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| Jeanie Lawley and 16 friends hike to the Lodge for an overnight on 7/16/06 |
| Good morning Ed, Well, our group of 17 made it to the top of Mt. LeConte the same day we left! We had a ball. There are now several more people in love with the mountain. Here's the story from mine and my husband, Pat's, view. Pat and I have been hiking to the top and spending the night since 1998. We love it. July 16, 2006 6:10 am, on the way from the motel in Gatlinburg. 6:24 am, stop for Sunrise photo with Balsam Point of Mt. LeConte in the background. 6:36 am, arrive at the Trail Head for Alum Cave!! Cool morning. (60's). 6:50 am, We start our hike. Jason and Beverly Perkins are hiking with us. We have 17 other friends starting out on the Boulevard Trail this morning. They started at 7:25 am. (That trail may never be the same again.. ha). 7:20 am, we pass the "Bear Face" tree. 7:25 am, we cross the first foot log. So far we are the only ones on the trail. 7:29 am, we cross the second foot log. 7:32 am, we stop and take a little break. It's Jason and Bev's first time going to the top so we stop and talk a lot about the trail and what to expect. We have been planning this trip since last year and are all PUMPED up about it. 7:40 am, we arrive at Arch Rock. There we always stop take pictures and have a snack. 7:59 am, we cross the 3rd foot log. 8:24 am, we reach Inspiration Point. What a view. It's partly cloudy, but you can still see forever. Oh, did I mention how beautiful the rhododendrons were? That was an added bonus. I didn't realize that they would be blooming! Gorgeous! I took a lot of photo's of them. We have not hiked this trail in July. So beautiful. 8:42 am, we can see the Eye of the Needle. Where we take more pictures. Ooo and Ahh at the view...what a day to be in the woods. 8:47 am, We are at the Bluff Steps. 8:54 am, The Bluff. YEA! Here we take our "goofy" pictures. It really looks like we leaning over, huh? Thanks to come college "kids" one year who showed us this, we now have our own "fun" pictures of the trip. 9:22 am, we are at Gracie's Pulpit. Time for another snack and rest for a few minutes. 9:47 am, we arrive at the steps which start what we call "The Forevers". It seems like you just go up and up and up forever. But finally at 10:30am, we are at the next steps and "The Forevers" have ended..yea! At 11:00 am, we are at the Grassy Slide. 11:13 am, We can see Paul's face. At 11:48 am, WE ARRIVE AT THE LODGE!! 4 hours 48 minutes. We ate our lunch inside because all the rocking chairs are full. Clay check's us in, we buy our T-shirts and head to the house to "freshen" up and take a nap. Finally, some of the group from the Blvd. Trail start to arrive. They are worn out! But did very well. Some said they would never do this again, but after they rested and soaked their feet, they were fine. (Not sure if the foot soaking was permitted, but it sure felt good). Supper was great! Pat had asked Allison to bake 2 cakes for us for supper. We had 3 couples celebrating their anniversaries in July. Rick and Karon, Lisa and Terrell, and Jason and Bev. They were surprised! It was good to see that Henry Neal was back from Iraq. Thanks, Henry, for protecting us. The sunset was great and we had the privilege of having Ranger Katie give a talk about the mountains there on Cliff Tops. She was great! Thanks, Ranger Katie. That was an added bonus. Well, I feel like I've said so much, but I haven't even scratched the surface of how much we enjoyed ourselves and our friends. Thanks to the "crew" on top for making this one of the best times we've had! Thanks to our friends who went along for a great "ride". I must mention them all by name: (thanks for indulging me) (we all had "Trail Names", but I'll save that for another time) Karon and Ricky McCravy, Jason and Bev Perkins, Randy and Melissa Belcher, Robby and Janet Weber, Billy and Nancy Dial, Lynn Pope, Rita Pope, Deloria Pope, Lisa and Terrell Nail, and of course my hiking buddy and husband for 33 years, Pat Lawley. We can't wait to go again... God Bless! Jeanie Lawley Good Morning Ed, I’m one of Jeanie’s 16 friends that hiked to We hit the trail at Newfound Gap parking lot at 7:30 am. Beautiful crisp morning. Our hike started out on the We took our first break at Sweat Heifer Creak trail junction. Walking out just a few feet on this trail gave us a wonderful view of the mountains. There we also found a flower that I had never seen before. Pat later told me it was a Turk’s Cap Lilly. Absolutely gorgeous. How ‘bout that.. God gives us a flower that blooms upside down! After a quick snack we headed on to the junction with the Boulevard Trail. We made it to the junction at 9:30 am. This trail kept us up in the clouds most of the day. It is a trail through a very dense and lush forest. We are in the midst of a drought back home ( As we neared the lodge, we added our rock to the pile to It took us 6 hours and 45 minutes to make the 8.5 mile hike, which I think is pretty good for such a large group. Note to fellow hikers: We don’t think the “little brown book” - Hiking Trails of the Smokies - paints a true picture of this hike. Or maybe it’s just us? We only met 6 people while on the Appalachian trail and only 2 people on the Boulevard Trail, they were staying in the shelter at Mt. LeConte (with the bear). I was surprised that we didn’t meet more people. I thought we would meet some people come down from We joined up with Pat & Jeanie, Jason & Bev at the lodge and had a great supper, a good night’s sleep, too much breakfast, and then the whole group hiked down the Alum Cave Trail. Rick (my husband) and have hiked to the bluffs a number of times, and up to Karon aka Ms. Wheezer NOTE: Not sure about the pics - hope you get them okay. Sorry, but like Jeanie, you'll have to put the pics where they belong. Thanks! Love your website. God Bless! |
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