I had my head in the clouds. I was all wet. Go ahead, pick your cliché. My winter retreat in the Great Smoky Mountains didn't go exactly as planned.

Why head for the Smokies backcountry in January? Simple: No bugs, no bears, no crowds, and — best of all — no rain. On past winter backpacks, I found the Smokies cold but dry, with all the water locked up in ice and snow. It might sound strange, but I find it a lot easier to stay warm when the temperatures are well below freezing. That's because there's no rain or damp air to soak my clothes and gear. And cold temps tend to keep most folks down in Dollywood.

So right after my retirement at the end of last year, I packed up for a nice winter backpack trip from Jan. 4-7, 2007. I packed plenty of cotton-free layers, my down sleeping bag, a one-person bivvy tent (I've used it in the trail shelters for extra warmth,) instep crampons and trekking poles. I was geared up for 20 below zero and ice-glazed trails.

(Trip details: I picked an airy stroll on the Appalachian Trail from Newfound Gap, over the summit of Clingman's Dome (highest point in the Smokies at 6,643 feet) and west along ridgetops to Silers Bald, then back to Newfound Gap. I had permits for three nights in backcountry shelters — the first and last in Mount Collins, and the second in Silers Bald. From Newfound Gap to Clingman's Dome, the AT parallels the Clingman's Dome Road, which is closed in winter but made a possible escape route if the weather got truly nasty.)

Well, what I got was unseasonably mild temperatures, a pleasant first day, a big (but friendly) crowd that filled the shelter on my first night, and drenching rain overnight and into the next day. On Clingman's Dome, instead of uplifing views I found my head and all the rest of me in a cloud. The mountain blasted me with the hardest rain I've ever hiked in. Worse yet was the forecast I got from a passing dayhiker — my ridgetop walk would be accompanied by a possibility of thunderstorms. Snow I was ready for. Ice I was ready for. Thunder, lightning and blowing rain? What appealed to me at that moment was a long, fast stroll down Clingman's Dome Road to my car. It wasn't much of a winter, but it sure was a retreat.

But, hey, I snapped a few decent pictures. Check them out in my new photo gallery.