Yesterday was a great day for a hike back to work. We saw numerous amounts of families hanging out on the lower section of Alum Cave, enjoying the water. Kids skipping rocks and looking for salamanders. The turk's cap lilies are in full swing on the upper section of Alum.  It was a perfect reminder that we are in the throes of summer. It just so happened that yesterday was also the official mid season point. We are officially on the back end of the 2014 season.

The guests enjoyed a rather cool day, yesterday. The high was only 63º with a low of 54º. We are currently covered in clouds.

It feels good to be back on the mountain with the low humidity. It is going to take some adjusting next summer when I am living in the low lands. Chris and I had an excellent time off the mountain. The concert was amazing and I realized that I have been fortunate enough to see Alison Krauss since she started touring in 1990. I often listen to her music while cooking at the lodge. It is a great way to start my morning.  

Hello to all of you from the top of LeConte.  Today, after the weather, I'll continue with the LeConte crew introductions, as Ruthie Puckett takes the stage in her first season on the mountain.

Our accumulation of rain continued its downward trend Sunday with 0.27-inch measurement.  We did see pockets of sun atop LeConte, but most of the day was cloudy with a few showers thrown in for measure.  The high was 63 degrees with an overnight low of 54.  So far on Monday, we've seen mostly clouds, but also a few welcome peaks at the sun.  We had a little mist in the air about mid-morning, but we've not seen any rain thus far today.

Now I'll turn the update over to Ruthie, who penned the following.
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Ruthie Puckett was born and raised in Decatur, Ala. She grew up traveling with her family, going someplace new every summer, but always returning to the Smoky Mountains multiple times a year, which is where she started hiking up to LeConte. The trails, the quiet, and the beauty of the mountains never left her mind, and she's thrilled to be able to make her living helping others take it all in.  

When she's not on the mountain, and sometimes when she is, she sings and plays music, reads very long and very old books that no one else reads, and watches every single available episode of "Doctor Who." She's been incredibly at home in learning all the skills it takes to survive in the wilderness, and plans to take them around the world in her off time, even when she goes somewhere that doesn't even require them, like a luxury hotel, or basically anywhere else in the developed world.
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Thanks to Ruthie for providing her introduction.  Thank you all for reading.  Allyson is scheduled to return to LeConte this evening, so I'll hand over update duties to her until sometime in August.  Happy trails.

Good afternoon to you.  We've finally seen a few glimpses of the sun today, though it remains mostly cloudy.  The rain has not really been a factor today, though we received another 0.43 inches Saturday.  The cloud layer continued to insulate the lodge Saturday, as well, with a narrow high-low range of 55-51 degrees.

The forecast calls for improving conditions during the next few days.  If we get about three sunny days soon the flowers will explode all around the lodge grounds.  The flowers really put on an impressive (albeit too brief) show up top--our answer to Dollywood's fireworks show.  The purple monkshood are already blooming.  Just yesterday I saw the first hints of crimson bee balm.  By far the most numerous will be the coneflowers, with yellow petals and a brown center.  This time next week you should be able to take a photo of all three of these LeConte favorites, maybe even in the same frame.  The best place to look is between the hot water spigot off the exterior wall of the kitchen and lodge No. 2, though there's no shortage of beauty up here.  We do ask that people not tramp through the flowers so others can enjoy them, too.

In trail news, this afternoon I received a report of fresh bear tracks in the mud around the Rocky Spur area of Rainbow Falls Trail.  That doesn't mean you need to change any plans, just use good sense to protect you and our neighbor bears.

While they're unlikely to win any photography contests, I thought I'd post an interior and exterior photo of a portion of the work recently completed on our office.  The construction task was to buttress and support the wall of the building nearest the toilets, and a variety of methods were used.

Also, today I recall the four-year anniversary of one of my most memorable days on LeConte.  On July 20, 2010, my first year working the LeConte Lodge crew, I was taking a CPR/first aid course taught on the mountain that the company wisely offers all staff members to help us assist hikers in difficulty.

One of my fellow staff members working the kitchen shift, knocked on the door of the room where we were doing our training and said, "Nathan, you got a phone call and you're an uncle."  She then turned around and walked right out without any explanation.  This was a big surprise to me, as my new nephew was supposed to be delivered by planned C-section on a specific day in mid-August.  I had arranged my August off days from LeConte to be present for the birth, as I had missed the birth of my first nephew three years earlier while I was horse wrangling in Hawaii.

