Our Bright Star

Brian Hathcock

This was taken one bitterly cold morning in October 2006. I had little experience with photography at this point and possessed no tools but my camera and eye. It was so cold that I couldn't hold still, so I actually used a box from my trunk as a tripod. The other photographers, decked out in thermal gear and twenty pounds of equipment, probably laughed, but who cares?

The view is from the top of Clingman's Dome, 6,643 feet above sea level. It's the highest point in both the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Tennessee, and the second highest point east of the Mississippi. It was a wonderful sunrise, one of the best I've seen.

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