To say that 2021 was a wild year for me would be the understatement of the century! The past year has brought about some dramatic changes in my personal life. Among these was accepting a new job that required me leaving my beloved state of Kentucky in favor of Maryland.
During my last trip to The Great Smoky Mountains, I decided that I wanted to night hike up Mt. Leconte to Myrtle Point to attempt to photograph the sunrise. This is a trip I’ve been trying to do for several months, but the weather has never been particularly cooperative!
It has been a few weeks now since my last trip to the Great Smoky Mountains, but I’d like to take a moment to share the trip with you.
I’d been obsessively checking the weather reports for weeks in advance. It looked like I was finally going to have a weather window to get the sunrise shot I’d been envisioning. The plan was relatively straightforward. I’d drive down to the Great Smoky Mountains on Friday and get on the trail up to the summit of Mt. Leconte no later than 3 a.m. on Saturday. Then I’d simply wait around and photograph the sunrise from Myrtle Point. How hard could it be?
Remember a few months ago when snow spoiled my plans to climb Mt. Leconte in The Smokies? Well, I decided it was finally time to go back and conquer the mountain! I reserved the hotel, made the 4 and a half-hour drive down to Tennessee, and prepared to complete the hike the following day, which was Saturday.
This weekend I took a trip down to The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The plan was relatively simple; Hike to the summit of Mt. Leconte (via the Alum Cave Trail) and make a video for the Youtube channel in the process. In the days leading up to the trip, I packed my gear, watched the weather, and paid attention to the daily conditions up on Leconte. The weather forecasts were calling for snow.