Monday, February 17th, 2020

Good morning folks

It's a gorgeous morning on top of the mountain. The high yesterday was 35 degrees. The overnight low only dropped down to 27 degrees. It was 31 degrees at 7am observation. It has been a warmer, dry weekend at LeConte. There are still spots on Alum that are coated in a thick layer of ice but easy to navigate. Rain is moving in Tuesday, with a chance of light snow this week.

Oil lamps illuminate the kitchen while I sip on my new favorite coffee, from the Artistic Bean. Life is good! As I reflect on my time here, I agree that this is exactly what I needed to recharge my mind, body, and soul. Looking forward, spring will be here before we know it prompting an abundance of flowers to bloom throughout the park. As I was driving Hwy 441 a few days ago, I noticed bright yellow green-stemmed daffodils lining the road.being outside encourages me to slow down and notice the small things. During my walk back from Apollo overlook this morning, my normal sunrise spot, a red squirrel (boomer) followed me down the trail bouncing through the tree limbs like it had just joined the circus! It was having an exciting morning at 6593'.

In honor of President's Day, I will share a short history mention. On June 15, 1934, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was born. Many years later Franklin D. Roosevelt formally dedicated the land as a National Park in his speech, he states, "In this park, we shall conserve the these trees, the pine, the redbud, the azalea, the rhododendron, the trout, and thrush for happiness for all the American people". Additionally, the CCC (Civil Conservation Corps) was brought in for the development on trails systems, bridges, and restoration of early settlers' homes. The CCC was created to provide jobs to young, unemployed men, occurring during the time of WWII. When you are out and about within the park, never take for granted what was done to make this land an accessible, protected landscape for all. I hope you have a great day! See you at the top!

​PNUT