When my phone started making noise at 2:30am all I could think about is rolling over and going back to sleep. Make it stop, I think I said aloud. I was sleeping in the guest room, as to not wake my wife, but my dog was cuddled up next to me keeping me extra warm. I was half tempted to text Jon and tell him I couldnt make it after looking out the window and seeing a nothing but clouds in the sky, but I eventually peeled myself out of bed and into the clothes I set aside the night before. Plenty of layers, maybe too many, but we were planning on it being COLD. I eventually exited the room, grabbed the cold brew I made the day before, and snatched my backpack on the way out the door.
I made it to Treemont around 3:40am, just on time, despite leaving a little late due to my earlier temptation of staying in bed. Jon hopped in the truck and we made our way up to the trailhead, getting started around 4:15am. A little later than expected, but everything was cold and we were moving slow. I tried my best not to pile on too many layers, so I wasnt stoked at how chilly I was.
We started the trail with our red lamps on and got to walking. The entire time I was driving to the park it was cloudy and it was no different here. Following the red lights we started to make some progress, though, again not as fast as expected. About an hour in I wondered if we were going to make it up to the summit before sunrise, or even if we were, would there be a sunrise at all because of the cloud cover?
Around 2 hours in we hit a dense fog and our sight was limited to about 15 feet in front of us, not much different than before since we were hiking by headlamp already, but all around us we were surrounded by a red glow now.
Suddenly about half an hour after walking through fog I looked up and realized I SAW STARS!!!! We were going to see a sunrise after all! With that extra bit of motivation we started to make a bit better time and hit the clearing we were hoping for just as the colors in the sky started to change. After spending some time there, we made our way up to the summit of Rocky Top and were treated to something Ive never seen before, a rainbow in the fog. Neat!
Hope yall enjoy these images as much as I did making them.
Cheers!
Beautiful colors before sunrise from the clearing near the junction of the A.T. and Jenkins Ridge Trail
The A.T. on the way to Jenkins Ridge Trail
The Fogbow! This also gives you an idea about the density and scale of the fog.
My long time friend and hiking companion, Jon.
Mountain Ashe Berries clinging to the tree long after the foliage is gone.
Icy tree tops about to melt and pelt us on our way down the trail.
Thank you, Ross! I also loved that one. It was very striking when I looked up to see what was hitting me in the head and I'm glad I was able to capture it.
You should come down to TN sometime and shoot! It's great, even though Ansel didn't like it so much.
