From the Top of Mt. LeConte

I could sum up our weekend trip to Mt. LeConte in one sentence: Great trails, great food, great views and great friends. With so many special memories to share it'd be a shame to stop there.
After work Friday, Bryan and I headed out to East Tennessee. Loving the fact that we loose an hour driving east, we decided to act like REAL hillbillies and pull into the Sevierville WalMart for our first night's rest. We would need to be at the trailhead bright and early on Saturday and saw no reason to make a big production out of finding a place to stay (not to mention a waste of moolah too). So we hunkered down in the back of the D. Despite the ridiculous crowd shopping at midnight (tourists) we were able to get a decent nights sleep under the stars...or rather lights.

Promptly at 8am EST we met Mark and Anne at the Sugarland's Ranger Station and plotted out our trail. Ascent= Boulevard Trail, Descent= Alum Cave Trail. It opens a lot of doors bringing 2 cars- no loops for us! After dropping off one of the cars we parked at Newfound Gap and headed up the trail. According to Anne this is where the President will be speaking - should he choose to accept the Park's invitation for the 75th Year celebration. The Gap was chilllllly! Luckily I had water dripping down my back from my lovely camelback, which helped with the chill....not so much.

So after many years of reading, coveting and wishing I could hike the AT- I was finally on it! From our starting point Mt. Katahdin was only 1,972 miles away. Woah! We'd only be on the AT for a small amount of time, but it was still cool!

The hike up was beautiful! The climb was for the most part gradual though lengthy. The views were everywhere and for some time we hiked right on the ridge...views in both directions. We saw a couple other groups of hikers, but only a few. Not at all like our experience would be on the Alum Cave Trail. We stopped a few times to rest and to fill up on some snackage. We noticed there were a few stray "goldfish" crackers on the trail too. Either Hansel and Gretel were just ahead of us or there were some tiny tot hikers on the trail- the latter which we confirmed further up the trail. Either way, we didn't stick around to see if bears also liked the treats. Bryan did find some bear scat (or as he called it- bear guano). I suppose it's TMI, but it seemed it was pretty fresh and came from something VERY large.

The best part of the Boulevard (besides the views) was the area where the trail crosses several rockslides. I'm definitely afraid of heights and this was a little gut tingling, but it was breathtaking in a good way. Don't know how parents take their kids through this part. Even if I was carrying little man I would be nervous.

Closer to the summit (okay the top) of LeConte - Bryan stopped to wait for us all and glanced into the woods. Right next to the trail was a tree that was sporting all kinds of Christmas ornaments. These were real ornaments that had been carried up the trail. (not the Blair Witch-do-it-yourself kind). If he hadn't stopped at that exact location and looked at the exact right spot we would have never noticed it.

SUMMIT! Ok, a little history- Clingman's Dome is officially considered the highest peak in the park. LeConte supporters believe their mountain is the tallest because they measure from the bottom of the peak to the top, not elevation. Those who support LeConte bring a rock to the top and deposit it to help with the cause. Those who support Clingman take a rock away. I'd say maybe all the competition could be representative of a bigger issue......you know what I mean!Regardless we all added our rocks to help the cause. Maybe someday it will make up the difference.

Before reaching the lodge we came across the LeConte shelter and several resident deer. Then onto our first peek at the lodge. Here's how it felt to see the cabins poking through the clouds.....1) head tilted back 2)twirl around and sing this at the top of your lungs"THE HILLS ARE ALIVE...WITH THE SOUND OF MUSIC" All kidding aside, the moment was magical. BUT we were tired so we scurried off to check in.

We got a cute little cabin right next to the office- location is everything! After checking in, changing and sitting down-aaaaah, we decided to grab some hot chocolate and head for the office to play some hand and foot. Mark and Anne caught on really quick to "Hand and Foot" despite the many rules there are for the game. We couldn't finish before dinner, so we packed it up and headed over- scores tallied for the first few hands.

At dinner you sit with other hikers at assigned tables. We sat with a family (Grandson, Grandaughter and Grandma) and two other ladies (one from Wisconsin and one from Asheville). Turns out the Grandaughter who was almost 7 had already hiked up 4 times. Grandma has been hiking the trails for 25 years. She looked good for her age (which we thought was probably between 55 and 65ish). We ate a dinner of roast, potatoes, cinnamon apples, corn bread, potato soup, and coookies. As it turns out Ms. Asheville had a birthday so we got to partake in her b-day cake too!

After dinner we headed back to the office to enjoy a few more hands/games of cards. Needless to say Hiker Chics beat the pants off the boys. Every. Time. During our last game "Deep Talker" (I can see how it's so easy to give trail-names) dragged out the office guitar and put on a show for us all. He started out with Cat Stevens' Moonshadow. Little man would have loved it. The moment was right..cards by lantern-light, moonshadow playing in the background, getting clean 7's every time...aaaaaah nothing could be nicer. After cards we decided to turn in. It was very cloudy! Didn't seem like sunrise would be worth the hike to Myrtle Point.

Getting back to the cabin we noticed it was nice and comfy...unless you're on the top bunk. Whoooooops we didn't get our propane heater turned down. The staff has control of this and only offers to adjust the heaters prior to 9pm. It was nearly 11 ish? So we opened all the windows and tried to make do. Have you ever slept in a tent on the beach? At noon? In July? That's kinda how it was on the top bunk. I understood now why there was a sign on the cabin wall that said "HEAT RISES". Oooooooh, I get it now. We tried to block the heater thermostat from kicking on every 2 minutes, but to no avail. We would just have to sweat it out. We were fearing we would be dehydrated before morning came. Mark and Anne on the other hand were all bundled up on the bottom bunk freezing their booties off- nice huh. An hour or so later Mark got up found an emergency valve outside the cabin and turned it off completely. Pssssssssssszzzzzzzzzzzz... that's Bryan and I finally cooling off. Mark came back in and urged us to come outside for a little surprise. We got up for some fresh/cool air and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH. (those are angels singing) the sky was CRYSTAL clear. The stars were so bright it seemed like we could reach above and touch them. WOW! What a sight!!!

The next morning we awoke to the staff knocking on our door "10 minutes till breakfast" then a DING DING DING DING (did I mention they actually ring a dinner bell?) Many of us came stumbling in to a breakfast of champions. Eggs, grits, bisquits, pancakes, juice(tang), ham. Yummmmmm. Why does everything taste SOOOOOOo good when you're hiking?

With breakfast over there wasn't much to do but pack up and get ready to start the hike down. I was already getting a little depressed. How could it be over already? Alum Cave Trail was an awesome Trail! Not one I'd necessarily want to hike UP though! While the Boulevard is longer and has many more ups and downs, Alum Cave seemed to be a little less forgiving and was nearly straight up from the cave to the lodge (2.8 miles). There were many cool things on this trail (Bluffs, Alum Cave, Arch Rock, Rhododendrons) which made it a very popular trail. Not only was the trail busy from Lodge traffic, we met many day-hikers as well. Not a trail you'd want to do if you're looking for some remoteness. We loved it though and hated to see hikers coming towards us that looked fresh, smelled good and had little water bottles in their hands. All signs that the parking area was getting closer and closer.

Once reaching the car we all decided we'd like to make it a tradition to hike to LeConte. It's easy to see why hikers become obsessed with the area. I feel like I already am now! It's quite a feat to make it up there and the experience rewards your hard work fully! It's a great place to make some wonderful memories with those you love.

More pictures from LeConte 2009