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Hike 1277 by Ed Wright

1277 4/19/03 Alum Cave Bluff Trail alone. I planned this hike date in order to witness my grandson Michael Haythorn and his East Chapel Hill Lacrosse team, play Chapel Hill High. I also made plans to meet Barry Kohler and his wife Joannie in Waterboro, SC for dinner at Shoney's Wednesday evening 4/16/03. I had met Barry on the internet. He and his wife had driven to Cherokee on Sunday and hiked to the lodge on Monday and stayed two nights before driving back home in Savannah, GA. We were to meet on their way back home. I arrived on time but Barry and his wife had missed me. So I ate a fine dinner and was at the nearby Ramada Inn checking in for the evening when they appeared in the lobby. We chatted for a while before they had to head home and retrieve their three boys from their grandparents. I spent the night and headed for Chapel Hill, NC, the following morning. Thursday was a nice clear, warm day in Chapel Hill so I went to the Lacrosse game with my daughter Peggy and her husband Mark, wearing my shorts and a T-shirt. I did take an umbrella because it looked like rain. I did not realize that a cold front had passed and the wind was really blowing. I found it hard to enjoy the game while being so miserably cold. I later opened the umbrella to try to shield myself from the cold wind. Laura, my granddaughter attending UNC showed up with Ben, one of Mike’s friends. He is surely destined to become a lawyer. Both of his parents are Ivy League lawyers and his older brother is attending law school at Harvard, I think. I told Ben that I was certainly glad that he came. I looked very silly dressed in shorts but he was also ill prepared for the cold weather. East Chapel had been rated the Number One High School Lacrosse team in the state until tonight. Chapel Hill trounced them 11 to five so I didn’t warm up too much cheering Mike’s team on. Mike is number 34. I did enjoy the game but was sorry that East Chapel Hill had lost. Well perhaps next year when Mike is a senior. After a fine breakfast at Peggy's, I headed toward the Best Western Motel in Cherokee, NC. It was cold and rainy for the entire drive until I reached Asheville. The skies somewhat cleared and it was warmer. I stopped at a Shoney's for lunch and a Wal*mart's near Waynesville, NC, to buy an extra set of batteries for my digital camera. When I arrived at the Best Western Motel in Cherokee, NC, there was a large crowd checking in. When it was my turn to register, I found out that no rooms were available because there was a reunion of Cherokees Indians from Oklahoma going on. The folks registering looked more like Seminoles than Cherokees! I went across the street to the Travel Lodge and got a room there. I had told Tillroe Smith and Joe Steele that I would be staying at the Best Western so I drove up to Tillroe's camper and left a note to tell them where I was staying. On my way back to the motel, I took a hike to see how I felt at the higher elevation and hilly terrain. I saw lots of wild flowers. I think some were wild Phlox, daisies, butter cups and others that I would not even venture to take a guess at their names. I did find that my muscles and lungs were severely lacking. I decided to get an early start on my hike to the LeConte Lodge tomorrow. According to Dr. Michael Vincent, a botanist at the Miami University in Ohio, the daisies are probably Robins plantain and the ones titled others are probably a species of Sencio.(Golden Ragwort)  Michael is married to a daughter of one of my distant cousin. I had told Tillroe, Joe and Tom Pinner, a fireman from Northern Illinois, that I would leave the trailhead at 7:00 to 7:30 a.m. I got up early brewed coffee, shaved, showered, dressed and checked out of the motel. The proprietor offered me munchies from the Continental Breakfast stash. I took four small Krispy Kreme donuts to snack on the trail. I stopped at McDonalds and got two sausage burritos to eat for breakfast and at the lodge. I arrived at the trailhead at 6:40 and it was light enough to hike but I waited until 7: 00 a.m. The temperature was a mild 47 degrees but felt great compared to Florida. No one showed up so I started off at my slow pace. Perhaps 15 minutes later, I was overtaken and passed by Jeff from Monroe, MI. He works for Ford in Allen Park, MI. My family and I once lived there but we did not know any common friends. I stopped at the first footlog and took a picture of Styx Branch rushing down the mountain. A short while later, I saw the new footlog that was installed last Tuesday. Tillroe Smith and Joe Steele overtook me before I reached Arch Rock. I had to rest a while on the nice log bench at that location. The mountain was taking its tool on my leg muscles and lungs. Stops became frequent but usually short. I noticed that the Service Berry trees were blooming at Inspiration Point and the Eye of the Needle was clearly visible. We did not see or hear any Peregrine Falcons though. We were overtaken by a guy from LSU before we reached the Alum Cave Bluff. I ate a couple of the donuts during the break at the bluff. The LSU fan was going to turn back but we convinced him that this was the steepest part of the trail, so we went to the top. This part of the trail discourages lots of hikers because it is so steep. He continued on to the lodge. We had nice views looking out over the top of Little Duck Hawk Ridge. At Gracie’s Pulpit, John Owensby from Cleveland, TN, with his two teenage sons passed us by. I was glad for the eighty-foot ventricle drop in elevation on the trail between Gracie’s Pulpit and the saddle. Of course we would have to regain that lost altitude but it was fun while it lasted. The new Log Steps was a welcomed sight. Shortly after ascending these steps, we started to meet overnight guests from the lodge. We met Matthew Wilson and Daniel Byram  from Karns, TN followed by their fathers, Ken Wilson and Mark DeBord. A young student from Bearden High School Passed us and I tried to remember a former Bearden High Schooler’s name that I had met many times on the trail. I could not remember it at the moment. Jonathan Fuller finally crept back into my memory but I would have to wait until I met him on his way down. We also met two men from Statesville, NC near Shirley’s Rock and the Wild Mountain Goat, Ron Valentine and his hiking companion Ray Ogle. We met Frankie Garvich, Heather Packett, Mike Rogers, Eddie Tate. ( All originally from the Tennessee valley Area). A lady named Margaret wanted to take MY picture because of the well-known fact that I held the record for the most hikes to LeConte. I said OK, take my picture,  but be sure and get Ron Valentine in the picture because he has hiked Mount LeConte, probably twice as many times as I have. She took the picture of Ron Valentine, Ray Ogle, Tillroe Smith, Margaret and me.  