 Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly. Kafka Morning y'all, It's a beautiful, cold morning up top. The high yesterday reached 30 degrees. The overnight low was 9 degrees. It was 13 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received no new precipitation yesterday and there is still 2 inches of snow remaining up top. The trails are in relatively good shape, but there are still a few slick spots to be aware of. I would recommend Microspikes if you intend to reach the summit and descend safely without incident. Get out and enjoy the wintry weather while it lasts! I had a pair of wonderful hikes down and up the Alum Cave trail yesterday. We descended before the road opened and didn't see another person on trail. The light was astounding - long stretches in and out of the fog, with the moisture in the air spanning the spectrum of possible beauty. After our isolated descent, we started back up around 5pm. We caught sunset on trail, enjoying the deep reds, oranges and yellows from the ledges above Monotony ridge. The cold, clear night was ideal for watching the stars come out...
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 There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by. A life of good days lived in the senses is not enough. The life of sensation is the life of greed; it requires more and more. The life of the spirit requires less and less; time is ample and its passage sweet. Who would call a day spent reading a good day? But a life spent reading -- that is a good life. Annie Dillard Morning y'all, It's a beautiful, foggy morning up top. The high yesterday reached 37 degrees. The overnight low was 28 degrees. It was 29 degrees and foggy at 7am observation. The mountain received .68 inches of liquid precipitation yesterday evening, which later produced 2 inches of snow. There is two inches of heavy, wet snow up top with some slick spots. As of this posting, Highway 441 is closed due to snow & ice. Get out and enjoy the day!  So quiet out here I hardly dare make a sound; delicately I turn the pages of this notebook. Edward Abbey Morning y'all, It's a beautiful, calm morning up top. The high yesterday reached 38 degrees. The overnight low was 30 degrees. It was 35 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received no new precipitation and there is no snow remaining up top. The trails are in fantastic shape, get out and enjoy the clear trails while they last!  Top photo: Climbing trees! Above: View from 30 feet up. Below: A proper sunset shot. Grace and I had a lovely, relaxing day up top yesterday. After my long run on Sunday, I was ready for a day of reading in bed, putting my legs up and taking care of some chores. The ample sun made it feel like it was much warmer than 38 degrees and we spent plenty of time wandering around camp. It was one of the lazy days we will savor once we are off the mountain and back to work in a few short weeks. The springtime air has been so refreshing lately...   In the school of the woods there is no graduation day. Horace Kephart Morning y'all, It's a beautiful, blustery morning up top. The high yesterday reached 48 (!!!) degrees. The overnight low was 17 degrees. It was 22 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received no new precipitation and there is no snow remaining up top. I ran down Alum yesterday and there is no black ice or slick spots remaining. The trails are in great shape. Get out and enjoy this clear February day!  Top photo: Henry nearing the top of the Alum Cave trail. Above: Great Smoky Mountains Backcountry Swim team! Below: Moonrise on Saturday night. I had a great run down into town yesterday. The trails are in the kind of shape that reminds me of my departure in March, with the lingering scent of consistent dampness that just reeks of springtime. I even saw some daffodils sprouting up along Hwy 441... and a baby fawn! Fortunately for me, in spite of the springy scent and wildlife wanderings, I have about 3 more weeks remaining up top. I came back up around 4pm and it seemed like it was going to be hike to remember - the rain smelled so fragrant, falling in drops as big as those old Kennedy silver dollars and the clouds seemed to be swirling up high. I had a heavy pack full of supplies, so I took my time. After a break at Alum Cave, I hit the cloud ceiling and I was racing daylight to make it to the lodge. For the last two miles, I was convinced I was going to see the bear, little Dennis or maybe even some kind of Cherokee ghost I didn't know about. It was as eerie as I've ever seen, with the fog settling in so low that my nice fancy headlamp could barely allow me to see beyond footfalls. I got to the lodge at 6:20, shook off my sweaty shirt and stood on the porch. I looked out at camp, with my useless headlamp unable to penetrate the thick fog and felt like a majestic lighthouse along the Maine coast.   Because the body and mind are different by nature, what benefits them is different in nature as well. The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness. When we give our mind and body what benefits them, a natural harmony and balance takes place. With this unified approach, we are happy, healthy, and wise. Sakyong Mipham Morning y'all, It's a beautiful, spring like morning up top. The high yesterday reached 48 degrees. The overnight low was 36 degrees. It was 46 (!!!) degrees and clear up top at 7am observation. The mountain received no new precipitation and there has been significant melting. There are sure to be some slick sections on the trail, but I would anticipate that Microspikes are not a necessity. There will be plenty of trail runoff, so expect some moisture. Enjoy the cloud show!  