Orographic Lifting in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

I hiked to the top of Clingman's Dome (elevation 6,700 feet), the highest point in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The half-mile long trail is paved, but gains about 400 feet in elevation, making for a fairly steep path. One of the coolest parts of this hike was the fact that the lifted condensation level (the height of the bases of the clouds) was between the parking lot and the lookout tower, so I could watch the clouds form as air was orographically lifted up the mountain range and blown up toward the lookout tower.