February 21st, 2019

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Good Morning,

It’s currently 46 degrees and socked in on Mount Le Conte. Rogue gust can occasionally be heard across the tree tops. Expect damp conditions if you’re out and about today.

We received .85” inches of precipitation.

24 hour temperature range | High: 48  Low: 33

NOAA 7-Day Forecast 
Mountain - Forecast Weather

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If I only had one word to describe the morning - dreary, would have to fit. Damp clouds saturated every surface of Mount LeConte. Balsam Fir smiled with arms wide open. They loved the moisture brought freely on the wind. I took an oversized sip of coffee. Caffeine dripped through my beard. Unfazed, I continued my morning observations.

Walking through the fog, I let my mind slip out of the present, into the future. Like the current conditions it was hard to see too far ahead. I quickly abandoned placing too much thought into the realm of uncertainty. Stoic philosophy knew the dangers of looking too far ahead - you run the risk of causing more suffering than the original worry could even hold on its own - all at the cost of losing the moment, the cost of losing the now.

I looked up to hear a black capped chickadee calling through the mist. I responded with a smile. The here and now is all I was guaranteed…the day wasn't so dreary after all.

Onward.

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“We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more in imagination than in reality.” 

​– Seneca