George & Barbara Weckler Hike to Mt. LeConte April 25, 2007 

 

We had hiked to Mt LeConte 10 years ago and stayed at the lodge to celebrate our 37^th Anniversary.  We had a wonderful time, intending to return…. just never got around to it.  We love the mountains, and have visited several times in the past ten years, both with family and by ourselves.  Our visits always included hiking, but never as far as Mt LeConte.  I found Ed’s web site a few months ago, and was inspired by him and others to try the hike again.

 

On Tuesday, April 24^th, we did a five mile warm-up hike to Rainbow Falls . That went well, so we felt we were ready for the ten mile round trip hike to Mt LeConte via the Alum Cave Bluff Trail.  This was the same trail we had used ten years earlier on our first trip to Mt LeConte.  Only this time we were not spending the night, we would be coming back down the same day.  Given the fact that we are ten years older, and would be going twice as far, would we be up for the challenge?  We were determined to try.

 

On Wednesday morning we awoke to clear skies and a forecast of 80 deg. in the valley.   Couldn’t have asked for better weather, since the day before was cloudy and misty all day, and rain was predicted for Thursday and Friday.  We had a one day window of opportunity to do our climb in perfect weather, and by golly we were going to do it.

 

We arrived at the Alum Cave Bluff Trailhead at about 9:15 a.m., which was much later than we intended.  It took longer than anticipated to pack everything we would need, and I regretted not doing it the night before.  We each carried a small backpack containing our lunch, snacks, rain ponchos (you can’t always trust those weathermen), dry socks, fold up nylon jackets, hand sanitizer, camera, and four 16oz bottles of water.  I also had some lip gloss in my pack…..for me, this was a definite necessity.  (This is the same girl, who ten years earlier, took her butane curling iron to the top of Mt LeConte, only to find it would not work in the altitude.)  Hubby has never let me forget that one.

 

We did a few leg stretches, adjusted our collapsible aluminum walking sticks, and armed with Ed’s trail map (thanks Ed, it was a real help), we hit the trail at exactly 9:30 a.m.  The first part of the trail is easy walking and beautiful, following the creek and crossing the creek via wooden bridges  and foot logs.  We took some photos of each other and the beautiful stream .   The trail gradually gets steeper, and by the time we got to Arch Rock we knew we were climbing a mountain.  We were grateful for a short rest, and another photo opp.

 

 Somewhere between Arch Rock and Inspiration Point we met Ron Valentine on his descent.  I recognized him immediately from photos in Ed’s logs, and we stopped to chat for a few minutes.  He was on his way down from taking up the mail, which he does three times a week.  I asked how many trips he has made to the top, and he answered “A few”.  He will not tell the real number, out of respect for Ed.  What a nice man!  He also told us of a hiking friend of his, who he described as a “tough as nails” type of woman and a great hiker.  She once told him there is no real secret to hiking; “you just put one foot in front of the other”.  You never know where inspiration will come from, and I remembered her words each time the going got rough.

 

Wish we could have spent more time with Ron….what a fascinating, interesting, nice person!  It was a pleasure to meet him.  However, we still had a mountain to climb, so we took some photos , shook hands, wished him well, and continued on……..

 

 

At Inspiration Point, I was inspired to say a little prayer that we would have a safe trip up and down the mountain.  We saw the Dolly Parton Peaks , however the sun was in the wrong position to take a photo.  We did take a photo of Eye of the Needle  and looked for the Peregrine Falcons; however we did not see or hear them.

 

Alum Cave Bluff  was a rest stop for many people, both ascending and descending the mountain.  The descending hikers, who had spent the night at the Lodge, all had the same smile and glowing words to describe their night on the mountain.  “It was wonderful”, they all said.  I remember feeling the same way the last time we were there.  We had a snack, a drink of water, took some photos, and were on our way.  The sign at the bluff said we still had 2.8 miles to go.

 

The trail did get much steeper and rougher from this point on.  There were cables  to hold onto in the narrow parts, and the views were spectacular.  We were grateful for such a beautiful, clear day.  We climbed the Log Steps, the Bust A**Rocks, and finally reached the Grassy Slide.  The grass was just beginning to turn green, and we did not observe any wild flowers.  I imagine this site is gorgeous when everything is in full bloom.  I knew we were now only a mile from the top.  We were doing it, “one foot in front of the other”.  We still had the quarter mile trail beneath Cliff Top to do.  This is a narrow, rocky ledge, and I was grateful for the cables. 

 

At last we saw the evergreen tunnel….the trail evened out, and I knew we were almost there.  We reached the trail junctions of Rainbow Falls/Bull Head Trails and the Boulevard Trail……we were at the end of the Alum Cave Bluff Trail.  We arrived at the Lodge at 1:25 p.m.  We had made the climb in just under four hours.  Not bad for two seniors with not a lot of hiking experience.

 

 We stopped in the office first and asked about the llamas.  I really wanted to photograph them and hoped they hadn’t started their descent.  A nice young man told us where they would be (behind the dinning cabin), on their very own street, “ Llama Lane ”, and sure enough they were still there.  I took a lot of photos.  They were great subjects…..posing like pros.

 

We were hungry at that point, and enjoyed our lunch on one of the picnic tables near the dining cabin.  The peanut butter sandwiches, sliced apples and baby carrots tasted like a feast for a king.  We enjoyed every bite.  We then did the obligatory photo of us in front of the dining cabin, displaying the date, April 25, 2007.  I forgot to look for the thermometer to note the temperature, however; with the sunny, clear day, it was warm.  We felt no need to either don our jackets, or zip on the bottoms to our hiking pants.

 

Next we walked around the lodge area, looking for the cabin from our last stay, Number 8.  It was still there, however, it now sported a new porch with two rocking chairs.  What a nice addition……all of the cabins had porches.  I believe they were added last year.  We also noticed another change since our last visit…..there is now hot water available (we had to boil ours).  Everything else looked pretty much the same.  

 

We signed the guest register in the office, and were proud to record “second” trip to Mt LeConte.  George bought a t-shirt to prove he had made the climb.  It is dated with the current year, and can only be obtained on top of Mt LeConte.  We took more photos of the lodge area.  We were wishing we had enough time to go to Cliff Top (again noting that we should have started earlier), however it was nearing 2:30 pm and we decided we should begin our descent.  We filled our water bottles, took some parting photos of the Lodge, and at exactly 2:30p.m., hit the trail once more.

 

We expected the descent to be easier, and in some ways it was.  However it was still hard on legs and feet.  You really have to watch your footing, as there are many loose rocks and tree roots to maneuver.  I did fall at one point…….though it was a soft landing, and no harm was done.  Just my pride, and dirty hands.   Other than that, our descent was uneventful.  We arrived back at the parking lot at 5:30 p.m.; our time from the top to the bottom was exactly three hours.

 

We were tired, but happy.  We had met the challenge and accomplished our goal.  We had enjoyed the fresh air, the glorious sights, and the nice people we met along the way.  It had truly been a “perfect” day.  As we drove back to our rented chalet, we vowed to return as soon as we can.

 

George & Barbara Weckler

 

To Ed:  We can truly understand your love of the mountain…….we wish you many more hikes with family and friends.  Who knows, maybe someday we will meet on the way to Mt LeConte.