December 8, 2017

---

1:30PM Update:

The snow is still accumulating. We've got close to 5" on the ground up top. All this snow has put me in the mood to bake cookies. Stay warm and safe everyone!

*Cherokee Orchard Rd is being closed due to weather conditions. Other roads in the park are also being closed.*

Visit the Smokies Road Info twitter page for further information on road closures.

Here's the link: https://goo.gl/HikrMr 

---

​Good morning,
 
Its currently 22 degrees and snowing. The high yesterday was 25 degrees, with an overnight low of 16 degrees. We received 1” of snow, with accumulation continuing.
 
*Hwy 441 between Gatlinburg, TN and Cherokee, NC is closed due to snow and weather*

---

---

Yesterday afternoon…
 
I quickly stopped to remove my wool sweater. It was cold out, but the hike up Alum Cave has the tendency to warm a hiker at any temperature. I looked down at my overstuffed day pack and laughed. Inside lay a plethora of foods. Including, but not limited to: red cabbage, a bag of onions, sweet potatoes, green peppers, garlic, fritos, nine bananas, a pound of honey, hot sauce, dark chocolate, habanero cheese… the list went on. Feeling postured well for the coming week, I continued my ascent at a steady clip. The lodge came into view just before dark. The world around me looked ominous. My hope for snow was beginning to look promising. I hiked into the kitchen and gently removed my pack.
 
The morning…
 
I woke to a different world than the one I left just eight hours ago. Coffee in hand, I wandered out into the new world of white. Grinning ear to ear as I made fresh tracks up the mountain. My imagination took over. Suddenly, I was in the midst of an exploratory mission to the undiscovered, Myrtle Point. The snow-covered world around me kept track of all the travelers that had come before. There were none…
 
…the snow continued to fall.
 
Onward,
Seth

---

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. 

​– T.S. Eliot