ANOTHER WARM WELCOME!

The temperature at the lodge this morning is 42 degrees—7 degrees warmer than yesterday! And windy! With clouds and fog and 3/10th inch rain. These conditions are quickly turning the snow into ice and slush.

But Highway 441 remains open in spite of the winds.

The rain is predicted to increase after lunch today. So if you do have to get outside today be sure to have adequate rain gear and traction devices.

HAPPY TRAILS!!
WILDCAT/Bert

A WARM WELCOME TO LECONTE LODGE!

I not just kidding—this is the warmest morning that we’ve experienced in over a month—35 degrees!

The roads are open this morning, but that will most likely change soon. The weather service is forecasting high winds and rain. So enjoy a thrilling Thursday while you still can!

Hikers often ask me if I see bears on LeConte. I haven’t yet—but a backpacker who stayed at the shelter two nights ago showed me pictures that he took of BIG bear tracks on the Alum Cave Trail. I did see a fox yesterday around our picnic tables. And we occasionally see Bobcat prints in the snow. But the majority of the bears seem to prefer lower elevations.

As always, remember to bring your traction devices!

I hope that y’all have a thrilling Thursday!

HAPPY TRAILS!!
WILDCAT/ Bert

HIGHWAY 441 IS OPEN AGAIN!!

Hello from Mt LeConte Lodge! I’m just guessing that the main reason that most of you are reading this post today is that y’all want to know the status of the Newfound Gap Road!

Now that we have that taken care of we can discuss the weather conditions.

The current temperature at the lodge is 27 degrees. There are 7 inches of snow remaining on the ground. The skies are clear and I’m expecting more sunshine again today.

Now that you have access to the Alum Cave trailhead, I’m anticipating a marked increase in the number of day hikers visiting Mt LeConte. I’m looking forward to seeing y’all again soon!

HAPPY TRAILS!!
WILDCAT/Bert

CLEAR AND COLD!

After yesterday’s rather gloomy clouds and fog, combined with intermittent light snow showers, it was a joy to see clear skies this morning before sunrise! The current temperature is 13 degrees—15 degrees cooler than yesterday, with eight inches of snow remaining.

All roads in the park are closed with the exception of Cherokee Orchard, so that will provide access to the Rainbow Falls and Bullhead Trails for today’s hikers!

The Lodge received some icy snow late yesterday afternoon, so Newfound Gap probably received similar weather, causing Highway 441 to remain closed this morning.

With yesterday afternoon’s ice I would strongly recommend your traction devices today!

Please stay safe and warm!

HAPPY TRAILS!!
WILDCAT/Bert

WARMER WEATHER!

The temperature this morning was 28 degrees—compared to the temperature yesterday of 17 degrees. The skies have been clear to partly cloudy with lots of sunshine until today. Today I have clouds, fog and snow—and probably no sunshine today!

Cherokee Orchard is the only road that is open this morning. With snow falling here at the lodge, Newfound Gap is probably receiving even heavier snowfall and lower temperatures.

I met an interesting day hiker a couple of days ago. I was sitting in the sun on a cabin porch and I offered to share my sunny spot with him. He was originally from New York, but had moved to the Knoxville area. I introduced myself as WILDCAT, so he said that I should call him NEW YORK.

He offered to share his thermos of hot chocolate with me and we visited for a while. While in New York he was a chef for the Windows of the World restaurant in the Twin Towers. He just happened to be on a trip to Florida on that fateful day when the Towers were struck by aircraft!

Later he moved to East Tennessee and decided to hike Mt LeConte. At that time he was very overweight and someone encouraged him to loose a significant amount of weight before attempting to hike up the mountain.

Hiking up the Rainbow Falls Trail in the snow in January represents a major accomplishment in this man’s life.

I spent about six months in 2015 serving as a Trail Chaplain on the Appalachian Trail, practicing being a good listener. I think that it is amazing that our paths should cross up here at Mt LeConte Lodge!

Aw shucks! That’s just one of the things that Winter Caretakers are supposed to do—“do unto others as you would have them do unto you”!

