From knowledge that rime ice forms in a fog or cloud and hoar frost forms in clear air, we might suspect that the scene Bonnie and I encountered earlier this past week in the Smokies would be descriptive of rime ice formed where a band of low cloud had settled along Walker Camp Prong as it runs along the lower slopes of Mount LeConte between the Chimneys Trailhead and the Alum Cave Trailhead. That’s my story and I’ll stick with it.

A focal length of 100mm, quintessential short telephoto-land, gave me the angle-of-view I wanted, with a bit of compression and magnification. An aperture of f/16 provided depth-of-field, and a shutter speed of 1/13th second at ISO 100 gave me a overall somewhat lighter-than-medium exposure. The beam of light illuminating the mid-ground ridge was the gift of a break in the broken overhead clouds.

It was with much gratitude that we arrived at the Sugarlands entrance to find US 441/Newfound Gap Road open to traffic. Our morning in rime-filled Greenbrier had prepared us to turn around and head for home empty-handed. The weather gods are sometimes thoughtful and we are appreciative to them and the maintenance crews.