At the top of Mount Haleakala, you stand in the clouds and watch the sun rise above them. (istock/raphoto)

I moved to a new place recently. My bed is pushed up against my bedroom window, and I keep my blinds up all night. That’s so that in the morning, when the sun comes up, I can roll my head back and look up at the sunlight coming through the leaves in the trees that canopy my building. This morning, the leaves were orange. It’s a lovely thing to look at first thing in the morning.  

And that brings me to the point of this blog post, which is that the sun is awesome. Throw morning sunlight on pretty much anything and it looks better. Based on this fact, I’ve decided to compile a list of places I’d like to see in the morning sun. And here it is:

• Mount Haleakala, Hawaii – You climb 10,000 feet to the top of this dormant volcano, and the next morning, in the cold, you wait for the sun to come up. From what I hear, you’re above the clouds, and when the sun strikes those, it’s quite colorful and surreal.  
• Chott el Djerid Salt Lake, Tunisia – I found this on a best sunrise list, then watched a YouTube video and decided the Canada.com writer is right: It looks like you’re watching a sunrise on Mars.
• The Great Plains – Sunrise is obstructed by nothing, given that you’re standing in the middle of a huge plain. But it’s a softer look than the Mars/Chott el Djerid sunrise because of the tall grass.
• The Grand Canyon – This one’s kind of a no-brainer. From what I can tell, at first light, the canyon is a black silhouette, and the sky looks like it’s on fire. Then the light sweeps across the canyon, hitting everything at an angle, which creates all kinds of dramatic shadows. I’d like to see it.  
• Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park, Maine – If you’re going to get up early to see the sunrise, you should do it in a national park, on a cliff overlooking a beach, on an eastern coast.

But those are just a few places to watch the morning sun do its magic. There are many more places to watch the sun come up. Where’s your favorite spot to see it rise?

For more on great views, sun and lack of sun…
10 Most Breathtaking Views in the World
How the Sun Works
Why don’t we live underground?