not just because we climbed a mountain for 45 minutes. By now, in 2023, I’ve hiked this mountain a few times but nothing compares to my first time up and seeing this absolutely gorgeous sunrise! (Edit: December 2023)

The Beginning of our Hiking Weekend

The night before, me and my friends Rita and Lexi had hiked “A” Mountain on ASU’s campus for the sunset. While watching the sunset, we started talking about what our next adventure would be, and we decided it would be hiking Camelback. And we kept adding to it. This was literally our conversation:

“We should hike Camelback next!” “Yesssss.” “OMG we should do it for the sunrise one day!” “How about tomorrow morning?”

And next thing you know, we were planning our sunrise hike for the very next day.

We had it all planned out: what time we’d wake up, how long we needed to get ready, what time we’d call the uber, etc. I’m pretty sure we planned on waking up at 3am, and I REMEMBER setting my alarm. But it never went off.

Somehow, I miraculously wake up at 3:30 to a bunch of texts from Rita and I sprint to her room (they both live down the hall from me) to see if she’s still awake. She opens her door basically still asleep, shocked that I woke up, and asks if we could still make it for the sunrise. I honestly had no clue if we could, but I said yes because I had so much adrenaline. Rita tells me Lexi isn’t going to make it because she’s still sleeping, and had a busy day ahead of her.

So, Rita and I call the uber and we head down to wait with just our water bottles, two granola bars, and my GoPro.

Hiking Camelback Before Dawn

I believe we got to Camelback just before 5am. When we started hiking, it was still pitch black out and we couldn’t see anything. I had to use my flashlight from my phone and I think Rita might have brought a tiny flashlight to use. You can see we were very prepared for what was ahead of us. It was a difficult hike for sure, but our adrenaline carried us the entire way. We felt invincible.

Tip: To hike Camelback Mountain for the sunrise, plan on arriving to the parking lot an hour and 10 minutes before the actual sunrise. It takes about 45-50 minutes to hike up, and then this gives you time to enjoy seeing the sky light up before the sun rises!

We reached the top right as the sky started to lighten, it was perfect timing! There were at least 15-20 other people at the top with us. It was so peaceful watching the sun spill over the mountains in the distance. I remember feeling like I was going to cry from how beautiful it was and from the workout endorphins.

While sitting there at the top watching the sunrise, it was nice to forget about reality and just reminisce on everything. It was incredible. While reminiscing, a saying that my 9th grade physics teacher, Mr. Raneri, would say before every test, popped into my head. “The view from the summit is worth the fatigue. Have courage.” And in every sense of the saying, metaphorically and literally, he was right.

This is my favorite hike thus far. I’m fairly new to hiking, and though I consider myself pretty athletic, this hike kicked. My. Ass. Especially at 4am on a Saturday. I’ll never forget this weekend.