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April 28, 2014

4/28/2014

 
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Homeward bound. Alan leads the llama team back down Trillium Gap Trail in hopes of beating the bad weather.
Hello, this is Nathan from LeConte Lodge.  Our weather has been better to this point in the early afternoon than I expected.  I hope our guests will be able to arrive before the worst of the rain begins.  I'd much rather them hear raindrops on the wood-shingled roof of their cabin than pelting the hood of their raincoat out on the trail.

Sunday turned out to be another beautiful day.  The high temperature of 67 degrees marked the warmest day of 2014.  Our low was a mild 46 degrees.  We measured 0.11 inches of rain, with the first drops starting about 10 p.m. on Sunday.

Since then the winds have really picked up in spurts.  I've enjoyed seeing the stratification of the clouds atop LeConte this morning.  I saw some cumulonimbus storm clouds brewing in the valley mid-morning.  The most interesting clouds were the ones zooming directly over the top of the mountain, somersaulting from one side to the other.  However, the upper layer of clouds appeared relatively stationary.  Since 9:30 a.m., we've been mostly sunny at the lodge.

However, I hear that copious amounts of rain have been forecast for East Tennessee for the next few days.  Please prepare accordingly if you come up to see us.  In that vein, if we receive heavy rains I recommend you do not attempt the Rainbow Falls Trail for your ascent or descent.  Not only is Rainbow one of the rockiest trails (and also quite slippery) to LeConte, but it carries a torrent of water after significant rain.  Last year we had guests who made it the majority of the way down Rainbow only to find they couldn't safely make the stream crossing, which had swollen violently after a deluge.  They had to hike all the way back up to the lodge.

In much more pleasant news, I met some relatives of the late Rev. A. Rufus Morgan this morning. 
Rufus Morgan (1885-1983) is one of the legends of Mt. LeConte.  He climbed the mountain into his 90s for a total of 172 trips.  The last few trips he was nearly blind and relied on good friends and family to help him return to the top of the mountain he loved so much.

Rufus was an Episcopal priest from the Franklin, N.C., area and founded the Nantahala Hiking Club.  He single-handedly maintained more than 30 miles of the Appalachian Trail in the Nantahala Mountains, according to Alan, one of our llama wranglers.  Our overnight guest's mother was Rufus' cousin, and, while in high school, she hiked up to LeConte with him in his later years.  "He couldn't see much in his final years, but he didn't like to slow down much either," she said.


Perhaps the greatest compliment is that Rufus Morgan is the only person for whom a table is named in the LeConte Lodge dining room.  The other table names are rather vanilla (Big, Door, East, North, West and Map tables), but Morgan stands out.  Now you know part of the story behind the man.


Our thoughts are with our neighbors from Arkansas who had such a tough time of it in the storms. 
I hope better days are coming.  Happy trails.

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Rev. A. Rufus Morgan's photo still graces the LeConte Lodge office. We were pleased to welcome his relatives as our guests last night.
Ben
4/28/2014 07:22:44 am

Thanks for a VERY inspiring Post !...Stay safe up there !

Dr. Katherine Pendleton
4/28/2014 08:13:26 am

Thanks for sharing the story about Rev. Morgan. I've visited Mt. LeConte many times. My husband and I were married in the lodge office 5-5-95!

Scott
4/28/2014 08:19:18 am

Will be headed up at the end of September and I can't wait

Pat N
4/28/2014 08:20:23 am

Hats off ( or maybe I should say raincoats off) to the many brave, soggy hikers!!! So neat that you were able to chat with Rev. Morgan's relatives, Nathan.

Elisabeth
4/28/2014 08:23:00 am

GREAT photos and the story was heartfelt, thanks.
As for the weather, I am going to stop looking! It said thunderstorms all day, so I went to give trail magic and then hike into "inner" shelters for those doing zero days etc. I figured I could easily do this in the rain. Had I known that it would clear up before 10 AM...I would have planned a LeConte trip and seen the Llamas! poop
Anyway, fun and productive day. Ten came through from Mt Collins for trail magic (dwindling down from 23 just two weeks ago. These folks started thru hiking on April 5th at Amacolola), then I caught another four at Double Springs shelter off Clingmans dome. Fun day...NEXT time I will ignore weather and come see you!! thanks for the great post!

Jenny B. link
4/28/2014 08:58:50 am

It's always nice to see a photo of Alan with the llamas. A couple years ago when he had his injury on an NZ hike it sounded like he was going to be permanently out of the picture. Alan, it's great to see you're still out on the trail. Now what about leading more hikes for SMHC with that Dick Ketelle character?

Tina
4/28/2014 05:24:59 pm

Love to read the posts from Mt. LeConte! I would LOVE to visit the lodge some day!! :)

Ray Patterson
4/29/2014 03:05:54 am

What ever happen to the llama that ran away last year, also what time do the llama start up on fridays,can people go with them or do they need to go n front or behind them. Thanks

High on LeConte
4/30/2014 09:53:06 am

Ray,

We had a llama in training leave the string, take off and head down the mountain in 2012. He stayed around the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail area for a few days, but proved tough to catch. Finally, we caught the critter, as he was missing his coworkers. However, only the cream of the crop can become a LeConte llama. This individual, who shall remain nameless, wasn't LeConte material, so he moved on to become a pet for someone else.

People do hike Trillium Gap with the llamas from time to time. The position you hike in relation to the llamas will be up to Chrissy and Alan, our wranglers, to determine the safest course of action. Usually, the llamas leave the Trillium Gap trailhead about 7:30 a.m., give or take an hour depending on the circumstances of the day. It usually takes them about four hours to reach the lodge. Have a good day.

Nathan

Sherrie
4/29/2014 05:46:59 am

Love your highly descriptive post and especially the history lessons!!! See you all in a couple of wks, can't wait to meet all of my daughters new "family".


Comments are closed.
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