It is not the man who has too little who is poor, but the one who hankers after more. Seneca Morning y'all, It's a blustery, damp day up top. The high yesterday reached 41 degrees. The overnight low was 16 degrees, recorded early yesterday morning. It was 39 degrees and cloudy at 7am observation. The mountain received no new precipitation and there has been some melt. There is still about 1 inch of snow on the ground, but it is fading fast. The trails are in really sloppy shape, with some heavy melt, a few icy sections and a lot of water runoff. It seems like it will be a quiet day on the trails, get out and enjoy them!   In youth, before I lose any of my senses, I can remember that I was all alive, and inhabited my body with inexpressible satisfaction; both its weariness and its refreshment were sweet to me. Thoreau Morning y'all, It's a beautiful, snowy morning up top. The high yesterday reached 16 degrees. The overnight low was 4 degrees. It was 15 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received a trace of snow yesterday, the liquid equivalent amounting to .06 inches. There is still 2 inches of snow on the ground. The trails are in good shape, but I would recommend Microspikes if you intend to reach the summit. There are some slick patches and it is slow going with bare boots on the snow. It sounds like it is going to warm up this afternoon, so the trails will have some sloppy melt going on. Get out and enjoy the wintry scenes! If you are interested, check out LeConte Lodge's online store if you'd like to purchase something for your sweetheart this Valentine's Day!  back into the rough, uncharted pinewoods where I have lived so much of my life, where everything is so quick and uncertain, so glancing, so improbable, so real. Mary Oliver Morning y'all, It's a beautiful, cold & snowy morning up top! The high yesterday reached 44 degrees. The overnight low was 13 degrees. It was 13 degrees and snowing lightly at 7am observation. The mountain received about 2 inches of snow, although there are a few deeper drifts. The liquid equivalent of yesterday's precipitation totalled .92 inches. The trails are in good shape, with very little ice below the ankle deep powder. This will change as it goes through thaw-freeze cycle, but for now it is easy traversing. Get out and enjoy the wintry beauty! Check out my buddy Kyle's post about our run this weekend. It's always exciting to see the mountain through someone else's lens. Thanks for sharing Kyle!  Here was no man's garden, but the unhandselled globe. It was not lawn, nor pasture, nor mead, nor woodland, nor lea, nor arable, nor waste-land. It was the fresh and natural surface of the planet Earth, as it was made for ever and ever, — to be the dwelling of man, we say, — so Nature made it, and man may use it if he can. Man was not to be associated with it. It was Matter, vast, terrific, — not his Mother Earth that we have heard of, not for him to tread on, or be buried in, — no, it were being too familiar even to let his bones lie there, — the home, this, of Necessity and Fate. Thoreau Morning y'all, It's a warm, foggy day up top. The high yesterday reached 48 degrees. The overnight low was 36 degrees. It was 40 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received .20 inches of rain yesterday afternoon and evening. There is no snow remaining up top and very little ice remaining on the trails. I believe it is possible to reach the summit and return safely without Microspikes, especially if you're careful. It sounds as if we are in for some snow (!!!) this evening once this cold front pushes through. Get out and enjoy the easy trail conditions while they last!  there's a million things i haven't done. Grace and I had yet another afternoon of recovery in drizzly weather yesterday. This season has had undeniably strange happenings, but the weather has had it's effect on the winter caretaker position even more dramatically than usual. I've seen 8 inches of snow since I've been up top this season, well off LeConte's average of 100 inches per winter. Typically at this point of the season, there is a decent snow pack and hiking requires Microspikes. I've used them once. While the temperate weather has been a welcome boon for my trail running (I am too cautious to run seriously with significant ice), it has affected the tenor of the season. Rather than feeling snowed in and a bit weary of cold, exhausting Microspike explorations and turning inward to my books, I've woken up nearly every day, felt the temperature on my face as I walk out my cabin door and have thought to myself, "Not a bad day for a run." It has made this season feel short (I'm sure the 12 nights out of the park due to the fire contributes to this as well), but my time up top has flown by. It's only 4 weeks until we hike off the mountain and I feel like we have just arrived. It has been a season of action moreso than reflection. While that is a change from my typical season, it has also been a consistent joy - if your action is centered around something as rewarding and playful as trail running, the long days spent reading and watching snow fall out the window can come later... perhaps in the Whites!  We have watch'd the seasons dispensing themselves and passing on, And we have said, Why should not a man or woman do as much as the seasons, and effuse as much? Whitman Morning y'all, It's a warm, blustery day up top. The high yesterday reached 48 degrees. The overnight low was 36 degrees. It was 40 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received .12 inches of rain yesterday afternoon. There is very little snow and ice remaining up top. I would imagine that Microspikes are no longer necessary. It looks as though it'll be a windy day with a bit of rain this afternoon. Get out and enjoy the park while it's quiet! |
LeConte LodgeWelcome to the official blog of LeConte Lodge. We hope you find the information provided here both helpful and enjoyable. Thank you for visiting the site, and we hope to see you on the mountain! Archives
January 2023
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