 Finally, the slick mountains of love break over us. Mary Oliver Morning y'all, It's a beautiful, grey morning up top. The high yesterday reached 19 degrees. The overnight low was 6 degrees. It was 10 degrees and cloudy at 7am observation. The mountain received no new precipitation. There is still about 3 inches of slick, hardpack snow up here. The trails are pretty slick, I would definitely still recommend Microspikes if you intend to summit and descend safely. Enjoy the day!   I had a fantastic hike up Rainbow from Twin Creeks yesterday. There are few greater pleasures than wandering through an essentially closed National Park. I hiked the road for a few miles, marvelling at the snow laced trees. The peace and beauty was otherwordly. The tumult of the icy streams was a fantastic contrast to the tall, noble trees abiding by their banks. The Falls were starting to form a cone near their base. I would expect them to freeze up on Thursday morning. I reached the final .6 junction just as the light was fading in it's pre-sunset show. The dim gold glistening through the thin spruce fir forest was a fitting exclamation point. 
Denise
2/18/2015 12:39:15 am
Love it! Be safe stay warm
Josh Scheutzow
2/18/2015 01:50:30 am
Love the blog! We are attempting a summit mid March. Do you think micro spikes will be necessary by then or will the ice have melted?
Kent
2/18/2015 02:05:49 am
There is an excellent chance there will still be ice on the trails at that time -- even well into April, for that matter. I'd pack those micro spikes even if all reports say the trails are clear. It's better to safe than sorry.
Steve D
2/18/2015 02:16:37 am
Josh-I completely agree with Kent, the upper section of the mountain doesn't discriminate! I have seen sheets of ice on that upper section well into April. Have a great hike!
tomk in SC
2/18/2015 02:50:24 am
Weather is always a game day call. People ask about weather weeks out a lot, and for the decisions that matter, the conditions of a particular day on that day are the drivers. If you don't have spikes, get your shopping done ahead of time, and a day or two before the hike, buy them if necessary. Chimney Tops is a bad reference. At 4800' it is well below the 6390' lodge elevation. That's a difference of about 7F. I've done winter hikes in snow all the way and I have done winter hikes where the ice starts at West Point. Anything can happen between now and mid March. All could melt into spring, things could freeze hard. It's possible that it starts snowing the day before your hike and the park shuts down. None of that is knowable now.
Steve D
2/18/2015 02:19:13 am
JP-I am so jealous, I know the beauty is beyond description! So glad to hear that your foot is better. How is your rib? Hope to see you in the next couple of weeks if they ever open 441 again!
JW
2/18/2015 02:43:10 am
Josh you will never know until a few days before! Remember last march 29th lol I was up there in the Shelter awaoke to over a foot of snow! 19 degrees! Just prepare for the worst!, and JP hope to get back up soon! Im addicted you know but we just spent 8 days 17 miles in the woods in North Georgia, took camp down yesterday! Saturday night it was nine degrees !
Sandra
2/18/2015 03:32:30 am
Awesome photos! Just wondering, JP. Are you the only person who lives full-time in the park during the winter? Or are there some residences for park rangers within the park too?
Elisabeth
2/18/2015 03:52:17 am
Thank you for keeping us updated on conditions! I had PLANNED to hike the connector to grotto to see if it is starting to freeze. The road was blocked at Twin Creek, so I too took the road following a pair of faint footsteps (it was already snowing this AM....so I can assume they were yours!) but I was afraid they would shut my car into the park if I did the full 11 miles, so I opted for a photo shoot at Ogle place and took twin creek trail back to the car. BEAUTIFUL! I was taking GO PRO video as I fell into the second stream on twin creek! OOPS! I also went to greenbrier today and hiked the road. It has more snow than roaring forks, but anyone doing it...watch for a few really icy patches. If you see "snow angels" on the road...it is where I fell !!! WARNING! Love the daily updates JP, much appreciated....will try Grotto next week!
Deb
2/18/2015 09:24:10 am
Stay warm up there! I've hiked Leconte twice and loved it. So much so that we sold our house in Florida and moved to the mountains so we could hike often. Comments are closed.
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