Word to the wise: When you are atop the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains (and highest point along the Appalacian trial. Thank you Wikipedia. ), it is going to get chilly, so dress appropriately. Even if it is a really warm day at the bottom of the mountain, it is going to get colder the higher you go.
When you are doing this in late November, REALLY dress appropriately. It will be A LOT colder atop the mountain.
Guess who didn't dress appropriately?
Yep! These guys!
We did remember to bring jackets and sweat shirts. Thank goodness. But no one wore long pants. No one wore gloves. No one wore ear muffs. Nope, no one named Workman anyway.
Bad parenting? Maybe. But we survived and no one froze to death. We did hear a couple of passersby, who were bundled up, say, "Wow! Those guys are going to get cold." They were right. But only for a few minutes. We were basically walking through a cloud, so it was pretty misty from time to time, which added to the coldness factor. However, as long as we kept moving, no one froze in place.
Oh, and I might add at this point that, although we were atop the highest point in the state of Tennessee, the majority of the climb was made in the car. Our hike was only 1/2 mile from the parking lot to the observation tower at the top of the mountain. But it was STEEP, so we get bonus points for that, and the extra exersion helped bring on some heat to warm our frigid selves. Actually, after climbing the straight UP trek to the top, we were a little glad that we did not overdress. Fewer items to shed.
Aunt B and Uncle Bill actually dressed more weather savvy. Good for them. They probably didn't get as cold as we did. And they were sweet enough not to rub it in. Maybe that was because Eric held the car keys and was their ride back down the mountain.
Granny didn't join us for the hike, but I am confident that she would have dressed appropriately. Granny is always prepared.
We did have a great hike. Once we got moving, there were really no complaints to our "dress for the elevation" oversight. It really wasn't that bad. The boys really enjoyed the rocks and climbing all over them whenever they got a chance. They were too busy to get very cold, anyway. Visibility at the top was nil, so that was a bit disappointing, since there wasn't much of a view to admire. The clouds did break a couple of times, so we were able to have a few quick peeks at the mountainscape. Caleb stayed a few steps ahead of us most of the way up, and Seth hung with us like a trooper. He did take advantage of Daddy's shoulder's too. His insane level of cuteness affords him such luxuries.
Top of the mountain victory chant!
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