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Joseph and Jane Smith's October 23, 2006 hike to the LeConte Lodge

My name is JW Smith and I have done this hike several times over the past 10yrs. This is the only hike that I have enjoyed each and every time that I have done it.....I had mentioned to my wife of only a year and a half that we have to do this.  Jane (my wife) has never done anything like this before, but was up to the task at hand. We arrived in Gatlinburg on Monday, Oct. 23, 2006...it was around 9:30pm.  We had driven from Muskegon, Michigan leaving earlier that same day.  We were both tired!  The next morning we did some shopping just before heading to Mt LeConte for our hike.  It was chilly in Gatlinburg that morning - around 30-35 degrees. As we arrived at the start of our hike we could see the mt. ridge had a heavy frost line on it.  We had dressed warm for the hike but not over dressed.  As you can see in the photos we had prepared properly for a cool fall hike but it was snowing at the top! We began our venture together, walking and laughing and taking natures beauty all in....you can really not tell others of the beauty of the trail to the top; it is really something that you must take in for yourself and make of it all that you will. We made our way to Arch Rock, then onto the Bluff.  My Jane was a little winded by this time.  Jane would say to me "I can hike but not Mnt. climb!" in a joking manner.  After reaching the bluff and continuing on we began to notice that we were now walking near a heavy frost line.  It was very beautiful as you can see in the photos. Along the way we met others on the trail warning us of  the snow and ice ahead. We also met another couple from Michigan enjoying the hike as we were. Make sure that if you take a camera that you have extra batteries for a digital and a memory card...you will take a lot of pictures! We made our way to the top, we were walking in snow about three inches or so deep. We really were taken back by it all.  It was very beautiful, the trees covered in thick snow on the branches.  Now the ice was covered by snow which made walking a little tricky.  Jane found herself dancing on ice from time to time.  We finally reached the top and I'm sorry that I did not have pictures of this for you, but I can tell you that it was worth a thousand words, the snow that covered the cabins at the top, the crispness of the air....... We stayed only for a half an hour at the top, we had taken a little more time getting up due to the conditions.  Once we had started back towards the trail back down, I had placed my hand on Jane's left shoulder and her right hip area.....it was very icy and hard to keep from falling at one point.  Well the story only gets better depending on how you look at it! As I had said before I was walking behind Jane.....Jane was my eyes in the front.....well long story short, we missed the path back down to the bluff.....WRONG TRAIL we had gotten on!  We realized only after walking down this trail for nearly 3/4 of a mile.  Now we turned around and started back to the correct trail leading us back to the Bluff.... I told Jane that we would make it but would have to walk little faster when we could (to beat nightfall), I had also said that we would laugh about this later and we have (a lot)! Jane told me to tell you first timers that it well worth the effort and that you will be a little (lot!) sore..., she laughs as she says this.  We plan on doing this again in the springtime. We hope that you enjoyed this little story. Hope to see you on the trail soon..........jw/jane

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