So glad you all got the supplies in safe and sound before winter set in again. Wishing you all a great season and looking forward to my overnighter in September. Also looking forward to seeing your pics and reading your words of tails on the mountain!

I'm sure you have seen a variety of spring weather during your tenure on LeConte and accepts whatever nature throws your way.

Welcome back to another year on the mountain.

It's amazing how different this winter has been compared to the past 2 winters. We regret our decision not to visit this March as we have for the past 2! Enjoy that snow Allyson!

Mother Nature does not seem interested in loosing her grip! Enjoy the snow which is hopefully one of the last! Maybe Spring will actually arrive by April 1! The park is beatiful no matter what the weather! Happy you are getting back into business!

We are hiking up to LeConte for the first time next week, Wed, with our 3 children, 15 yr-old twins, and an 11 yr old. Do you have any packing tips/outfitting tips? We leave IL on Sat. to start our trip. We all have hiking boots and warm clothes.

You need more than hiking boots if there is a lot of ice on the trails - some spots you will need to cross are narrow ledges - strongly suggest crampons!! I wish someone had given me that advice a few years ago when we made our first hike up in late March.

Sooo glad; that we Michiganders are not the only ones held too tight in the grip of Old man Winter-!! Rr C'mon, springtime !

Dar,
My wile & I are also headed to the lodge in June. We've been there several times and understand the feeling of being "stoked" about it. We're bringing up five "first-timers" with us this year. You didn't say what trail you've chosen. Regardless, start early, stop several times along the way to enjoy the sights & take pleanty of pictures to show the folks back home. Somewhere along the trail there's a posability the "fun" will wear off a bit. But once you reach the lodge, it will be well worth the effort it took to get there. You will have earned your spot in line to buy the T-shirt. Be safe out there; have a good trip. Happy trails...

Ohhhh brrr!

Too funny!

Doug, here was the information that was passed on to me on Tuesday from "Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park" incase you or anyone else was interested:

The Phase II contractor is working around the clock to finish before the target date of May 15th. The National Park Service partnered with the Eastern Band of Cherokees to offer early completion incentives amounting to $18,000 per day (capped at 28 days) for completion before May 15th and penalizing them by the same dollar amt. for every day PAST May 15th that they finish.

Six Florida boys will be there April 7 & 8. Anyone else scheduled for those dates?

I'm here lurking in the shadows. Dealing with a lightning strike that fried a lot of electronics at the house. Hopefully everything will be back to normal next week.
doug y, I can just see you on your crotch rocket riding the Dragon's Tail.

Allyson my husband and I will be hiking up on Mar 30. Which trail would be the best between Alum and Rainbow?

I'm not sure which is the most icy, but the Alum Cave trail would have the most dire consequences based on the number of feet you would fall, especially after the Alum Cave part (about 2.5 miles up). Rainbow falls would be safer, but more boring IMHO. I've hiked them both.

Great Galloping Gertie, Tong Ga !! I know EXACTLY how you feel ! About four years ago we had a power surge, not really lightning conncected though, that fried several of our electrical devices. It's really odd how the power struck randomly throughout the house. We just took it all in stride; nothing much more we could do. I once had one of those electrical wires that farmers use to keep cattle in a particular area or lot. I had an expensive labrador that I had to train, using that 32-volt wire, to not leap over his enclosure. He tried the wire two or three times before he learned not to. Didn't harm him either, But the unusal thing I learned was that wire, in my mind, somehow acted like a giant capacitor unit. Every bloody time lightning was near, it would strike around that dog lot and zap the transformer powering that wire around the top of the dog lot fence !! I lost two or three transformers before I learned my lesson and removed them and the wire. I still wonder about that electrical phenomena. But lightning has never again struck around that dog lot. I've ridden motorcycles all my life, almost as long as I've loved to hike and camp, sometimes doing both on a single trip, yes, usually to the Smokies, and I have owned four of those sport bikes {I hate the generic name "crotch rocket"} and one, when I was the ripe old age of 55, was the fastest production bike made {198 mph right out of thebox} ! I sold it. Never rode the "Dragon", but I've seen enough crashes there to steer me away from it. Aren't there around 111 curves, sharp, bad ones, in about only 18 miles there !? Some figure like that. But some macho types regale in riding it, especially if they have an accident, at least a minor one. I'm no where near that determined. Give me a twenty mile hike in a steady rain, or a hike in relatively deep snow in the middle of winter, or an extended hike along the A.T.. Now, those are my challenges ! Darn it......I'm mellowing as hard as I'm trying not to ! I love being n a rocking chair at my cabin at Leconte Lodge, dining in its wonderful dining room, talking to all the great guests I meet, and so on. Oh, and I especially like the bottomless glass of wine ! mmmmmmmmm ! I can't stop the advancing of the years, so, everyone, I intend to enjoy the dickens out of the time I have remaining ! Like the fellow said in the "Shawshank Redemption' (I think...): "Get busy liviing, or get busy dying !" Which do YOU prefer !? Yeah, as I've said here before: my body was blessed by Mother Nature, but it seems to have been cursed by Father Time !! And that's the way it is folks. March 21st, 2013. Good evening all !!

