December 19, 2023

GOOD MORNING, FOLKS!

The temperature here at the Lodge this morning is 4 degrees. We received just a trace of snow last night. The temperature yesterday was 22 degrees.

Living alone on LeConte in the winter is an awesome experience that is almost impossible to describe! You would have to be here for a month or two to begin to understand and appreciate it. Being outside alone in the sunshine with cloudless blue skies and sparkling white frost on the green trees can perhaps be best described as a spiritual experience! Much more so than anything that has ever happened to me in any church that I have ever been in! There was perfect silence with all this beauty surrounding me—alone with a power greater than us.

And then the day hikers began to arrive and the service was over. I wish that you could have been there with me.

Highway 441 was closed this morning, but should reopen later today. If you visit the mountain today, be sure to dress warmly—remember that mittens are warmer than gloves!

HAPPY TRAILS!!
WILDCAT/Bert