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Ed and Ruth Gaines first hike to Mt. LeConte, November 18, 2007

Our hike to Mt. LeConte took place on Sunday, November 18, 2007.  My wife, Ruth and I arrived at the Alum Cave Bluff parking lot and trailhead at 8:20 a. m. EST.  The temperature was 39 degrees, so we dressed accordingly .  Following the map on Ed Wright’s website, we thought we were making reasonable progress, however we were soon passed by a hiker with a bandana over her face to keep the cold air from aggravating her asthma.  She was out of sight by the time we reached Arch Rock. Right after we left Arch Rock, two men passed us, but one slowed down long enough to inquire about the hiking stools hanging from our backpacks (we didn’t use the stools at all on this hike).  He told us he was from Maryvillle, where he owned a horse farm.  He also pointed out the Eye of the Needle to us. On our own again, we arrived at Alum Cave Bluff.  We began to meet hikers descending from Mt. LeConte (probably overnighters).  All were very encouraging and promised that we would see spectacular views as we neared the top. I think I correctly identified Little Duck Hawk Ridge and The Eye of the Needle Ridge viewed from above Alum Cave Bluff. (This is actually Big Duck Hawk Ridge eaw) We got a view of the Chimneys and Sugarland Mountain before reaching Gracie's Pulpit. Around Gracie’s Pulpit, we began to get warmer as the temperature rose while we were climbing up the trail.  So I took the liner out of my parka and Ruth took her coat off and tied it around her waist. We next encountered the Saddles and also snow on the trail. The trail became coated with snow and slush above Grassy Slide and the going became a little tedious.  Although the conditions didn’t seem to be dangerous, I wished we had stopped earlier and donned our crampons (Ed Wright recommended them for hiking to Mt. LeConte at this time of year). We decided we could make it to the Lodge without crampons, but would put them on for our decent.  One more picture of the icy trail  and another of the spectacular view just before reaching Cliff Top. After reaching the Lodge at 12:30 p. m. EST, we used the facilities and visited the office.  I signed the Hike Log for both of us and purchased a tee shirt for Ruth (I later picked up a replica Mt. LeConte Benchmark pin for my cap at Sugarlands Visitor Center ).  I recorded our hike as #1 and noticed many entries with multiple hikes.  One person recorded their 211th hike, possibly our friend from Maryville (I never got his name). We ate our lunch and ran into the lady with the bandana and the man from Maryville .  They were heading back down the mountain, so I inquired as to the time it might take Ruth and me to reach the parking lot.  They seemed to think it would be around 3 plus hours.  It was now 1:30 p. m. EST and the temperature at the lodge was 42 degrees. We decided that to complete our descent before dark, we needed to leave soon.  So we donned our crampons, used the facilities again, and departed. In some ways, our descent was more difficult than our ascent, especially over Bust@ss Rocks and some of the narrow ledges with the cables.  We used them (cables) much more on our descent. We reached Alum Cave Bluff about 3:30 p. m. EST and met several hikers coming up to see the cave. We now felt that we could make it to the parking lot in daylight, so we took a break to hydrate, eat some trail mix and remove the crampons. We finished the remaining portion of the hike and made it to the car at 4:50 p. m. EST.  The hike had taken 8-1/2 hours, including an hours rest at the Lodge.  Ruth and I were pretty exhausted, although we had prepared ourselves previously for this hike by walking 4 – 6 miles every day for a month, some of the time up steep grades. I don’t know if we’ll ever try the hike again, but we had a great experience, viewed some incredible scenery, and encountered some extremely nice and helpful hikers on this one. Ed Gaines Madison, AL

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