Monday, January 27th, 2020

Good morning,

Woke up to haze and gentle snowfall this morning! At the moment, it is 27 degrees outside with moderate snow and heavy cloud cover. Currently, I am sitting by the heater typing away, scalding black tea within arm's reach. Darkness fills the room, trees illuminated by a thick coating of white. Dusted evergreens surround snow-covered structures; a strong snow globe candidate. The wind has begun its walk-through of the lodge, making a quiet entry this morning. It looks like Highway 441 is closed as of right now, so Alum Cave and the Boulevard are inaccessible. After walking around extensively yesterday and a little bit early this morning, I have concluded that the ice is still a huge threat. Snow/ice melt has refrozen multiple times, so some spots can be pretty dicey (what's new?). Fresh snow covers up a fair amount of the threatening ice. However, it is very grainy and soft, so traction is not the best. If you plan on climbing the gem of the Smokies today, be advised. There are reportedly numerous trees down on all trails coming in from the North (Rainbow Falls, Bullhead, Brushy and Trillium Gap), some of which can be huge obstacles in the snow. With the addition of snow and week-old ice, try to give yourself ample time to get up and down the mountain safely. Use caution, and use your noggin'...

Yesterday's high was a mere 27 degrees, with a not-so low of 18. The weather was truly all over the place, changing periodically through the day. We started out with clear skies above and cloudy skies below, with no visual of the valley floor. As the morning progressed, the cloud sea quickly burned off and unveiled some powdered peaks in the process. Clear skies started to become partly cloudy, creating a moody landscape. Standing on an exposed rock near the summit, I watched menacing clouds begin to converge on the mountain. Happening in the blink of an eye, sunlight was a thing of the past. Snow began to fall slowly and precisely, barely uttering a sound. Clouds resided high above us, giving me a view a the valley beneath. A truly rare occurrence, I was pretty ecstatic. Snow would fall off and on for the rest of the evening, giving us a total of 1 inch of fresh snow. With snow already clinging to just about everything, we now have approximately 4 inches on the ground! Looking ahead, snow showers could continue to fall until late this afternoon! That being said, we could end up with 6 or 7 inches on top! I'll try to snap some good photos today once the snow dies off, so stay tuned!

-Kemp

I found this Japanese proverb moments ago, see if you can decipher what the word is!

"One kind word can warm three winter months..."