January 28th, 2019

Good Morning,

It’s currently 20 degrees and bluebird skies. There are still lingering bits of snow on the ground. Plan and prepare for winter conditions and heavy ice on the trails. I consider ice-traction mandatory for a safe ascent/ descent in these conditions.

If you plan to overnight in the higher elevations, a winter weather warning will be in effect this evening. Plan your start/end trailhead accordingly.

24 hour temperature range | High: 26 Low: 18

NOAA 7-Day Forecast 
Mountain - Forecast Weather
Smokies Road Info

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Feeling the cold air slice through my wool sweater, I ignored the change in climate. My legs thumped up the trail; my lungs knocked in return. Ice had accumulated along the north face of Mount LeConte. I caught my breath and slipped on an aging pair of ice traction. Home was within reach…I continued on.

Waking to the soft push a west wind, yesterday’s tour lingered gently on my bones. Closing my eyes, the kitchen came to me. The smell of coffee grounds and the taste of mountain water took me off standby - I was ready for another dance in the woods. Predawn pastels began bleeding on the horizon. I grabbed my camera and made for the door…

disappearing up the trail.

Onward,
​Seth

“The mountains are fountains of men as well as of rivers, of glaciers, of fertile soil. The great poets, philosophers, prophets, able men whose thoughts and deeds have moved the world, have come down from the moutnains — mountain-dwellers who have grown strong there with the forest trees in Nature’s work-shops."


- John Muir