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April 29, 2014

4/29/2014

 
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Good afternoon from a soggy Mt. LeConte.  The wind is howling and spitting rain on us periodically, but things could be much worse.  Yesterday proved awfully nice for a day with an 80 percent chance of rain.  We didn't see our first raindrops until about 10 p.m., long after all our guests were off the trail, fed and tucked away warm and dry in their cabins.

We ended up with a high-low of 63-47 and 0.90 inches of rain for Monday.  The forecast isn't very promising for today either, with rain a possibility all day and a chance for more severe weather tonight.  Just in case you didn't read yesterday's post, I'd steer clear of Rainbow Falls Trail if we have heavy rains due to some stream crossing issues guests had last year.  There's also a large tree down across the Trillium Gap Trail above Grotto Falls.  I've been told that hikers will get across it fine, but it will be a dealbreaker for the llamas until it is cleared.

The wind really ramped up about 10 p.m. last night.  You could still see Pigeon Forge down below
, but as the cloud deck lowered you could also see tendrils of clouds (not funnel clouds) wisp down toward the valley.  That reminded me of the clouds bearing bad news for the Egyptian first-born in the Passover scene of the classic movie "Ten Commandments" (which always got my attention as the oldest son in my family).  We made out all right, as all of the oldest sons made it to breakfast this morning.

We saw a little filtered lightning through the cloud cover overnight, but nothing too close.  The gusty winds were the biggest issue of the night.  I looked outside my window and saw the outlines of trees gyrating like Elvis on "The Ed Sullivan Show."  I'm sure some of those bare, weather-bleached, dead fir trees lost their battle to remain vertical as graceful sentinels on LeConte.  Between blasts of the ferocious wind, I could hear frogs singing in the basin near the spring for the first time this year.  The amphibians sounded glad for the extra rain, though I shouldn't translate for them as I don't speak Kermit.

The rain picked up in intensity about 4:10 a.m. (I know because I didn't sleep a wink last night).  Most of the time we get fairly gentle rain at the lodge.  However, this rain hit my cabin with such force it was as if John Henry was driving it home with a hammer.

While we had no reports of guests having any problems with the weather overnight, sometimes the conditions affect you in ways you don't expect.  For instance, the change in weather made this my worst pancake-making morning in three years of preparing breakfast on a fill-in basis at LeConte Lodge.  It didn't matter how much non-stick spray you used, the pancakes welded themselves to the griddle.  Fully one-third of the flapjacks didn't meet the LeConte standard and were incinerated (and there were no llamas up today to polish off the remainder).  Also, the biscuits were even hunkered down, cowardly refusing to rise too far above the baking sheet.

We persevere and remember our brothers and sisters across the Southland with real weather problems.  Happy trails.
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Rachel (left), Jeanie (middle) and Pat (right) rejoice during leftover lunch--always a happy occasion and a way to stretch the crew food budget on LeConte. Pat wanted to be identified as "the good-looking one" in the photo.
Sherrie
4/29/2014 07:08:44 am

Loving these detailed and lengthy post and as always the great pics!

TracyG
4/29/2014 07:16:31 am

I always love to read your posts Nathan. They are so vivid. Glad things were not as bad up top as they were here in MS. I love the description of the pancakes and biscuits. Laughed out loud here at work. Have a fantastic day!

Kent
4/29/2014 07:56:03 am

I'm guessing it's the humidity that adversely affected the flapjacks and biscuits. (I have such a wonderful grasp of the obvious.)

I particularly enjoyed your similes today, Nathan.

Toby
4/29/2014 09:13:54 am

I read on the post yesterday about a guest last year and again today being stranded on the mountain last year descending down Rainbow Falls trail and couldn't cross one of the stream due to excessive rain. My wife, son and I was most likely the one's you referred too along with two other couples we meet on the trail. It was a very stressful day but felt the decision we made to turn around and not cross was a wise one. We did make it back to the lodge and was accommodated by the wonderful folks at Loconte Lodge. We will always remember the hospitality and kindness.

Patty Stevens
4/29/2014 09:20:21 am

I love Pat and Jeanie! We met in Sept of 05, can't wait to see them in June. I know the sound of the pounding rain and wind up there. You wonder how everything stays put.

Renee Ryan
4/29/2014 01:13:55 pm

I really love this blog and look forward to reading it everyday. I bet it was crazy up there last night! Hope to some day be able to make it up there to stay at the lodge. I thank you all for the opportunity to live that dream through this blog and also the beautiful photos.

Karla VanGilder
4/29/2014 02:17:39 pm

I truly love reading your daily blog! I've been coming to Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains for most of my life! I'm really thinking that one of my bucket list items is to get in good enough physical shape to hike up to Mt. LeConte!!!!! Thank you for your incredible blogs!

Tom C.
4/30/2014 02:57:44 am

Really enjoyed today's blog! Good writing, informative, and very upbeat! Thanks!


Comments are closed.
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