Mount LeConte from Clingman's Dome May 2008

Until the end of May 2008, I was never particularly enamored with the view from the observation tower at Clingman’s Dome. I’ve enjoyed hiking from the parking lot to one of the open fields along the Appalachian Trail, but by and large, can’t remember when I last hiked up the tower. (I can remember the day; it was winter, cold, and the leaves were off the trees.)

The day was a relaxed one, meet my family at the parking lot and we hiked from there (avoiding the paved trail) to the open area about a mile or so from the trail head. The forecast has been for clear weather but obviously that was wrong. The hike was interesting. We ran into a ranger and a solo hiker who said he averaged 25 miles a day on his summer-long hike from Georgia to Maine. I took few photographs from the fields as the only view was of the clouds. I’m not one to stick around and wait too long for the clouds to change so we headed back.

Because the grandchildren had not been to the tower at Clingman’s Dome, I suggested we divert to it. It was fairly crowded. I took several photographs with my D200 but decided the better view was a panorama with my Kodak digital. The sun was so bright I had to use my hat to shade the screen to align the images.

I took several panoramas, my family waiting patiently (or not, but they are used to waiting after all these years). This image was the last panorama taken. I thought I had overexposed it but a small adjustment to the contrast curve brought out the drama in the clouds without losing the luminosity of the mountain range.

In case you are wondering, Mount LeConte is the peak to the left of center, visible through the clouds.