We’ve been in the midst of a deep freeze here in the Bluegrass state, which has meant that the waterfalls across Kentucky have been freezing. Copperas Falls in the Red River Gorge portion of the Daniel Boone National Forest was certainly no exception! For weeks, I had been seeing hints online that the falls off Copperas Creek had frozen to the point of being a solid pillar of ice. Some were even suggesting that it’s the most the falls have frozen in several years. This was just too good of an opportunity to pass up! I messaged @Brian2774 on Instagram, and we made plans to head out to the falls shortly after daybreak on Saturday morning.

This was sure to be an epic trip!

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?

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.