Tuesday, August 3rd 2004, I was invited to join some friends from South Carolina on their annual hike to Mt. LeConte. I met Marie and Winnie 3 years ago on the Alum Cave trail, and we have kept in touch via email ever since. Karen and Lou joined them last year. I had misplaced Marie’s car phone number, so it was a shot in the dark as to when we were going to meet at the trailhead. They said, "early." Anyway I drug around as usual and didn’t leave the house until 6am. This is one time I ate on the way.

I made it to the Rainbow Falls trailhead by 7:20. Marie’s vehicle was there, as were these new "Porta Potties," Good idea! Now you don’t have to run all the way to Sugarland Visitor Center to do what you have to do! He he he! I got on the trail by 7:30. Surprisingly there was only one other vehicle in the parking lot besides ours. I kept a fast pace to try and catch the group. It was too dark to take a picture of two huge wild turkeys. I finally caught the girls about a mile up the trail. Not too long after that a mother and baby deer crossed the trail in front of us. I think Marie got a picture, but I could not.

We found a Kodak moment on the first footlog. At a small unamed falls there was a lot of water so that gave us hope of a lot of water coming over Rainbow Falls. We noticed the second footlog just below the falls had been replaced recently. The old one was lying in the creek below. Just as anticipated the falls were beautiful. I had read of people getting behind the falls. This was my third time here and I had never walked to the falls. Imagine that! I wasted no time climbing over the rocks. The girls first said they would wait, but Marie and Lou could not be out done. I looked back and they were heading my way. I’m glad they did and so are they.

The water from the falls was being blown out away from the wall by strong winds. I took a picture of Winnie and Karen taking a picture of us. Inching closer I could not go this far without moving in. Before I knew it, I was standing behind the falls. There was still water running down the wall and splashing on my back. In a hurry to keep from getting wetter my hand slipped behind a rock cutting my finger. Unfortunately I did not have the type of band aid needed. Just then a couple walked up and they had one. It was Pat and James from Seymour. Thanks Pat! Beyond the falls is where we started to see some wildflowers. There were tons of cone flowers blooming everywhere. Indian Pipes were popping up in great numbers as well. There were only a few clusters of Southern Harebells.

We did take several breaks, but we had plenty of time. Farther on up the trail a small fly was being lured into a Pink Turtle Head. We also met a young couple from Michigan, Erin and David. They had spent the night at the lodge. Three more people passed us that had spent the night. At the intersection of Rainbow and Bullhead we met a couple from Oklahoma in for a family reunion.

It was 66 degrees on the front porch of the lodge. The rocking chairs were a welcome sight. After an hour to rest up, we posed for a picture under the new sign in front of the kitchen telling the date. The man that took our picture was Marvin Kirkland, his wife was named Hollis. He had not been to the lodge in 20 years. He was very interesting to talk too. He told me he knew Phyllis Henry and Ed Wright. He does a lot of trail maintenance.

It was 3:35 when we left the lodge. Bullhead trail was our next destination. This is one of my least favorite trails, maybe because I have only hiked it down, and did not take time to appreciate it. The trail makes its way past West Point, then I could see Balsam Point on the right. You are basically in the woods on this trail as well. Once it did move out around Bullhead on a Heath Bald I had to climb up on a large boulder to get a view of the surrounding mountains and looking down into the Big Branch watershed. 

Farther on down the trail someone had neatly stacked flat rocks so a view could be seen over the rhododendron. What a waste. Either it is not finished or they could not find any more rocks. I am 6’3" and I could not see anything but the top of more rhododendrons. However I did get to see a Yellow Fringed Orchid, just beyond the rock pile. 

There was a couple hiking up. I can’t imagine that. To me this trail would be a dog to hike up. The trail was basically uneventful after that. Except for two huge overhanging boulders. They would make excellent campsites. He he he! Karen and Lou went on ahead. It was 7:35 when Marie, Winnie and I reached the parking lot in Cherokee Orchard. It was long day, but the ladies did really good. This was their first time hiking up and down in the same day. They had always spent the night at the lodge before. Counting the trip into the Rainbow Falls we hiked around 14 miles. This was my 43rd trip to the lodge. I was glad they asked me to tag along.