like a ghost through a fog

On February 7 I got up early so I could make it SIWR for the sunrise. For some reason I had it in my mind that I would find a nice spot to sit in the meadow to watch the sun rise. Instead, I walked into a ghost world.

the river is in the background

According to NOAA, there are 4 ingredients for fog:

1. Light winds through the lowest few thousand feet above the ground during the overnight hours.
2. Recent rainfall to enhance moisture available for fog making.
3. Clear skies overnight.
4. Soil moisture that is near normal or above normal

The morning of February 7, all of the above applied. More than likely, steam fog was formed when cold air from the valley and ridges moved over the warm water in the French Broad. When the cool air mixed with the warm moist air over the water, the moist air cooled until its humidity reached 100% and fog formed over the river and spread across the peninsula.

hoar frost on a spider web

But there was a second process at work. On cold clear nights, when heat is lost to the sky, objects in the landscape can become cooler than the surrounding air. When fog passes by these "supercooled" objects, a thin layer of frost forms, as seen above on the spider web. 


Walking through SIWR site on a foggy, frosty morning changes your perspective. When your ability to see the background diminishes, you are forced to reckon with the foreground. There is no long view, just what is right in front of you. You have to live in the present when you're walking in the fog, because you cannot see what is in front of you or behind you. The future and past just don't exist.

meadow :: ancient forest