Snow in the South

c) Andrew Carter, 2022

I start my hike on the Benton MacKaye Trail tomorrow. This is what greeted me at my brother’s house in Tennessee this morning. Yikes.

Yes, it does snow in the South, even in March. A bomb cyclone went through last night, dropping the temperatures into the teens and bringing one to two inches of snow where I’m at on the Cumberland Plateau. I imagine there may be somewhat more in the mountains. It’s 2000 feet here, about 3800 feet on top of Springer Mountain, Georgia where I start my hike.

Fortunately, the temperatures will be rising as the week goes on. It was in the low 30’s today. It will be in the low 40’s tomorrow, the low 50’s on Tuesday, and the low 60’s on Wednesday.

I am prepared for the current cold weather. I’m also prepared for the rain likely to fall toward the end of the week. Having lived in the West so long, it’s been awhile since I’ve had to hike in the rain. In 1800 miles on the PCT last year, I had one night of rain, one night of snow, and one day with sprinkles in the afternoon. That’s it. I wouldn’t be surprised to get a day or two of rain every week that I’m on the trail in the South over the next month and a half.

Happy trails.