Morton Overlook

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, survived Black Friday, and have begun your holiday season with a lovely Cyber Monday. I’ll try to not get too carried away with the cynicism here. 😉

Me? I had a great holiday, but I’ve been nursing a pesky little virus that I picked up at the end of my trip about a week ago. Ugh. Fortunately, today seems like it has finally started to improve.

I was disturbed to learn earlier today that wildfires are still wreaking havoc in the Smokies. I had mistakenly thought that the fires were mostly under control, but I was wrong. Apparently, a new fire recently started in the Chimneys area of the park and has closed Newfound Gap Road, which is the main road that connects the Tennessee and North Carolina. Extremely high winds have spread the fires quickly to engulf several hundred acres. Very sad! In addition, numerous hiking trails are closed in the park. The closures range from trails in the Elkmont area to trails in the higher elevations near the Chimneys area. More sadness! The good news is that rain is predicted to move into the area tonight and later in the week. I hope that it will help!

I’ve included an image that I created several years ago from Morton Overlook. This location is currently closed due the fires. To be clear, the mist in this image IS NOT due to fires. I repeat, this photo was taken several years ago and the mist in the photo has nothing to do with today’s wildfires. The mist in this image is due to clouds that frequently cover this area. A very moody image. I hope you enjoy it! Keep your fingers crossed for rain!