Mt. LeConte--Second Time Around--Up, Up in the Clouds!

Cloud cover began to clear as we were coming down Alum Cave Bluff Trail

Early on Saturday morning, my hiking group began our second trip up to Mt. LeConte.  This time we began at Newfound Gap, stepping out on the Appalachian Trail, walking literally along the Tennessee/North Carolina border under low cloud cover.  Some of my companions had never been on the AT before, so they learned first-hand the mystique of the white blazes.  They also learned that the AT is a little different than most of the trails we have been on in the Smoky Mountains--a little more challenging. The thing I love the most about the AT is that much of the part that I've covered tracks along the ridges.  I love to be walking along those ridges with nothing but "down" on either side!  Even though we were only on the AT for 2.7 miles, there was enough ridge-walking to give my hiking buddies a little bit of the feel that I cherish.


The views from those ridges on Saturday, though, were severely limited due to the low cloud cover.  In fact, once we reached the Boulevard Trail and quickly covered the next .3 miles, we found ourselves at the turning point to go to the Jump Off but decided to save that side trip for another day.  There just wasn't going to be anything to see.  It made me sad, but it was probably a good thing after all.

Loose rocks "pave" much of the Boulevard Trail

The Boulevard Trail was deceptively mild at the beginning, except for the loose rocks that lined much of the trail.  The trail began as primarily a descent, but soon began a fairly mild climb toward the back side of Mt. LeConte.  We were passed by a couple of older men who had apparently hiked LeConte numerous times.  One of them told us Boulevard was his favorite way to the top; we were appropriately encouraged.


We continued to make our way up and around the mountain and the clouds continued to restrict our view.  There were many places along the way where I would step over to what should have been exquisite views of the valleys below only to see nothing but clouds and fog.  I think that's part of what made the hike begin to be more difficult as we began to tire.  I remember on our previous trip, the views were so spectacular that they were energizing in and of themselves!  We got no such encouragement as we made our way higher and higher up on the slopes of LeConte on this day. 


I simply wasn't prepared for the difficulty of the last mile or mile and a half of this trail.  The guidebooks that I use gave no warning, so I'm thinking it must have been the combination of the loose rocky footing, the additional length of the trail compared to Alum Cave Bluffs trail we traveled last year, and my lack of serious conditioning.  I remember thinking we were probably getting very close to the top as we were seeing many skeletons of hemlock trees on the nearby slopes.  It just seemed like we were almost to the top.  Then, suddenly we rounded one bend in the trail, looked ahead and saw a tremendous incline above us--a slope we knew we still had to climb.  My spirits tumbled and from there as the footing deteriorated, so did my spirits.  I'm thankful that I knew it was a shorter distance to the bottom if I just kept going than it would have been if I had turned around.  I don't think I would have given up and turned around, but I might have been tempted.  From there on, it was an act of sheer will to keep going.  We were more than tired.  We joked about putting one foot in front of the other and don't look up!

Part of that last, grueling mile.  Doesn't seem very steep, but we were really tired!

This picture shows the area of the mountain where one face of the slope simply slid down into the valley after a deluge many years ago.  It left more loose rock and unsure footing for us with what should have been an excellent view opportunity had it not been for the clouds.  We pressed on.  Finally, we reached the turn off to Myrtle Point.  The mountain was still shrouded in dense clouds, and tired as we were, we decided not to even go the .2 miles it would have taken for us to experience Myrtle Point.  Had we not been socked in, we would have gone no matter how tired we were.  Somewhat discouraged, we continued on after a short rest.

We made it to High Top!

Our first point of rejuvenation occurred when we made it to High Top.  We knew that this little pile of rocks was the attempt by hikers to make Mt. LeConte higher than Clingman's Dome. It shows the love that hikers have for Mt. LeConte--the determination that this difficult to reach summit should outshine the slightly higher summit of Clingman's Dome with its paved path that presents no challenge for the typical hiking enthusiast.  We began to smile again in appreciation of that fact and because, honestly, the trail could ONLY go down from here--something we were ready for!  With renewed spirits and a burst of energy, we began the short trek to LeConte Lodge from High Top.