HAPPY TRAILS!!
WILDCAT/Bert

HELLO EVERYONE!

Yesterday was warmer than the previous day—the temperature actually got up to 30 degrees—with sunshine! The current temperature is 17 degrees—slightly warmer than yesterday. About eight inches of snow remaining on the ground at the lodge.

Highway 441 to Newfound Gap remains closed. The Cherokee Orchard was open yesterday, allowing hikers to access Rainbow Falls and Bullhead Trails. Consequently, we saw a large influx of hikers!

The most interesting and exciting part of my day was sighting a unidentifiable flying object (UFO) near Clingman’s Dome! This is the second time that this has occurred. When I reported this to the Park Rangers, they claim to know nothing of any sort of aircraft over the Smokies.

I’m anticipating another day similar to yesterday since it’s Sunday and warmer.

Please be safe and stay warm!

HAPPY TRAILS!!
WILDCAT/Bert

Good Morning!

The good news is that the Cherokee Orchard Road is now open again! The Lodge received about another inch of fresh snow yesterday. I assume that Newfound Gap did too, so Highway 441 remains closed.

The current temperature up here is 14 degrees and the skies are clear, so we should have a sunny day.

When you are living “off the grid” with no electricity to operate your computer, you don’t need to worry about “spam.” Fortunately I have a canned meat product available to me that requires no refrigeration, and may be used instead of bacon or sausage. So that’s what I have selected for breakfast this morning. It should go well with eggs!

I hope that y’all have a great day!

HAPPY TRAILS!!
WILDCAT/Bert

Good Morning from Mt LeConte!

As I left my cabin this morning I was greeted by light snow falling softly. About another inch had fallen during the night. The current temperature is 8 degrees. Yesterday’s high was 19 degrees.

The roads are all closed this morning. We’ll just have to wait and see what develops as the day progresses.

Carrying water jugs up the hill through 14 inches of snow yesterday made me appreciate my gaiters. I frequently have people asking me “why do you wear those things around your ankles?” They are called GAITERS and they help in keeping small rocks and sticks and snow out of your shoes and socks. In the winter this is important because keeping the snow out of your shoes and socks helps a great deal in keeping your feet warmer and dryer. And this becomes increasingly important as temperatures become increasingly colder! Like traction devices, I would highly recommend that you try them.

Please stay warm and dry!

HAPPY TRAILS!!
WILDCAT/Bert

Good Morning!

Today is starting out much like yesterday—cold and clear. The temperature yesterday soared to 24 degrees in the afternoon and the sunshine was much appreciated. But it still wasn’t warm enough to open any of the roads.

Yesterday while the sun was shining again I decided to give in and go fetch water. Most people probably think that water comes from a faucet inside a house. Life is slightly different for those who choose to live “off the grid” on top of a mountain in the woods. Here water flows straight out of the ground beside the Trillium Gap Trail one tenth of a mile below the kitchen door. When there is 14 inches of fresh snow on the ground this task becomes even more interesting as you carry five gallon plastic containers filled with water back up the mountain! But at least now we have plenty of water stored in the kitchen to keep it from freezing!

I could also describe “bathrooms” for living “off the grid”, but you would probably think TMI! Just suffice it to say that the privy (restroom) is not heated and is also one tenth of a mile from the kitchen and bedroom!

As your parents probably told y’all more than once, just be thankful for what you’ve got!

HAPPY TRAILS!!
WILDCAT/Bert

HELLO AGAIN!

It looks like it’s going to be a wonderful Wednesday! The skies over the mountain are clear and the sun is shining brightly.

The highest temperature that I observed yesterday was 4 degrees, so we didn’t melt much snow, and consequently the roads are still closed this morning.

I took advantage of the cold and spent some time in the kitchen making bean soup with country ham. This with some freshly baked corn bread should make good dinners on these cold evenings.

I didn’t see any day hikers yesterday, but I saw some footprints in the snow on the trails, so I know that there were a few hardy souls who made it to the top.

Be safe and stay warm!

HAPPY TRAILS!!
WILDCAT/Bert