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can you love me like the crosses love the nape of the neck?

1/21/2015

This love, and the ensuing emptiness of its ending, changed her. Of such events we are always changed — not necessarily badly, but changed. Who doesn’t know this doesn’t know much. Mary Oliver

Morning y'all,

It's another beautiful, clear morning up top. The high yesterday reached 43 sunny degrees. The overnight low as 24 degrees. It was 24 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received no new precipitation yesterday. There is still some patchy snow remaining up top. I'm sure that there is still some tricky ice on sections of trail with all of the freeze thaw conditions we've had lately. Be careful and have fun out there!

Yesterday was a day to enjoy some rest and relaxation in the sun. I carried a rocking chair out to the porch and let the Vitamin D work its' mood enhancing wonders. The wind was calm as could be and hiker traffic was low. It felt like a quiet day at the beach. I finished my book and did some collaging. These perfect little moments make a life.

her eyes are like champagne. they sparkle, bubble over and in the morning all you got is rain.

1/20/2015

And having returned from the woods, we remember with regret its restfulness. For all creatures there are in place, hence at rest. In their most strenuous striving, sleeping and waking, dead and living, they are at rest. In the circle of the human we are weary with striving, and are without rest. Wendell Berry

Morning y'all,

It's another beautiful, clear day up top. The high yesterday reached 41 degrees. The overnight low was 20 degrees. It was 31 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received no new precipitation. There is still a bit of snow on the ground. The trails are sure to have some black ice remaining, so be prepared to slip a bit if you intend to summit. Be careful out there and enjoy the day!

I have been revelling in some quiet cabin time over the past few days. I am forever addicted to exercise, but it is equally nice to hit the reset button every once in a while (even if it is not by choice) and let the quietness and peace flood in. I will love to the death the endless sensory input you get when you spend an afternoon well, running or hiking along these quiet perfect as is paths. It is a separate but equal kind of joy that comes with focusing on yourself without that movement and stimulus, paying attention to your fleeting thoughts and losing yourself in a good book and mediocre journal. There are so many opportunities for growth in nature, both outward and inward. Drink it up, however the source fills your cup.

and i know i am naive, but if anything that's what's going to save me. that's what's going to save me.

1/19/2015

What are men to rocks and mountains? Jane Austen

Morning y'all,

It's a beautiful, clear day up top. The high yesterday reached 26 degrees. The overnight low was 21 degrees. It was 25 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received no new snow, but there is still some patchy snow remaining. The trails are still a bit icy, so be sure to pack some sort of traction devices if you intend to reach the summit. Get out there and enjoy the day!

i've been wanderin' in the dark about as long as sin, but they say it's never too late to start again.

1/17/2015

Walking is the perfect way of moving if you want to see into the life of things. It is the one way of freedom. If you go to a place on anything but your own feet you are taken there too fast, and miss a thousand delicate joys that were waiting for you by the wayside. Elizabeth von Arnim

Top photo: Topping Chimney Tops. Above: View of LeConte from the Chimneys.

Morning y'all,

It's another beautiful, clear day up top. The high yesterday reached 32 degrees. The overnight low was 16 degrees, recorded early yesterday morning. It was 27 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received no new precipitation, but there is still patchy snow remaining up top. The ice is a little sketchy on Alum and Boulevard. There are still nasty slick spots and some of them are now hiding underneath a thin layer of snow. Be careful if you intend to reach the summit! The colours are outstanding right now, get out and enjoy the day!

Downclimbing!

we can live on the mountain, like living in the sunset. we can live honestly and true.

1/16/2015

If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry, more immortal — that is your success. Henry David Thoreau

Morning y'all,

It's another beautiful, clear morning up top. The high yesterday reached 32 degrees. The overnight low was 15 degrees. It was 16 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received some unexpected patchy snow yesterday, amounting to less than an inch total. It looks as though we'll be above the clouds again for a bit. Get out and enjoy it!

Top photo: Misty times on the Boulevard trail. Above: In the cloud at Apollo Overlook.

Yesterday was another fantastic day above the clouds. Unlike in the White Mountains in summertime, where the clouds seem to reliably burn off a few hours after the sun starts churning, I've found it difficult to predict just what the undercast has in store during Smoky Mountain wintertime. It is a pleasant realization when I re-discover (seemingly every morning) that I have no idea what the weather or the day has in store for me. It is all new, every day, all the time.

in that dream, i could hardly contain it. all my life i will wait to attain it.