Soon, we encountered the trail intersection where the Rainbow Falls Trail, the Boulevard Trail, and Trillium Gap trail come together.  A solo hiker we had befriended at High Top told us that this is one of only 13 places in the park where three trails come together.  I'm not sure how accurate his information was, but it sounded pretty cool at the time.

Within just a few short minutes now, we finally saw the cabins that populate the area around Mt. LeConte Lodge, a welcome sight to say the least.  We had done it!  We had made what had proven to be a more difficult journey than had been expected and had beaten back discouragement and disappointment to press on until we had achieved our goal.  Exhausted, but encouraged, we made our way into the dining room where we had reservations for lunch.  Lunch consisted of vegetable soup and a chicken salad sandwich on homemade bread.  The best part, according to my hiking buddies who inhaled theirs, was the cow paddy cookie!  I don't know--I was really too tired to eat.  To me, though, I'd have paid the $9.00 for just the hot chocolate!  It was fabulous and helped beat back some of the cold that had chilled my hands on the way up.


Again, we decided not to hike out to Cliff Tops where I had taken such awe-inspiring pictures last year.  We rested for our hike down.  We had taken longer than expected to climb LeConte--a solid 5 hours, so we were feeling a little rushed to get off the mountain by dark.  However, we did take time to purchase our "I HIKED IT" shirts in the office before we left.  Thankfully, though, just as we were preparing to leave, the clouds began to part and I was able to get a few nice shots.

The beginning of clearing skies--better late than never!

Our descent was via Alum Cave Bluffs Trail.  Even with a companion who had hurt her knee near the top, we made the hike down in less than four hours and about an hour before dark.  We will hike Mt. LeConte again, but I'm going to really work on conditioning between now and then.  Even hiking 10-12 miles every other weekend had not prepared me for this hike.  We are tentatively planning on doing it again in the fall, hopefully on a day where the colors are vibrant and the skies are clear.  There's just something about that mountain!  As much as I felt it had beaten me on Saturday, I am drawn to ascend it once again.

Mt. LeConte, here we come!

Mount LeConte is the peak in the background on the left.

Well, the day is finally here!  It's 5:30 a.m. in the east and I'm sitting on ready, waiting for one of my hiking buddies to arrive.  I'm excited, and just a tad nervous.  This will be my longest hike ever, but it should be one with many rewards.  I must admit, the snake and bear encounters of the last hike I was on have me a little more cautious/concerned than usual, but I'm hoping for no close encounters today.  I'll be one tired puppy though by the time this hike is over, that I'm sure of.

Gear Review--HOT new flashlight for hiking and camping

SE Redline Flashlight

My wonderful husband just bought me an awesome new flashlight--the SE Redline! I love it! This flashlight, although not much bigger than the palm of my hand, literally turns night into day at the flick of one simple switch--all powered by 3 AAA batteries, not those extremely expensive batteries that some of the other powerful flashlights use. This light comes complete with a zoom adjustment that allows you to make it a long range, focused light or a wide range broad, light-up-the-whole-area kind of light. It will be with me this weekend when I hike Mount LeConte. I will carry it with me from now on--on any hike or camping trip I take. I will also carry it in my car when I'm not on the trails. Give it a try! I bet you will like it as much as I do!

Preparing for Mt. LeConte--3 Days and Counting!

Trying to actually work instead of thinking about Mt. LeConte has become a real challenge.  I would much rather be planning the hike instead of doing what I probably should be doing right now, which is grading papers.  So, I'm taking a few minutes break to make my paper grading more productive later, right?

It is time to call the Lodge at Mt. LeConte to order our lunches for the hike.  I know $9.00 sounds like a lot for lunch, but when you think about everything it takes to get the food up to the summit of LeConte, at over 6500 feet elevation, I'm not the least bit worried about it.  In fact, the idea that our lunch supplies will have been carried by llama up the mountain is a bit intriguing.  The weather is predicted to cooperate, so I will make that call in a few minutes.