I  did get a copy of it via Tom Pinner Thanks to all of you. Tillroe was having knee problems so he decided to start back down. Joe Steele had hiked ahead and carried a pound cake to the lodge staff. Joe had to be in Townsend by 3:00 p.m. to look at a camper that he was considering to purchase. Tillroe didn’t want to hold Joe up. (Joe did get back on time and bought the camper.) I continued the journey alone from this point but I really was never alone. The trail was really crowded. I met a John W. and Joanna Patterson, his 14 year-old daughter, from Wake Forest, NC, taking a break and enjoyed the Spring Beauties below the upper steps. Part of the mountainside has slid into the center of the steps but there is enough room to go past without any problem. Greg Wozniak, a new park ranger, overtook and passed me at the top of the steps. He is from MA. and works for my friend Steve Koester. He told me that Keny Slay was with the Park Service in Georgia. He said that Ron and Julie Parrish were up in the Shenandoah Valley National Park in Virginia. I had a great view of Clingmans Dome from Grassy Slide. I was overtaken from an e-mail friend Dale Gains and his ten and a half year-old son, from Greenville, SC. They had left his wife and two more sons at the bluff. Dale had read my web pages and got inspired to hike the alum Cave Bluff Trail. Dale, I am flattered that I could inspire anyone. If you had only known how much I was struggling! I met another couple before reaching Betty Jane’s Stairways to Heaven. The lodge was clear and warm when I arrived at noon. I went inside the office and registered this hike and visited with Henry Neel while buying a 2003 T-shirt. The short sleeved T-shirt is going for #18.50 this year. I got the same blue color as Barry Kohler was wearing when I met him in Waterboro, SC, Wednesday evening. Henry said that the new Sight Managers were Chris and Allyson Virden. I told Henry that I thought that he should have been named Sight Manager. He said that he did not qualify because they wanted a couple and he was one short. I ate my burrito while sitting in a big rocker on the porch. I visited with two guys from Sevierville, TN. One guy delivers Connie Houk’s mail. I told him to tell Connie hello for me. I stayed at the lodge for 35 minutes before starting back down. I had planned to meet Tom Pinner at the trailhead this morning but we did not connect. I had messages that he was on the trail but turned back at the bluff. I had set 2:45 to 3:15 as a back up for meeting on my return. There was no way that I could go back down that fast today! I met Gary Nunley and several boy scouts from West Knoxville, TN,  below Cliff Tops. Gary is the Scout Master of the West Knoxville Troupe and had e-mailed me in order to try to get a picture of Jack Huff carrying his mother to the top of LeConte in a rocking chair, strapped to his back. He wanted to pull it out and show it to the boys when they started whining. Unfortunately I left before his request arrived. The best that I could have done anyway is sent him a picture of my three-year-old grandson Austin, standing on the porch of the lodge. I was also overtaken and passed by two young men from Somerville, OH. I told them the red headed child joke. I then met a couple from Bel Are, MD at Lu's Pulpit photographing views of opportunity. He certainly had a nice camera for it. I also met a couple of young guys from, Dayton Ohio taking a break. Boy, do I relate to that. They were waiting for their dad to finish a conversation with other hikers. I was happy to descend the log steps but my leg muscles were screaming in pain and weakness. I met a couple with three teen-agers at the saddle. After reaching the saddle, I had to regain the eighty feet of elevation that I had enjoyed during my hike up. That short climb required a couple of rest stops for me. I was pleased to reach the bluff and the Eye of the Needle and photograph it again. Still no sight of the Peregrine Falcons. The Service Berry bush, below Inspiration Point, looked different in the afternoon sun than it did this morning. The Dolly Parton Peaks also showed up more distinctly. I paused to photograph the new footlog and many views of Styx Branch and Alum Creek and I continued my descent. There were many rapids, mini waterfalls and cool clear ponds. The sun reflecting off the water made me feel cooler along with the breeze. Tom Pinner was waiting for me at the trailhead. He had brought along a flag that had been flown over the Twin Towers 9/11 site with him. After chatting for a while, we lassoed a young couple from Ohio to take our pictures. I also took a picture of violets blooming nearby. I had to say so long to Tom and head for the Best Western Motel in Newberry, SC for the night. It took me nine hours to complete the hike today and I was one tired and sore fellow. I was so tired that I slept until seven a.m. Sunday morning. I do appreciate Tom waiting for me and wish him well with his hike up tomorrow with John Mansfield as his guide. Tom didn't want to take the chance of having his truck broken into while he stayed overnight at the lodge. After returning home I received a notice from the Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that Joe Steele had made another donation to the park, in my honor. What a true friend! Thanks Joe and the park thanks you also. I feel so blessed with all of the friends, old and new that hiking Mt. LeConte has sent my way. It would be an extremely long list of great folks that I would have never known if I had not hiked this lovely peak. These experiences have meant so much in my life.

Return to Hikes by Ed Wright, or Guest Hikes 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010.

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