Thus, the July 20 call was early and unexpected.  However, little Colton was undersized, early and anxious to meet the world.  Needless to say, it was a little hard to focus on splinting injuries during first aid class the rest of the day.  Looking up this morning at the sign above the dining room and reading "July 20, 2014" brought back some happy memories from four years ago.

It's not unheard of for crew members to have new additions to their family born while working at LeConte Lodge, though it's rare for guests.  Former crew member Bethany became an aunt up here twice last year.  I will say I hope we don't have any births ON the mountain, as that's an episode of "Little House on the Prairie" waiting to happen.  Happy trails.

Hello to everyone.  It's been a soggy, but good, beginning to our weekend up on LeConte.  The weather is much like yesterday, periods of mist alternating with rain showers.  We've not had any heavy rain.  This morning the wind has increased and the blanket of gray covering the mountain is a little lighter in color than it was yesterday and this morning.  I hope our neighbors below received rain, too, so tomatoes and okra can be rejuvenated.

On Friday, our temperature range was extraordinarily narrow with a high of 53 and low of 49.  We tallied 1.23 inches of rain Friday, the wettest day at LeConte Lodge since May 30.  There's still a chance of rain in the forecast for the rest of Saturday and Sunday, but the outlook is a little more sunny.

Speaking of rain, one of my best friends from down below sent me up an interesting read, a book called Pioneer Superstitions by Ferne Shelton.  In the section about "Weather Signs," Shelton lists the following signs of rain (in addition to many others): "if clouds hide the sun at sunset, if dry blades of corn in the field appear to twist, if tall grass is dry in early morning, if cream in coffee collects at the top edges of a cup and if a pig straightens the 'curl' in his tail."

During lunch the LeConte crew came up with a few sure-fire signs predicting imminent rain on our mountain.  You know it's going to rain on LeConte if...
1. You're carrying a huge stack of clean sheets to take up to the cabins to make beds.
2. You have the afternoon off and decide to enjoy a good book at Myrtle Point.
3. You forgot your raincoat in your cabin.
4. It's time to restock the shirts in the office or the food in the pantry.
5. It's your best available day to do laundry and need to dry it on the clothesline.
6. You run into a bear wearing a poncho and rainboots.
7. You see a squirrel with a snorkel.

Come up and see us (and prepare for rain).  Happy trails.

Good afternoon from LeConte Lodge.  The weather's not been too welcoming thus far today, but that's not kept many hikers off the trail.  Our office and dining room are full near capacity with folks stepping in out of the chilly rain and drying off before they head back down into the land of thick air.

It started raining lightly around breakfast this morning, but we've not really had any heavy showers--just enough to soak you through and get the shivers started on a cool, windy, gray July day at the top of LeConte.  Thursday's high-low was 60 and 48 with no rain.  After breakfast we had a run on ponchos in the office, which topped morning sales with nine sold.

As usual, we've had plenty of interesting guests.  I spoke with one guest in her 80s who first came to visit LeConte in the 1960s.  She's been coming up annually pretty much ever since.  She said she missed a few years about 30 years ago, which she told me almost apologetically.

I visited with another nice guest who was born in Ukraine but had been adopted by American parents.  She said her homeland was lovely, and I'd like to see it myself some day.  But it made me think how fragile our beautiful places are when their protection is shoved aside by conflict, which unfortunately happens everywhere in the world.  There were even a few troops (though no real battle) scampering around Mt. LeConte during the Civil War (but that's a story for a different day).

Thankfully, there's not much to fight about up here today so far.  Everyone left the mountain this morning with a belly full of pancakes, biscuits, grits, eggs and Canadian bacon, coffee, hot chocolate, treated spring water and Tang.  Hope to see you up soon, too.  Happy trails.

Hello to all of you High on LeConte readers.  Allyson has headed down the mountain for a few days off, and I'll be filling in.  Today's weather looks a lot like yesterday's--mostly cloudy with periods of sun, but not at all bad for LeConte in July.