Our group continues to grow.  We are up to approximately 10 people at the moment, and I won't be surprised if others decide to join us last minute.  We are pretty excited and folks are definitely talking about the trip, so that may entice others to come with us.  The more the merrier!

Chota GVX 2 Ultralight Pullover

I do look at this hike a little differently than some earlier hikes at lower, more predictable elevations.  Although the weather in Gatlinburg, TN is predicted to be clear with a high of 77 on Saturday, the high on LeConte typically runs about 10 degrees cooler than that of Gatlinburg.  That puts our predicted high at around 67.  Because of the extreme elevation changes and how early we must start, this hike will probably begin in temps that are quite cold and require either layers or a jacket.  I will be hiking in no cotton, as usual, just in case showers blow up and get us wet, which is always possible when you hike in the Smokies!  I've just bought a new lightweight windbreaker that is also waterproof, made by Chota primarily for the fly-fishing market, that I will definitely take with me on this hike.  It weighs only 6 ounces and will serve as a nice light jacket and also excellent protection in the event of rain.  I purchased it a few weeks ago at Little River Outfitters in Townsend, and it has already kept me totally dry in a downpour on one fishing outing.  If, however, we do get wet, as long as you are wearing the great new dri-fit fabrics, you dry out very quickly and rain shouldn't be a problem.  I'm just so very glad there are no storms forecast for Saturday. One thing that I'm not crazy about is hiking at high elevations in storms.  I don't mind it if you are above the storm clouds, but being caught in a thunderstorm with no shelter is probably my least favorite thing about hiking.  Hopefully the forecast will hold and the weather will stay clear.

Gear that I will use on this hike includes my trusty Keen Targhee II boots which provide enough ankle support for me that I don't worry about turning my ankle if the trail gets rocky.  I absolutely love these boots!  I also paid the extra money to buy Keen socks and find that the built in arch support works great for me.  This built in arch support requires the socks to be fitted for left and right feet which some hikers find annoying, but I love them! I will hike in zippered hiking pants and will probably start off with the legs on, but I bet I shed then before reaching the top.  I'm not sure which of my dri-fit shirts I will don on this day, perhaps the I Hiked LeConte in 2011 shirt I bought at the top last year.  I will carry a simple day pack that I purchased at Walmart a couple years ago.  It has served me well, and I saved a little money there.  It does have nicely padded straps which I think are very important and the waist belt has padding and supply pockets.

For food, I will take a couple of Clif Bars with me.  I really like the Blueberry Crisp and the Macadamia Nut flavors, personally.  I usually also carry some beef jerky with me on long hikes.  I don't know if it's the protein or the salt, but it does a good job reinvigorating me when I have a "sinking spell" as my grandmother would say.  My day pack has a water bladder, and I will also carry my MSR Miniworks water pump.  I doubt I will need it because there is fresh water at the top of the mountain with which I can refill my water container, but I've wished for it on the last two hikes and it doesn't weigh all that much, so it's going with me.  I will also make sure I take a flashlight with me on this hike because of the distance.  I think we will have plenty of time to hike up and back before dark, but just in case of an emergency or if someone needs more time coming down, I'll have one with me. Then, of course, we will take the normal supplies with us--first aid kit, snake bite kit, Benadryl, etc.  One of the most important things we will carry with us though is the Ibuprofen!  At our age, a hike of this length makes us SORE!  We will take a couple of these somewhere on the way down, so that after we have sat in the car an hour or so we will actually be able to get OUT of the car! Last spring, after our first LeConte hike, the hardest thing we did all day was pour ourselves out of the truck when we got home. So, as I look forward to the weekend, I'm so excited. I can hardly stand the wait until Saturday. But in the meantime, guess I'd better get back to grading those papers.  :)

