Not a morning person? Don't worry. I've got you covered. Early morning is my favorite time of day.

I planned a hike and woke to find a thick layer of frost on my windshield but that didn't stop me. It did mean that I went back inside to find a hat, gloves, and fleece jacket liner. I was off once the layer of ice was melted off the glass.

It was 7:30am. The grasses in the ditch were coated with ice crystals and foggy mist hung over the lake and the ponds. On the way to the trail, I noticed two white tailed deer pop their heads up in the tall grass along the fence line. Five elk grazed in the same field but at the opposite side. The morning sun was just beginning to come up on the horizon.

I took the long way from the trailhead. I knew that I would be the only one out at that hour; only human that is. Mother Nature's creatures were already beginning their day.

The frosty coated grass crunched under my boots. Water dripped from leaves that the golden morning sun touched. The squirrels chattered and the blue jays called from the tree tops. Robins were busy gathering berries from the chokecherry branches.

Mama moose and her twins were in a willow thicket. The babes ran off but mama watched me pass by. She didn't move and the babes came back to her.

Waterfowl called from the misty water on the pond. The swans have left but there are many duck families with little ones too small to migrate. Flocks of cranes flew overhead. Their calls signal fall's arrival.

Early morning is the perfect time to watch and to hear the forest come to life. It is especially beautiful when frosty crystals cover the leaves and branches and the morning sun casts long shadows across the trail. The first rays of the sun are golden. The air is crisp and the forest sounds are not yet polluted with the highway noise from afar. 

Have I convinced you to be an early riser and head out the door before the rest of the world awakens?