Yesterday's high reached 60 degrees.  The official low of 38 arrived Wednesday morning.  The actual low for Thursday morning resided in the 45 degree range.  We didn't record any precipitation on top of LeConte yesterday.  I figured it would be quite a bit colder based on the predicted lows for the valley.

Yesterday, we welcomed hikers from the Wednesday Hiking Group who made their annual day trip up LeConte to celebrate what would have been Margaret Stevenson's 102nd birthday.  Actually, that anniversary comes today, but the group Margaret founded always hikes on Wednesday.  Each July they assemble at about midday at LeConte Lodge to share cake and stories about their mentor, Margaret. 

There are few real LeConte legends, and Margaret Stevenson ranks as a charter member.  Margaret made 718 hikes to LeConte Lodge--all after her 48th birthday.  Her route to our beloved mountain was circuitous, she was born in China but eventually made her way to Maryville, Tenn.

She ended up hiking the equivalent mileage of 5.5 times around the world before she passed away in 2006 at age 94.  She possessed a photographic memory and kept a journal of all of her LeConte trips (which is available for perusing in our office), beginning on Oct. 13, 1960 and making the bookend 718th trip to the lodge on May 21, 1997.

One year Margaret hiked 3,000 miles while only driving her Pinto 600 miles.  It was said that everyone wanted to buy that car, as it was well serviced and Margaret preferred walking to driving anyway.  Margaret became the first female member of the "900 Club," accomplished when someone hikes every mile of trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

One of our overnight guests not part of the Wednesday Hikers remembered struggling during her first trip up LeConte.  She remembered meeting Margaret on the trail and how her encouragement buoyed her spirits on her first climb.  We were proud to host the Wednesday Hikers as they honored Margaret, who helped make a special mountain even more special during her 718 visits.

Happy trails.

This morning is a perfect example of how the weather can fluctuate from day to day. At 6:50 a.m. it is currently 38º. Yes, I said 38º. It is a bit on the chilly side this morning. Yesterday's high was 70º. This is the reason I always tell people to bring extra clothing with them, even if it is July.

Chris and I are getting ready to head down for days off. We will be hiking down after dinner tonight. We have another busy weekend ahead of us. We will be working at the Gatlinburg Farmers Market on Saturday. We are then going to see Alison Krauss and Willie Nelson perform in Knoxville. I love live music and I know this show is not going to disappoint.

I am hoping by the time we return the flowers will be in full swing. I also saw blackberries in the higher elevations. They were not ripe but they are starting to make an appearance. I hope that is helping the food situation for the bears.

Allyson is experiencing problems logging in. She will try again later today after the cloud cover lifts.  The high was 70, low 54 and currently 55.  They had .21 inches of rain and are currently socked in under thick clouds.  A front is moving through that should bring below normal temps. Lows on the mountain could be in the upper 30's to low 40's by tomorrow night. 

And we have flowers...... The purple monks hood is finally blooming. That means the cone flowers and bee balm are right around the corner. Yesterday felt like a real summer day on the mountain. The high was 71º with a low of 49º. The construction crew had such great weather they were able to get everything done a week early. They are cleaning up as I type and getting ready to head off the mountain. We apologize for any inconvenience the work might have caused, but I am sure you can understand that even rustic lodges have to be worked on every now and again. It looks like the crew might have finished just in time. The skies are gray and it looks like rain in our near future.

First of all, I would like to say, "Happy Birthday, Norman." The LeConte Lodge Crew hopes you had a wonderful day. We had a busy day on the mountain. There were a lot of hikers who took us up on a cup of lemonade. They were treated to an afternoon thunderstorm around 1 p.m.. It was a heavy downpour with a pretty big lightening crack. It got my attention. After the sky fell out, the rain stopped and the sun came back out. It ended up being a beautiful afternoon. Remember, if you are taking a hike, start early. We are seeing a large amount of late day hikers. These hikers are arriving at the lodge around 6-7 p.m. We have seen them later than that. It is one thing if you are a prepared hiker who has a flashlight and is used to hiking at night. If you are a novice hiker, it can be tricky. Roots and rocks look a lot different at night. If you are unfamiliar with the trail, please start your hike earlier. Give yourself plenty of time to make it up and down the mountain before night fall. And once again, carry plenty of water and snacks. I guess the folks who are showing up without water don't read this blog.