Had great weather today hiking a 13.2-mile loop up Deep Creek in the Smokies, but by the time I got back to the car, a gauze of white clouds was forming, tipping off the next storm system moving into the region. Rain is expected to begin in the middle of the night and last into Thursday morning. That’s rain in Bryson City, elevation 1,752 feet. It occurred to me, with temperatures forecast in the upper 30s rising only to 50 down here, that atop 6,600-foot-plus Clingman’s Dome the situation could be significantly different. So I decided to put off that trip until the drier, so says the forecast, end of the week.

That decision seemed even smarter when I saw the high wind advisory in effect for the high country, with gusts up to 50 mph expected throughout Wednesday. That definitely rules out a higher elevation hike, including the fourth planned hike on my week’s agenda: a 35-mile trip that includes a stretch of the AT from Fontana Dam up to 5,070-foot Mt. Squires.

So tomorrow I opt for the shortest trip on this week’s itinerary, a 10-mile loop in the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest / Slickrock Wilderness.  It actually tops out higher – above 5,200 feet – but spends less time at altitude. At least from what I can tell from the map.

An interesting day ahead tomorrow, regardless of where I hike.