MtLeconte.com - Hikes by Ed Wright

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Alum Cave Bluff Trail by Ed Wright.

I was introduced to the Alum Cave Bluff Trail in September of 1982. My youngest son, Bob and his shipmate Carl Miller, were home, on leave from the Navy. They were crew members aboard a Nuclear Powered Submarine. Carl and Bob were going to burn off some pent up energy by hiking Mt. LeConte. Their service aboard the Nuclear Powered Submarine put them under water for three months or more at a time. They invited me to hike with them. I still remember that hike well and I pushed myself to keep up with these two young men. We hiked to the top and they climbed around on the fringes of Cliff Tops and High Top. I watched from a safe vantage point during their daring feats. After they returned to duty, I resumed my regular exercise regime by riding my bicycle.

In the spring or summer of 1985, I hiked Alum Bluff Trail again with Joel Brown and two of his cousins, Brian and Kenny Crone. Joel had just finished serving an enlistment in the Army and was looking for some exercise. I recommended that we hike the Alum Bluff Trail. When Joel was 15 years old, he had accompanied my son Bob (16) and his friend Bill Langston (17) and me as we rode our bicycles from San Francisco, CA to Oak Ridge TN.

I did not hike the trail again until August 1986. Meanwhile, I had put more then 40,000 miles on my bicycle and literally flexed the lower crank bracket until it expanded to the point, where the locking ring would no longer hold the crank in the frame. Faced with a large sum of money to purchase a new frame or bicycle, I started hiking Mt. LeConte, regularly to get needed exercise. Although I did repair my bicycle, I opted to continue getting most of my exercise by hiking Mt. LeConte. I never really had a goal in mind for hiking, except the year that I retired in 1991. (view hiking statistics) I decided to set a mark for hiking Mt. LeConte, in one calendar year, which would only be broken by someone with lots of determination . I hiked the mountain for a total of 230 times that year. I also managed to spend several weeks visiting National Parks in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Canada and the Dakotas with my son Bob.

As I continued to hike Mt. LeConte via Alum Cave Bluff Trail, my curiosity grew about who had laid this great trail out and who did all of the hard work constructing it. I visited the library at the Sugarland Visitor Center and was shown a thesis by Thomas Hallman Fearrington Jr., A study submitted to the Faculty of Clemson University in for the fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Recreation and Park Administration, April 1977.

Click for information taken from the thesis or page down to read hike write-ups.

Hike ***
Via the Alum Cave Trail to celebrate Charlie and Austin's 9th and 11th birthdays
06/20/09

Hike 1310
Via the Alum Cave Trail to the lodge by Ed Wright, family and friends
10/25/08

Hike 1309
Via the Alum Cave Trail to the lodge by Ed Wright, family and friends
8/31/08

Hike 1308
Via Alum Cave Trail to the LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright and Glen Weatherly
7/23/08

Hike 1307
Via Alum Cave Trail to the LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright and friends
5/9/08

Hike 1306
Via the Alum Cave Trail to the LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright
3/17/08

Hike 1305
Via the Alum Cave Trail by Ed Wright, family and friends
10/27/07

Hike 1304
Via the Alum Cave Trail by Ed Wright, family and friends
9/02/07

Hike 1303
Via the Alum Cave Trail by Ed Wright, family and friends
6/10/07

Hike 1302
To the Lodge by Ed Wright with friends for helicopter flights 3/12/07

Hike 1301
To the Lodge by Ed Wright with Cindy, John and Tillroe
6/14/06

Hike 1300
To the Lodge by Ed Wright with Tom Grubbs and Tillroe Smith
5/16/06

Hike 1299
To the Lodge by Ed Wright with Cindy, Chris and Bobby
5/12/06

Hike 1298
To the Lodge by Ed Wright with Ben and Yoann
3/13/06

Hike 1297
To the LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright, Tom Grubbs and Tillroe Smith
9/01/05

Hike 1296
To the LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright
7/28/05

Hike 1295
To LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright and Cindy Wisnieski
7/27/05

Hike 1294
To LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright and Tillroe Smith
6/30/05

Hike 1293
To LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright and friends
6/29/05

Hike 1292
to LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright, family and friends
5/29/05

Hike 1291
To LeConte Lodge by Bill Wright, Tillroe Smith and Ed Wright
5/11/05

Hike 1290
To LeConte Lodge by Peggy, Mark, Mike Haythorn, Tillroe Smith and Ed Wright
4/10/05

Hike 1289
To LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright
10/23/04

Hike 1288
To LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright
9/14/04

Hike 1287
To LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright with Tillroe Smith
9/6/04

Hike 1286
To LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright with Nick Sansone
8/25/04

Hike 1285
To LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright with Tillroe Smith and Tom Grubbs
7/21/04

Hike 1284
To LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright for Austin and Charlie's birthdays
6/19/04

Hike 1283
To LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright with Ronnie and Kirby
5/14/04

Hike 1282
To LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright with the Haythorns
4/10/04

Hike 1281
To LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright
10/30/03

Hike 1280
To LeConte Lodge by Ed Wright
9/29/03

Hike 1279
To Mt. LeConte with a fine group by Ed Wright
7/5/03

Hike 1278
To Mt. LeConte by Ed Wright
5/16/03

Hike 1277
To Mt. LeConte by Ed Wright
4/19/03

Hike write-ups from 1,001 Hikes to Mt. LeConte and Counting.

Hike 1272
To Mt. LeConte
6/1/02

Hike 1268
First hike after knee replacement surgery
10/20/01

Hike 1267
Last hike before knee replacement surgery
11/1/00

Hike 1078
02/21/98

Hike 1000
06/21/97

Hike 925
11/11/96

Hike 811
08/03/95

Mt. LeConte Hikes by Ed Wright
Year	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC	Total	Cumulative
1982	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	1
1985	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2
1986	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	3	3	5	2	18	20
1987	5	2	3	1	1	1	0	2	1	2	1	2	21	41
1988	3	3	4	4	5	7	7	4	5	3	3	4	52	93
1989	4	5	4	4	6	5	7	6	9	10	7	2	69	162
1990	4	1	1	1	3	10	8	5	8	4	2	6	53	215
1991	8	11	10	12	28	27	16	26	28	28	23	13	230	445
1992	9	7	13	19	12	6	1	2	2	7	9	4	91	536
1993	8	7	3	9	13	12	12	9	10	9	9	6	107	643
1994	1	7	11	9	7	7	12	13	13	12	10	2	104	747
1995	7	5	11	11	10	9	10	10	9	9	9	3	103	850
1996	1	4	5	3	8	13	8	8	10	10	12	8	90	940
1997	7	10	9	12	12	14	10	13	14	14	11	5	130	1070
1998	4	5	6	11	13	10	11	13	11	12	10	6	111	1181
1999	4	1	1	1	3	4	8	9	7	8	8	4	58	1239
2000	2	2	5	4	2	3	3	3	2	1	1	0	28	1267
2001	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1268
2002	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	8	1276
2003	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	5	1281
2004	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	0	0	8	1289
2005	0	0	0	1	2	2	2	0	1	0	0	0	8	1297
2006	0	0	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1301
2007	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	4	1305
2008	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	4	1310
T/Mo	69	70	90	104	130	134	121	129	140	138	129	67	1310	1310

Austin and Charlie Wright attend sailing camp
7/9/07-7/13/07

Lisa Wright's pictures from Alaska thanks to Al Smith
5/07

Next read... Guest Hikes 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010.

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