oh the night came undone, like a party dress. and fell at her feet, like a beautiful mess. the smoke and the whiskey came home in her curls and they crept through the dreams of the barroom girls.

Is there any such happiness as for a man's mind to be raised above the confusion of things, where he may have a respect for the order of nature and the error of men? Is there but a view only of delight and not of discovery? Of contentment and not of benefit? Shall we not discern as well the riches of nature's warehouse as the beauty of her shop? Is truth barren? Shall we not thereby be able to produce worthy effects, and to endow the life of man with infinite commodities? Bacon

_Morning y'all,

It's a glazed morning atop Mt. LeConte. The mountain is clouded in at the moment. The high yesterday reached 45 degrees. The low yesterday reached 27 degrees overnight, it was 27 degrees and foggy at 7am weather observation. The mountain received .08" of rain yesterday. There's only patchy snow remaining up top, but everything is extremely slick up top. I would definitely recommend Microspikes. There's nothing up here that I'd feel confident doing without them right now.

A shout out to my old friend Flora & her dad Bill! I met her while thru-hiking and ran into her & her dad yesterday afternoon while I was reading the afternoon away on the porch of cabin 6! I hadn't seen her since Lonesome Lake Hut in the White Mountains in August 2010 - further proof the hiking community is a small, small world! We both worked as ridgerunners in the Northeast this past summer and this is the first time I learnt her 'real name'. I love my job. Also, much thanks to Pat & Eva for bringing me some cold beers!

Top photo: The kitchen & dining room in AM moonlight a few days ago. Above: Sunset at Cliff Tops the day before last.