1293 6/29/05 I kept a close eye on the weather for Mt. LeConte as the month of June rapidly faded into history. Thunderstorms were predicted for most every day during the last week of the month. I had no real hopes for a nice hiking day so I chose to hike on the 29th with hopes of hiking again on the 30th and even perhaps on July first. I had not done back to back hikes of Mt. LeConte in at least twelve years but I wanted to try it. I called my hiking companion Tillroe Smith to see if he would be at his camper in Cherokee but had to leave a message because no one answered the telephone. There was a beautiful sunrise in Jensen Beach, FL on Monday June 27, 2005. I took that as an omen for bad weather during the next few days. My mother had a saying, "Red skies at night, sailors delight. Red skies in the morning, sailors take warning." This was Morning!!

 

I drove to the Ramada Inn in Walterboro, SC and spent the night before driving to Cherokee the following morning. Pat called me and said that Tillroe would not be coming up to Cherokee. On my way to Cherokee, I stopped at a nice fruit stand at exit 53 in Hendersonville, NC and bought a peck of peaches before stopping at the Shoney's in Clyde, NC for lunch. I followed US highway 19 into Cherokee and headed for the Holiday Inn. I checked in by about one p.m. and read the USA Today newspaper and worked the crossword puzzle.

 

By 4:30 p.m. I was so weary from the long drive that I ate a snack, took a shower and went to bed. I decided to rise early and try to hit the trailhead at the break of dawn. Although I had stated in my Hiking news that I would leave the trailhead promptly at 7:00 a.m., no one contacted me to say that they would be hiking so I decided to get an early start. I left the Holiday Inn at about 5:00 a.m., after snacking on things that I had bought the day before and satisfiying my caffeine dependency on coffee that I had brewed in the room.

 

The drive over Newfound Gap was cloudy with intermittent fog. The temperature hovered around 60 degrees for the trip and that is what it was when I reached the Alum Cave Bluff Trailhead. At least it was not raining and there was enough light to see major obstacles in the trail when I started my hike at about 6:00 a.m. The trees and shrubs, along the trail, were weeping moisture from recent rains. Alum Creek and Styx Branches were running pretty full and made a delightful noise that kept me entertained as I hiked. Sure wish that I could can it for lulling me to sleep at night.

 

I set a fairly slow but steady pace in order to keep from tripping and to not exhaust myself early on. I observed wet footprints on the steps at arch Rock and surmised that Ron Valentine was ahead of me. He must start hiking with a light. I reached Inspiration Point at about 7:15 and it was still very overcast, warm but light enough to hike safely. The Catawba rhododendrons and mountain laurel were past their peak and their fallen blossoms blanketed the trail. The white blossoms of New Jersey Tea were fairly prominent at Inspiration Point and other nearby locations. I looked and listened for the Peregrine Falcons but did not see or hear any. I paused to look at the Eye of the Needle and took a couple of pictures before continuing my climb toward the Alum Cave Bluff. The new formed foliage provided a stark contrast from the bluff itself. I did not stop at the bluff but only paused long enough to take a couple of pictures. I did the same over the top of Little Duck Hawk Ridge.

 

I paused for a short rest and a snack at Gracie's Pulpit. the clouds were so low and heavy that there was no view towards Cliff Top. As I climbed higher the Catawba rhododendrons were much more abundant and colorful. The trail at Shirley's Rock was carpeted with fallen rhododendron blossoms.  I moved in and took a closer picture of the Catawba's before continuing my upward hike.

 

As I neared the Upper Steps, Joe Fleming overtook me. He had seen my hiking notice on my web site and saw my car in the Alum Cave trail parking lot. He said that it took a great effort to overtake me. Ronnie Holbert and his friend took their time and we didn't see them until we were leaving the lodge on our way back down. I met Ron Valentine near Lu's Pulpit, descending from his early morning hike to the lodge. As we chatted, Tillroe Smith joined us and we were also overtaken by a man from Martinsville, VA with a very tired 10 year-old-son and a young man from Augusta, GA. After chatting a while Ron Valentine headed on down the trail while Tillroe, Joe and I headed for the lodge.

 

Near Grassy Slide we started meeting overnight lodge guests from Akin, SC (Meg Jones, Monty Lewis and Judy Cunningham were a couple of the folks). We then met a man and three ladies from Jefferson City, TN. I had met these folks during past years. We stopped at Betty Jane's stairway to Heaven and wished our dear friend well.

 

The lodge was socked in and 60 degrees. I walked over to the dining room and took a picture before returning to fill my CamelBak with fresh water. I then went into the office, signed the register and copied the 2004 weather data before returning to the porch to eat my beef jerky. Joe set up his camera on a tripod and captured the moment for posterity.

 

We had only hiked about 300 yards when we met Ronnie Holbert and his friend from Morristown, TN. We chatted for a while and Joe took a picture of us. Joe went back to the lodge with Ronnie and Tillroe and I continued our hike toward the site of the Old Horse Gate. It appeared that we were bumping the tops of the clouds because we rapidly changed from being socked in and brilliant sunshine.

 

At Margaret's Place we met Lt. Brian McCandless, of the Martin County, FL, Sheriff's Office, with his three sons. We chatted for a while. I asked him to call my son Bob at the Sheriff's Office and tell him that I was going to hang around and hike the mountain again tomorrow and possibly again on Friday. He said that he would make the call as soon as he reached the lodge..

 

The clouds moved back in and visibility was severely limited. Clingmans Dome was barely visible through the clouds. We met two ladies from Chattanooga, TN, with their young daughters near the upper steps. We paused at Gracie's Pulpit for a snack break. Visibility toward Cliff Top was obscured by clouds. The view of the top of Little Duck Hawk was interesting.

 

We passed through Alum Cave Bluff without stopping but we met a group below the bluff that wanted to chat. My memory fails me as to who they were and where they were from. Perhaps that information will come back to me and if so, I will identify the folks.

 

We paused to look at the Eye of the Needle before moving on down to Inspiration Point. I took another picture of the mountain laurel with Tillroe to add luster to the picture. A couple of red squirrels were courting Tillroe for some food. I did take another picture of the mountain laurels.

 

Before reaching the trailhead, we met Dion Wixted from Melbourne Beach, FL with his three sons  heading to the LeConte Shelter. It appeared that they did not have enough equipment to camp in the 45 to 50 degree temperatures that they would experience tonight but they were from Florida. It seldom goes below 75 degrees there at night. The boys were Shane - (13) Liam (11) Aidan (8). A nice family. We met two couples from New Haven, West Virginia at the trailhead.

 

The trip took seven hours and thirty five minutes. I followed Tillroe to his camper. It rained fairly heavily on the way. After a shower and a buffet dinner at Big Bobs in Cherokee, I made an excuse for an early bed time. I felt really good after this hike and was sure that I would not have any problems doing another one tomorrow.