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 would finally have a weather window to get the sunrise shot I envisioned. 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 four-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 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.