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always the lights of heaven glow softly down on the hair of my beloved.

11/28/2012

 
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Last night, as I was sleeping, I dreamt - marvelous error! - that I had a beehive here inside my heart. And the golden bees were making white combs and sweet honey from my old failures. Antonio Machado
_Morning,

It was a sneaky nice day yesterday. The high was 38 degrees and the low dipped down to 22 degrees overnight. The mountain received .15" of rain yesterday. The trails are still in passable shape. I have yet to check out Boulevard, Rainbow and Trillium, but have heard that Rainbow and Alum are your best bets for a passable hike.

Yesterday was one of my favorite types of days on the mountain. It started off with weather that keeps folks away from the high peaks, swirling winds and an ominous, drizzly cloud dominated the sky through the early afternoon. I did not see another hiker until 3:30.  At about 4, I decided to take a little hike around the mountain. I'd intended to go out to Myrtle and feel the wind, but noticed some clearing. I decided to check out Cliff Tops and see if the departing storm could mean my favorite weather event was going to take place - I'm talking about inversion! I was lucky, as always. The high peaks were majestic islands in the sky and a dynamic sunset lingered on the clouds as if they weren't quite ready to absorb the pure white moonlight just yet.

I'm looking forward to a night hike to celebrate the frost moon!
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Top photo: Clouds! Above & Below: Sunset from Cliff Tops.
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Jon
11/28/2012 12:15:39 am

Clouds down below with mountain peaks as islands. My favorite!

Myra Kastor
11/28/2012 12:16:22 am

Thanks for sharing...that is beyond beautiful!!!

tom d
11/28/2012 12:20:39 am

Simply beautiful

Mark Rice
11/28/2012 12:24:22 am

Last two pictures are great. An ocean in your world.

Brad
11/28/2012 12:45:43 am

I really like the inversion. Nice photo.

John
11/28/2012 12:52:05 am

Thank you JP for sharing your world with us! Amazing views!

Joel link
11/28/2012 01:17:14 am

Welcome HOME!!!! JP With your words, our days are good!

robin
11/28/2012 01:37:20 am

Spectacular.....

Jacob
11/28/2012 01:40:26 am

If you said that this was a picture of heaven, I would believe you.

Lewis
11/28/2012 01:43:44 am

Once again, great pics.

Susan B
11/28/2012 01:45:08 am

Absolutely beautiful! It looks so mystical - truly heaven on earth. I wish I could see this firsthand.

doug
11/28/2012 02:00:56 am

"To enter heaven is to become more human than you ever succeeded in being on earth." {C.S. Lewis} Well said, JP, well said. Those higher peaks do look like islands in the sky. I love the old sailing ships and have built a few nice wooden models of them over the years when I wasn't out in the mountains; your photos got me to imagining that I could board one of those marvelous wooden ships and set sail across those oceans of clouds ! Very nice indeed. I'll use one as a desktop background for a few days. The world "down below" those cloud layers can only dream about how it looks "up above" !

doug
11/28/2012 02:02:35 am

Susan B: You can, you can !!

Susan B
11/28/2012 06:52:38 am

If I didn't live in Missouri, then I could anytime! I am envious of you and being able to go when you want. I wll be there in July but there is just something about today pic that is special!

Stephanie
11/28/2012 02:13:52 am

Those pictures are beyond beautiful!! What an awesome thing to see. Thanks for sharing!

Beth
11/28/2012 02:18:07 am

omg, what an amazing quote about the beehives!!! JP you rock!!

JP
11/29/2012 07:17:45 am

Beth,
I stole it from my friend Lauren. She's amazing!

Stephanie
11/28/2012 02:30:38 am

WOW!!!!

edwinnia
11/28/2012 03:11:46 am

JP,
You are gifted; you are blessed.

JP
11/29/2012 07:18:43 am

Edwinnia,
I'm definitely blessed.

Jacque J
11/28/2012 03:58:07 am

Beautiful pictures!! Welcome back J.P.!!

Debi
11/28/2012 06:10:01 am

Hard to choose one for my wall paper today. I decided on the last one. The sun didn't hurt my eyes as much. And loved the warm pinks in it. Great job JP.

Sherleen Cardwell
11/28/2012 06:19:45 am

Thanks for the wonderful pictures and 'your' words of wisdom and sharing others words of wisdom.Like so many,many other people, I do so look forward to this blog.Makes my day ! Welcome back JP and I hope the other crew is having a ball ,where ever they are.

Cathy
11/28/2012 06:38:28 am

You are truly one of the luckiest men alive. What makes it great is that you know it and enjoy it.

JP
11/29/2012 07:21:00 am

Cathy,
Agreed!

Rick
11/28/2012 08:10:31 am

Beautiful!

Alan P.
11/28/2012 08:26:59 am

Love the quote, and the photos are amazing!

Vickie Donovan
11/28/2012 09:31:59 am

Just.....Wow :)

Jim
11/28/2012 10:05:04 am

JP...

Last year loved hearing what books you were reading along the way. Can you let us know what good reads you have come by recently?

JP
11/29/2012 07:22:41 am

Jim,
Right now I'm working on a biography of Emerson and am re-re-re-re--re reading Desert Solitaire... I'll keep y'all posted!

tom k in SC
11/28/2012 10:13:06 am

Three notions:
1) I don't think I have ever seen a better looking dead tree. The color balance and composition is awesome.
2) Oceans in the park. I have seen inversions at LeConte myself, and we have snapped some great photos. JP knocked it out of the park today.
3) What if we picked out the second Saturdays in JAN, FEB & MAR and penciled in our calendars with an up and down to LeConte. If we have to call it off due to crazy weather, we call it off, but if it's on our schedules, the odds go up. Safety in numbers, social thing. . .
What say you?


Comments are closed.
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