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After spending the night with family in Maryville, we loaded up and drove to Gatlinburg and left the van at the Grotto Falls parking lot. We hit the trail around 10:30. That's Ruth, Chet, and Megan left to right. Katie and Megan shared a pack, and clowned around with how heavy it was.
We made quick work of the spur trail from the parking lot to the Trillium Gap trail, and found a pleasant creek to walk along. The trail was wide and inviting. The girls were full of pep and soon left boat anchor Chet behind, but he caught up to them at a rest break. It was a beautiful day for hiking, and the understory had an assortment of wildflowers, including what looks like a white baneberry. The leaves to the left in this photo are from a different plant, though.
The trail gradually worked its way upward, and before long we could hear Roaring Fork and spotted Grotto Falls and a lower cascade in the distance. The falls were refreshing, and we joined a couple of other groups in admiring them. After a lunch break, we shouldered our packs and passed behind the falls and continued on our way. There's always something interesting on the trail, like this odd-shaped mushroom.
After we left the falls and most of our fellow hikers behind, the trail narrowed and became a bit steeper. The dog hobble was in bloom along this stretch of the trail, and it was an altogether pleasant stroll, especially on the parts of the trail that were nearly level. Still, we were happy to arrive at Trillium Gap and take a break there, where we visited with a younger couple and their baby who were on their way down from spending the night at LeConte. As others have noted, we didn't see any trilliums at Trillium Gap, but we started noticing stands of umbrella leaf, which was growing in profusion here.
After climbing above the gap, the trail steepens noticeably after taking a hairpin turn, and ridgeline views become more commonplace. You could see evidence of our beloved trail maintenance volunteers' hard work, shown in supply caches like this one and blowdowns that had been cut to allow easy passage. The wildflowers became more profuse, like these yellowbead lilies and several stands of large painted trilliums.
The trail stretched on. Ruth and the girls were well ahead of Chet, who was having problems believing the "Great Deceiver" -- a pedometer on its first mountain outing, poorly calibrated so it seemed that we had covered more ground that we actually had. The grasses were giving way to ferns and mosses, and the trail was becoming more open and narrow. A long stretch of gravel platforms took us over an area of the trail that was prone to washouts. It made for safe footing, though at this point in the hike steps weren't exactly what we had in mind. By the time Chet reached them, the girls had already arrived at the lodge, after passing more ridgeline views. Their relative speed had its drawbacks for Ruth, though, as she arrived at the Lodge and somehow missed seeing the llamas, which Chet met a short time later on their way down the trail.
Chet finally made it to the lodge, arriving around 3 pm, where he joined the ladies in the cabin. He napped while the girls explored a little, then it was suppertime. Our tablemates were long-time LeConte Lodge customers -- both couples had been here between 15-20 times. We compared notes on the trails, then went back to the cabin for a little while before heading to Cliff Top for the sunset. It was a very pretty one. Afterwards, we then moved over to the office for a lantern-lit game of Uno until it was time for bed.
After a hearty breakfast, we lined up for the obligatory photo in front of the dining room and set out on a clear dry morning down the Rainbow Falls trail. Along the way we noticed hobble bush and thyme-leaved bluets in bloom. Quickly we arrived at the junction with the Bull Head Trail and continued our downhill journey on Bull Head. We found it to be a very pleasant trail, with more flowers in bloom, and a great view of Gatlinburg in the distance.
Bull Head is a lesser-travelled trail, and we didn't meet many people on the way up. We found it to be a real wildflower treat, with big stands of sweet white trillium, false Solomon's seal, and fringed phacelia. The trail, though narrow, descends gradually.
We were still on the upper part of the trail, perhaps around 2.5 miles from the Rainbow Falls intersection, when we found one of the great wildflower beauties of the park, the pink lady's slipper. This made a pleasant trail a fantastic one. The trail wound out of the cover of the trees along one bend, where we counted at least five plants in bloom in about six feet of trail, including a thicket of mountain laurel. We quickly re-entered the cool woods, soft underfoot. Along the way, we would occasionally find the handiwork of the CCC, around stream crossings. What magnificent work they did, largely unnoticed but much appreciated by those who see it.
The girls were about a mile up ahead of Ruth and Chet, but they would sometimes rest and give everyone a chance to catch up. It was a beautiful day, and we were all in good spirits. After what seemed like a long 3.3 miles, we finally came upon the pulpit, a stone cairn erected by the CCC. It seems a little odd there by the side of the trail, but I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time. Shortly after this, the trail narrowed and started a series of switchbacks. This stretch also had some stone overhangs which made for a nice resting place. The girls were once again well ahead of Ruth and Chet, and Ruth was suffering from a a tweaked knee, so we were glad to come to the end of the Bull Head trail and turn onto the Old Sugarlands trail, and even happier to cross this creek, because it meant we were almost to the Rainbow Falls trailhead parking lot. We met the girls there, and they decided to stay put while we hiked along the Trillium Gap trail back to the van at the Grotto Falls parking lot.
Ruth was feeling better and we were making good time, but there were occasional peals of thunder, and about a half-mile into the walk along a fairly level trail, the skies opened up and we were pelted by one of the steadiest rains I've seen in the Smokies. We had left our packs with the girls so we could travel light, so we got drenched. We were glad to get to the van and drive around the Nature Trail, and the girls were even happier to see us. They had ponchos and had stayed somewhat dry, but it had been a long wait for them. We were glad to get back to Maryville, where a warm shower and dry clothes were waiting.
We had a great time, and would encourage anyone to give the lesser-traveled trails like Trillium Gap and Bull Head a try. Alum Cave Bluff has its charms too, but variety gives you an even greater appreciation of LeConte.
