Failed sunrise at Black Balsam Knob

After checking several weather apps which stated there was a 30,000 ft cloud ceiling and 10 miles of visibility we woke up at 3am to drive an hour and 40 minutes (which turned into over 2 hours) to Black Balsam Knob trailhead. The last 30-40 miles was in such thick fog/clouds that it was very tough to see the road. The video I posted is before conditions worsened even more. At that point I was giving Dave feedback on where the road was turning, how many degrees, which direction, etc based off of gps because the road was so hidden. Definitely a challenge when on the Blue Ridge Parkway which is a very scenic road, when you can see. We still had slim hope that the summit would be above the clouds or that the sun would break through as it does in that area most mornings. Neither of those things happened so we enjoyed a wet morning with no views but all the misty feels. We relished having goosebumps since we knew we’d soon be heading back to the Florida swamp.

Then we had a relaxing day before making campfire nachos and having a great time catching up with Michelle and John.Read more