What's your favorite time to hike and take photos?

Looking back through the photos I’ve taken over the years, I always seem to gravitate towards those that were taken around sunrise. In particular the 2 hours that surround sunrise, approximately starting an hour before until an hour after. When people hear what time I start my hikes, I'm usually told I'm crazy and that the views can't possibly be worth the trouble.

With daylight savings time ending this week, I've been thinking about this and the fact that colder weather and needing to start even earlier to get these shots tends to decrease the number of people that are available (or crazy enough) to hike with me. I'm hoping I can trick some of my new hiking buddies to head out with me still.

Anyway, here are some of the sunrise photos I've taken on my early hikes. They never do what I saw justice, but they help me remember why I need to get out there:
My Favorite Time to Hike and Take Photos (gallery of 40+ sunrise photos)

Here are some highlights:











When's your favorite time to hit the trail?