i found a reason to keep livin'. oh and the reason, dear is you.

1/19/2012

Great thoughts and a pure heart, that is what we should ask from God. Goethe

Top photo and above: Sunrise above inversion.

Hiking down the Boulevard near Myrtle.

Morning,

We had a sunny day up top yesterday. There was some great inversion all day long. I got too many photos so I'll be posting sunrise pictures today and sunset tomorrow. The high was 29. The low was 15. It was 19 and clear at observation.

Yesterday morning after the sun rose at Apollo Overlook, I took a quick little jaunt down the Boulevard trail. The days with inversion always feel like the mountain is my own secret. Everyone in the valley inquires how cloudy it is up top. I have to force back my smile when I tell them how majestic it actually is. As I hiked along, I gradually lost elevation and descended into the mystic I'd just photographed from above. I was in an omnipresent haze that both my and the sun's progress seemed bound to preserve. Eventually, I let the sun win out and climbed back up to enjoy my sanctuary above the clouds. This great seat is worth leaving only so long as to quench my daily wanderlust and no more.

PS: People have been asking me what they could bring up if they drop by... I've been going through my books pretty quickly and here are a few that are still on my reading list. I'd really appreciate it!
Wallace Stegner-Big Rock Candy Mountain
Johann Wolfgang van Goethe-Faust
Seneca-Letters from a Stoic
Plutarch-Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans
Anything by Hermann Hesse or Barbara Kingsolver.

The Slide in the haze.

I want to hug the moss.

Linda Jordan

1/19/2012 12:20:22 am

Thank you VERY much for your great post!!!.....and the pictures are awesome!!!!!

Mike W

1/19/2012 12:25:01 am

I'll be up there by noon.....looks like a great day for it.

Gina

1/19/2012 12:26:24 am

Stunning photos

Paul B

1/19/2012 12:44:47 am

Beautiful! More inspiring than a cup of coffee to get my morning going.

Anthony W.

1/19/2012 01:06:55 am

JP, you need to write a book. Your words have life and energy. You have a gift.

1/19/2012 07:53:24 am

Mom,
Thanks for the encouragement, but please stop commenting under pseudonyms!

cindy

1/19/2012 10:48:25 am

That made me laugh.

Daddy Dinosaur

1/19/2012 09:38:38 pm

"Not the Momma! Not the Momma! Not the Momma!" - said the baby Dinosaur

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNR4hKbSH7I

Candy

1/20/2012 12:26:34 am

that is hilarious....Mom I totally understand your encouragement :)

Jim H

1/19/2012 01:07:44 am

Great pictures!

Rod

1/19/2012 01:16:21 am

I've seen you mention "Apollo Overlook" several times now, and I'm unfamiliar with the name. Is that the open overlook off to your right before you reach LeConte summit, if hiking out towards Myrtle Point from the shelter?

1/19/2012 01:28:30 am

Rod,
You've got it. It's about .1 short of the shelter. There are great views as it opens up to your right.

Juanita

1/19/2012 01:37:22 am

Oh my JP! You surely are an eloquent writer. I bet all the girls swoon when they read your pitching woo in love letters. LOL! If I were a few years younger, I might have to take out after you myself.

Easter Bunny

1/19/2012 04:03:23 am

Me too!!!

Josh C

1/19/2012 05:19:06 am

Wasn't Pitching Woo a famous chinese baseball player.

Carol in TN

1/19/2012 01:46:03 am

Anyone, can the Slide be avoided when we hike up in Sept? It looks pretty scary to me. We plan to hike the Trillium Gap trail. I see the cable to hang on to, but I know that sheer drop off would scare me to death.
JP, great pics as usual!

H Clark

1/19/2012 02:12:53 am

Carol, the slide in the photo is on the Boulevard Trail traversing the ridge between the Lodge and the AT.

1/19/2012 03:56:12 am

H Clark, thanks for the info. Looks like we'll be able to avoid that area (thankfully!).

Richard

1/19/2012 02:14:28 am

JP,
Your photographs are stunning as usual. Would you tell us what sort of camera(s) you use to get such clear pictures and what do you use to get the wide angle shots. Finally, do you use a tripod for the morning and evening photos?
Richard

1/19/2012 07:56:44 am

Richard,
I use a Pentax W80 Optio. It's a great, tough little camera. I don't use any tripod, I just stand very still!

Jacque J

1/19/2012 02:59:50 am

Wow! Breathtaking once again!

Tammy

1/19/2012 03:48:52 am

Awesome! Beautiful! I just love your photo's. Wish I was there!

Alan

1/19/2012 06:16:09 am

Enjoy the blog, the quotes, and the photos. Our reading lists are quite different, though. The last time I read Hesse was in college. Swore if I got through Steppenwolf I would never read Hesse again. Think I was ticked off because went to college beginning in 1969 and I thought it was going to be a book about the band from the 1960's-70's with the same name. Man was I disappointed!

Debi link

1/19/2012 06:37:33 am

I'm going to have to start putting on my sunglasses before I read your blogs. VERY nice pics. Its looking warm up there with little snow. We got blasted a good one in Michigan. Schools have been closed 2 days and its 11 degrees out right now at 2:30 pm. So those pictures are looking mighty nice right about now as I haven't seen the sun around here in a couple of days. Enjoy!!

Ella

1/19/2012 08:21:12 am

Got the The Big Rock Candy Mountain for you. See you soon.

Claudette

1/20/2012 12:38:40 am

All of your pics are beautiful! I look forward to reading your blog daily. Thank you for sharing your adventure!

Comments are closed.

i found a reason to keep livin'. oh and the reason, dear is you.

LeConte Lodge

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