Doug Y...my fellow Kentuckian...just have to comment on how much I enjoy reading your posts!! You quoted one of my favorite lines from favorite movie of all time...Get busy living, or get busy dying. No truer words than those!! My hubby and I both have milestone birthdays this year, but have no intention of slowing down anytime soon!!! Can't wait to get back on LeConte again....hopefully in 2 weeks. Was in the Smokies last weekend but did Ramsey Cascades instead.

We stayed the night in the shelter up on LeConte last night, and I'm happy to report that we survived! The forecast was 7 degrees with 0.8" of snow, so -1 with 4 inches was much worse than expected! It was also much worse that I would have ever imagined when we started planning the trip a month ago.

There were eleven of us in the shelter in total, and I think everyone managed to stay warm. The large tarp someone had rigged over the open side of the shelter was a life saver. There is no way we could have set that up in the cold that night, and we would not have slept comfortably had it not been there.

The original plan was to spend two more nights out in the park after staying on LeConte, but we called the trip early because of the fact that hiking to the next shelter in the snow and ice would be more difficult, and because most of our water was frozen.

A previous post recommended some sort of traction device if you are hiking up this weekend, and I would second that recommendation. Most of us had Yak Tracks and trekking poles, and they were a great help on the icy sections of trail near the summit. The last mile of Trillium Gap near the summit has very icy sections, and the first mile of Bull Head coming down was icy, but it was hard to tell where because everything was covered in snow then. There are also a lot of fallen trees on the trails, including one particularly bad one that fell along the trail on the upper section of Trillium Gap.

Stay warm out there; it's still winter on LeConte!

As usual I'm up early, since about 5:00am actually. I simply cannot get my biological clock to adjust anymore. As one of my science students once said to me: "Mr. York, IT'S FRIDAY !" I replied, and burst his bubble unintentionally, "Yes, but Monday's coming !" But he was a good boy, but had trouble remembering my last name. I told him to think of "New York" city when he needed to remember my name, so for the next two years he called me Mr. New York ! I miss teaching science {after 18 yrs as an engineer}. Matt: your account of your trip was excellent. I thought it exemplified precisely what many of us experience when hikng in the midst of winter. Eleven people, eh !? I don't think that most people realize that even during the cold months there are brave and hearty folks, lovers of nature and the outdoor experience, that venture into the upper regions of the Park to enjoy the peace and solitude to be found there, and to test their individual strengths and weaknesses. Bravo !! Adam: If you want to avoid snow and ice, I would say to avoid any journeys in the higher elevations; I can think of no stretch of the A.T. through the Park that would not have snow on it, although I could be incorrect in this assumption. I have several books that delineate some day hikes of varying distances; there are certainly plenty of them to be followed. One I took recently began at the "Sinks", wound up and around Curry He and Curry She mountains, and back down terminating at Metcalf Bottoms (~7 - 8 mi). Two vehicles are helpful with this hike. The gift shop at the Sugarlands Visitor Center should have at least one or two volumes on hikes in the Smokies. Yes, they're a bit pricy sometimes, but it takes a little more to go first class, eh !? Ransey Cascades is a nice destination, 4 mi up, 4 mi back, would have some snow near the top. Nice hike. Around Cades Cove are several good and relatively sort day hikes. There are just plenty to be followed within the Park, and I usually can only recommend my favorites. Once you learn more about them, you'll have a repertoire of journeys to call upon, Tanya: perhaps you might have a thought on Ramsey Cascades for Adam. Don't know where you are in KY {I'm just outside of London} but thanks for the comments. Milestone birthdays, eh !? Hmmmmmm, I'm guessinig that these might be divisible by 10 !? Regardless, best wishes. And may your bootsteps be strong and steady ! Don't ever slow down, ever. I receive such great inspiration and pleasure here on this site from reading all the posts ! Tony Ga: My friend, we must surely meet some day. I look forward to your comments, especially your thoughtful insights and suggestions for other readers. Whatever the season, there are delighful stories to be had and shared, whether it's someone's fingers and toes being almost frozen in the dead of winter or their arms being scratched from shoulder to wrist by briars along the trails ! [I met a couple of hikers on the A.T. once, just after emerging from a briar thicket; one looked at my arms and said: "You're bleeding !" I replied: "I ain't got time to bleed !" {Jesse Ventura from the movie "Predator"}] G'day.

Thank you Tonya, on my list now! Any other ideas?

So, are you a Hatfield, or McCoy?

Thanks Doug!