Fly-fishing on the South Holston

Today was an awesome day fishing with my 81-year old dad on the South Holston River just out of Elizabethton, TN. We started out about noon (81-year old dads don't get up too early any more, or at least mine doesn't). We began our day fishing on the "grates" just down from the dam. My dad is a firm believer in fishing the tiniest of tiny midges off those grates, so that's what I started off with. I caught four fish on that, nice rainbow about 12 inches long. About that time, pretty much everyone stopped catching fish. I noticed that they were still hitting on the top of the water though. I decided that even if Dad got mad at me, I was going to switch to a dry fly which is my absolute favorite kind of fishing. So, I tied on a beautiful black ant with an orange parachute and began fishing top water. Within just a few minutes, I began catching fish again! No other fly fishermen were catching fish now. The only folks catching fish now were fishing minnows. I continued to catch beautiful rainbows and browns, in the range of 12-16 inches. I caught a total of 7 fish in that spot until some other fishermen moved in right on top of me. Someone else there today said, "you can teach anyone to fly fish, but you can't teach manners." At one point one kid, maybe 15-years old, was casting so close to me, I thought he was going to hit me with his lure. I tried to tell him nicely he was too close. He left, then returned a few minutes later with his two older brothers. They showed a tremendous amount of class by surrounding me and taking over the entire area I had had such success in. Ah well, I had a great time while it lasted. I eventually let them have my spot, but I sure hope they didn't catch much. Hope they enjoyed bullying a woman fisherman.  Dad never noticed, thankfully. Even at 81, I'm sure he would have done battle with those hoodlums if he'd have seen it. Sure wasn't worth that!

Supermoon and a Moonbow to boot!

I didnt even know it was possible, but tonight while looking at the Supermoon, I saw what looked like a rainbow, but it was nighttime! The moon was full and bright, the clouds had parted just in time for moonrise only in that part of the sky. As we were admiring how beautiful the moon was, it began to mist rain. When we turned to look to see where the rain was coming from, we saw it! It was a Moonbow! A Lunar Rainbow! I wasn't even sure it could happen, so what did I do? I pulled out my trusty iPhone and pulled up Google. Sure enough, I'm not crazy. It IS possible if conditions are just right, with a full moon and rain. The rain kept us from seeing the meteor showers that I was hoping to see tonight, but the showers of the liquid kind allowed us to see what may very well be a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.

My camera phone would not capture the moonbow, so I picked this picture from the following source:
http://kilohoku.deviantart.com/art/Mauna-Kea-Moonbow-18150575

Look to the skies on Saturday, May 5th!

Tomorrow night will be a great time to head outdoors away from the city lights, spread a blanket on the ground, and enjoy the show! May 5, 2012 will bring two spectacles for us to enjoy in the night sky. The first is the yearly "Supermoon" when our closest celestial neighbor passes within about 222,000 miles from Earth, and will appear up to 30% brighter than lesser full moons of the year. Coinciding with this lunar display is another show of night lights--the Aquarid meteor shower--a trail of shimmering dust particles traveling in the wake of Halley's Comet. I remember riding across the mountains separating North Carolina and Tennessee in the earliest days of Interstate 40, watching meteor showers send blazing streamers across the sky. I remember being awestruck at the vast numbers of streaks I saw. I don't remember the time of year, but I wonder now if it was this annual showing that I remember so vividly from my youth. I do not pretend to really know anything about astronomy, but there is a wealth of information at your fingertips on the internet about both of these events. The weather is a bit iffy in my region if you also check the internet for a forecast, but I am surely holding out for clear skies tomorrow night so I can make a short trek up to the Blue Ridge Parkway with my parents with whom I am visiting this weekend. We will find a quiet spot somewhere in the dark, lie back on a blanket, and enjoy! Hope you can too!

Photo source: http://www.sott.net/articles/show/244854-Supermoon-Alert-Biggest-Full-Moon-of-2012-Occurs-This-Week