1/15/2015

If we ever reach the point where we think we thoroughly understand who we are and where we came from, we will have failed. Carl Sagan

Morning y'all,

It's a beautiful, clear morning up top. The mountain is standing tall above the clouds and the past 24 hours have been spectacular. The high yesterday reached 31 degrees. The overnight low was 24 degrees. It was 29 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received no new precipitation and there is no snow remaining up top. There is still some tricky ice on sections of Alum and Boulevard. Traction devices are a sure thing if you'd prefer to not get hurt miles from help, but it is possible to dance around this much ice if you are very careful. Enjoy the adventures!

Top photo: Sunset. Above: Emily crushing.

I spent yesterday exploring with my friend Emily. We worked this past fall at Madison Springs Hut, a short hike (1,645 miles) from Newfound Gap. We hiked out the Boulevard to Charlie's Bunion and marveled at how fortunate we were to be above the clouds. She and I are no stranger to undercasts, but man oh man, this was one to cherish.

Hiking back from the Bunion.

My friend in town was telling me about how she and her daughter have been wondering if they should get checked out for Seasonal Affect Disorder, with all the long, grey days they've had lately in the valley. It feels like there have been a disproportionate number of days this season where the mountain and I have been above the clouds. I have no clues as to why this is. It hasn't been a snowy winter thus far, but inversion caps are the next most spectacular weather events up top and I am grateful to have them in abundance this season. It will form and coalesce into a pillowy bunch of memories to glide back to on hard, long days this spring and summer.

Sunset.

if only my eyes could see as high as the mountain or wherever your heart's gone.

1/14/2015

Someone has a great fire in his soul and nobody ever comes to warm themselves at it, and passers-by see nothing but a little smoke at the top of the chimney. Vincent van Gogh

Morning y'all,

It's a beautiful, clear morning up top. The high yesterday reached 42 degrees. The overnight low was 24 degrees. It was 24 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received no new precipitation last night. There is no snow remaining up top. However, there are still quite a few impressive ice sheets on Alum, so be prepared to slip and slide if you don't have traction devices. Get out and enjoy the day, it looks like it is bound to be a good one!

Top photo: The Ogle Place. Above: Dancing on Alum!

I was reminded this morning of my time spent working in Vermont for the Green Mountain Club two summers ago. I was a caretaker on Mount Mansfield and we were doing some early season summit coverage. My friend Kevin and I got up to the summit a bit early and were enjoying some quiet time before the crowds showed up. As we watched the ravens dive and twirl in the jet streams just above our heads, he casually remarked about how some things about this job never get old. I don't know why, but that stuck with me. Watching this morning's early fog burn off, revealing my beloved spruce fir forest after a day in the cloud likewise, never gets old.

if i know only one thing, it's that everything that i see of the world outside is so inconceivable often i barely can speak.

1/13/2015

...you know I'll park my truck in New Mexico desert for weeks at a time, with supply of beans, cabbage and wine, and Buddha books and my everpresent by-my-side Proust, dig, and really enjoy freedom and life. Kerouac

Morning y'all,

It's a beautiful, calm morning up top. The high yesterday reached 42 degrees. The overnight low was 30 degrees. It was 32 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received .63" of rain yesterday during some consistent afternoon and evening showers. There is little snow remaining up top, but be aware that the trails still have some really slick sections. I'd recommend some sort of traction devices if you want to make it up or down in one piece.

Top photo: The ice wall at Mossy Spring. Above: Classic fog light.

Is there any finer feeling than drifting to sleep with silence and stars? I give thanks every evening for this gift. The calm, the serenity, the natural ease of it all... if that doesn't get into your blood and bones, I don't know what does. Everything in it's right place. Cultivate stillness and you are bound to be forever rich.

and i gotta find out if you only love once or if love keeps coming to call.

1/12/2015

You can’t know it, but you can be it, at ease in your own life. Lao Tsu

Morning y'all,

It is a seriously blustery morning up top. The high yesterday reached 42 degrees. The low was 29 degrees. It was 42 degrees and drizzling at 7am observation. The mountain received .20 inches of rain yesterday, starting at around 7pm. There is still some treacherous ice in shady areas of the trails, particularly on Alum and the Boulevard. It's sure to be a quiet day on the trails, enjoy the characteristic 'smoke' today!

Today is a perfect day for meandering. The shifting winds and never static fog create an air of mystery and dark promise.

and the flowers will forgive your age.

1/11/2015

There is a sense in which we are all each other's consequences. Stegner

Morning y'all,

It's a gorgeous, clear day up top. The high yesterday reached 32 degrees. The overnight low got down to 14 degrees. It was 30 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received no new precipitation. There is still patchy snow remaining up top. There is still significant ice on sections of Alum, so be prepared to slip and slide if you don't bring traction devices. It's a beautiful day, get out there and enjoy it!

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