Destination Mt. LeConte: October 29, 2006

My wife, Nora, and I left our home in Indianapolis at 5:00 AM on Friday morning. It was 45 degrees and raining. Not a particularly encouraging way to head out for a weekend in the mountains. The rain continued as we traveled through Kentucky, and when we arrived in Gatlinburg the rain was still falling. The forecast for Saturday, summit assault day, called for more rain and wind. NOAA and The Weather Channel both forecasted that Sunday would be much better; sunny with a high around 67 degrees. We made a command decision. We would hike up Alum Cave Bluff Trail on Sunday. We would take a short hike on Saturday as a warm up to the main event.

Saturday morning we drove across the Gatlinburg Bypass to see what could be seen. Not much. The cloud cover had Mount LeConte pretty well shrouded. We drove on to Airport Road and arrived at the Grotto Falls trailhead at about 9:45. There were about 5 cars and trucks already there. The rain was light and visibility wasn’t real bad. As we headed up the trail it was a surprisingly pleasant stroll in the park. One thing was quite evident; the windstorm damage from two weeks earlier was extensive. The trail crews had obviously done a lot of work to open up the trails.

The Grotto Falls was spectacular, as were the cascades beneath the falls. There were many photographers on hand plying their art. The previous days of rain had produced a powerful rush of water over the falls and down the mountainside. In Hawaii they say "No rain, no rainbows." The mountain equivalent of that sentiment is obvious; "No rain, no waterfalls." The Maker sure knows how to put on a show.

Sunday morning we rose up early and headed out for the ACB trailhead. Gatlinburg at 6:00 AM on a Sunday morning is a very quiet place. We arrived at the trailhead at 6:30 AM. The temperature was hovering around 45 degrees. All four of the log bridges were covered with frost making the crossing all the more interesting.

We had the trail to ourselves until just before Inspiration Point when a gentleman who was running to the top of the mountain overtook us. From just above Inspiration Point the view of Little Duck Hawk was fantastic, but the Eye of the Needle was not backlit and was difficult to pick out.

We cruised right through Alum Cave Bluff and arrived at Gracie’s Pulpit by 9:00 AM. The view of Mount LeConte was spectacular. We paused at the log steps for a photo op. Before we reached the upper stairs, the gentleman who ran past us earlier passed us again going in the opposite direction, having already been to the lodge. Further along we stopped to take pictures of Clingmans Dome, which was easily visible on this perfectly clear day. The only cloud in the sky was right above Clingmans Dome. Halfway across the Rocky Slide, my wife, who had been dreading this moment, stopped in the middle of the slide and announced, "This isn’t that bad!" We ran into some ice in the last half-mile of the climb prompting her to rethink that statement.

We arrived at the lodge at 12:00 noon after a 5-½ hour ascent. At the lodge my wife took this picture of those gathered around the stove. The gentleman standing in the left side of this picture is the same person who had passed us twice on the trail. By noon he ascended Alum Cave Bluff Trail for the second time that day.

After a short lunch and the purchase of t-shirts we returned down the mountain and arrived at the parking lot at 5:00 PM. We took the Gatlinburg Bypass as we drove back to our hotel and took this last picture of The Mountain. We had a wonderful weekend in the mountains and are anticipating a return to the lodge for an overnight stay in May.