What is the end of human life? It is not, believe me, the chief end of man that he should make a fortune and beget children whose end is likewise to make a fortune, but it is, in few words, that he should explore himself. Emerson
Morning,
The mountain is shrouded in heavy clouds at the moment. My headlamp barely got me to the kitchen this morning. The high yesterday reached 42 degrees. The overnight low was 35 degrees. It was 38 degrees and cloudy at 7am observation. The mountain received 1.10" of rain yesterday. If it were only 10 degrees colder... the mountain would have over a foot and a half of snow. I can't lose hope on winter this early in the season, but this is starting to get discouraging. I had a great hike down to the Alum Cave Bluffs yesterday. It was raining lightly the whole time and low clouds were hanging over us as we descended. The mountain felt so alive with the warm temperatures and damp vibrancy. I was half expecting the rhododendron to start blooming. I'll happily drink up these wet days (even if I would prefer some snow), the crowds thin out and beauty is still everywhere. It feels like my own private mountain hamlet on such 'miserable' days.
Theresa B. / Crossville
12/17/2012 12:54:00 am
WOW what a beautiful picture! I also am looking forward to a little snow. Hope we see some soon. It would make for such a "Merry Chrismas".
H Clark
12/17/2012 12:59:41 am
Central Kentucky's weather prediction is 59 for today and falling to 39 by Friday. You may receive your anticipated snowfall by the week end.
sheldon
12/17/2012 01:16:33 am
JP: Day hiked up/down Boulevard Saturday. All the tree-fall has been cleared or at least trimmed to allow easy crossing. Great day.
Ryan in Green Bay
12/17/2012 02:00:54 am
Currenly we don't have any snow in my part of Wisconsin, but we are expecting a good storm on Thursday. Keeping fingers crossed as I am amped for a snow day. Hopefully some comes your way within the next few days/weeks. Happy Monday
S Hasting
12/17/2012 03:04:13 am
JP, I so hope you get your snow, because I know you want it so badly! I would love to see you post some pics on Christmas day from Leconte with some snow!! I'm praying!!! lol
Debi
12/17/2012 03:34:48 am
Rained all weekend in Michigan and no snow here in Ludington. Were supposedly suppose to get blasted pretty good with a bunch of snow Thursday and Friday. I would be more than happy to give you all my snow and that be my gift to you. Take it all and leave me green, I would love it. And that'd be my Merry Chrstmas! :)
doug y
12/17/2012 04:32:13 am
Once again, after being away from this site for a few days, I feel like I've missed a whole lot. But I was in the Park hiking during that time, so I was attending to my priorities ! Steve D: I appreciate your comments on the clothing you wore. Basically, I do wear the polyester inner layers, fleece, and generally an outer wind-resistant or wind-proof jacket of some sort. The "Under Armour" clothing brand makes for some good inner layers. Each individual must eventually decide what works best for him/her, and it sounds like you've found the right combination for yourself. The idea underlying it all is to keep your warmth in, not so much to keep the cold out. Shedding layers, exchanging layers, and combinations thereof works quite well for me. I must be getting older than I realize, and "softer" ! The other night, the first peak night for the Geminids, I woke at midnight and was about to don my winter hiking jacket to go out and view the meteor shower, but I happened to glance out my bedroom window and realized that from that vantage point I had a relatively good field of view, seeing two meteors right away. So I simply squatted down by the window and enjoyed the celestial display from there ! I was quite the cozy fellow ! The only discomfort I experienced was my feet occasionally "going to sleep" on me, getting so numb I had to rise for a few moments. But I didn't set up my camera for any time exposures, just simply enjoyed the show. And I didn't bother to make a count of the sightings I made as I usually do, but I believe I probably saw 80 to 120 meteors in the time that I was sitting there. I get up a lot at night anyway so I was cozy and really was glad to see another shower. I did see, on three occasions, a 'multiple' streaking of meteors, two at a time, and three at once near the end of my viewing period. I think it would have been marvelous to have been up at Cliff Tops for this event. I was in the Park this past Saturday unexpectedly, on one of my "spur of the moment impulse" trips and hiked from the Laurel Falls trailhead, past the falls up to the ridge, then down and back to the Sugarlands visitor center, about 12 miles or so. A very nice day hike. I stopped for a few moments just before reaching the center and sat by Cataract Falls which is a neat little sort of cascade actually and accessible to the tourist crowds easily. Like several other readers I'm wondering if you'll get any snow up there ? I'm still planning on the Boulevard up, Trillium down hike in a few more days, so perhaps I might be making that trip in some snow. that'd be nice. Nothing but some rain here in London, KY. Cheers to all.
Jay
12/17/2012 06:57:33 am
JR, my friend you will have snow next week. I read your posts every morning. My Dad lived just off 321 on a hill and his deck view is full of the NorthFace of LeConte. Do you like the Green Mtn beans or ground?
JP
12/17/2012 11:13:45 pm
Jay,
Jay
12/17/2012 07:01:50 am
JP ... not jr. Sorry. Fingers are thick and sore.
Barbara
12/17/2012 09:41:08 am
Hi JP, I have wanted to write since you got there this year, I read your blog all year last year and have looked forward to it this year. Don't give up hope on that snow it's coming, hopefully for Christmas, I love the way you write, my husband and I love those wonderful Smokie Mts. too. There is just something about them that gets in your blood and you can't get it out. My husband has hiked up Mt. Leconte for the last 15 years. Sometimes he stays the night sometimes just a day trip. He didn't get to make this year but hopes to with our son sometime in March. I hope to write more often this year, and I hope you get to come back for years to come as caretaker in winter, and eventually that snow will find you and when it does you might wish you hadn't of wished for it. 12/17/2012 10:39:26 am
Ohmigosh! I haven't logged on to the website since JP left last year and I just sort of wondered what might be going on with the website. I thought perhaps it simply no longer being monitored....but lo and behold, JP has returned! Now there's a Christmas present that I get to enjoy all winter long--tales from the mountain, see through JP's eyes. Thank you, Santa! Comments are closed.
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