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Well I’m back from my mini vacation to Gatlinburg. It was a very busy two days, complete with horseback riding, hiking and lots of eating

On Thursday, a group of us went hiking up Clingman’s Dome, which is the highest point in the Smokies at over 6000 feet. There’s a steep paved path that’s about a 1/2 mile from the parking lot up to the observation deck on top.

Sadly, it was an incredibly foggy day on top of the mountain so I didn’t really get to see the breathtaking overlook from the deck. However, the fog itself was eerily beautiful along with the trees (many of them dead from a fire some years ago). Here’s one of the pictures I took on the hike up to the top:

Along the trail to the top

As I took this picture (and a few others) I couldn’t help but think of my novel about Yuki-onna. Perhaps it was the eerie atmosphere. There were probably a hundred other people hiking to the top like we were but it seemed like we were the only ones as people passed us and disappeared into the fog.

Needless to say, that’s definitely one of those “inspiration” pictures that make me picture my novel–even though it’s summertime and set on the other side of the world