Good Morning!
It looks like it will be another busy day on Mt LeConte! We’re making preparations for the annual airlift. The temperature this morning was 35 degrees. The skies are partly cloudy. There was no precipitation in the past twenty four hours. A group of the Margaret Stevenson Hiking Group stopped at the lodge yesterday. Margaret Stevenson was a well known hiker on Mt LeConte. She made 718 hikes to Mt LeConte Lodge—all after her 48th birthday. Her last trip was on May 31, 1997. She was the first female member of the “900 Club “—completed when she was 64. She passed away in 2006 at age 94. Her bronzed hiking boots are in the LeConte Lodge office. Margaret Stevenson was a source of inspiration for all of us! HAPPY TRAILS!! WILDCAT/Bert
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Good Morning, Everyone!
It looks like it will be another great day on Mt LeConte! The roads and trails are open. The morning temperature was 37 degrees. The skies are partly cloudy. We had a busy day yesterday with large numbers of day hikers. Myrtle Point and Cliff Tops are always popular destinations. After enjoying the sunshine during the afternoon, I walked up to Cliff Tops to watch the sunset. There was an unusually large crowd of day hikers. I met one lady who said that she now lived in Memphis. She said that she read the Mt LeConte blog every day and appeared to be following my advice: warm jacket, cap, gloves, water, headlamp. She and I observed the college age guys equipped only with shorts and T—shirts and agreed that it was going to be a long cold hike for them going down to their cars! The lady mentioned that she had once lived in Fresno, California. I lived in Fresno in the 1970’s. What are the chances of two strangers from Fresno, California, meeting on Cliff Tops? Small world! HAPPY TRAILS!! WILDCAT/Bert Good Morning!
This looks like a quiet, foggy morning on Mt LeConte. The roads and trails should be open. The morning temperature was 38 degrees—the same as yesterday. Yesterday’s high was a sunny 56 degrees. My “tour of duty “ as winter caretaker is quickly approaching the end. I have enjoyed my winter on Mt LeConte. Thank you for your support and the interest that you have shown in this blog. The annual airlift is scheduled for next week. When it is completed it will be time for me to go home. From High On LeConte! WILDCAT/Bert Good Morning, Folks!
It looks like today will be another awesome day on Mt LeConte! The roads are open. The skies are clear. The temperature at 7:00 AM was 38 degrees. Yesterday was a busy day on Mt LeConte. The first day hiker that I saw came up the Trillium Gap Trail and arrived at the lodge at 7:00 AM! I occasionally comment on how poorly equipped and ill prepared some day hikers—especially spring breakers appear to be. Yesterday I had an unusual experience. I was going to Cliff Tops at about 6:00 PM, dressed in my winter coat, hat, and gloves because it gets cold up there. I met a young couple coming down the trail dressed in shorts and skimpy shirts. The guy was doing something with his Apple Watch and apparently didn’t see me. I said, “Hello!” He jumped and exclaimed, “OH! JESUS CHRIST’! I quickly replied, “No, I’m not HIM—I’m WILDCAT from the lodge!” The lady thought that this was funny and giggled as they hurried down the trail. I hope that they made it to their car before they got too cold or it got too dark! HAPPY TRAILS!! WILDCAT/Bert Good Morning, Everyone!
It looks like today will be another awesome day on our favorite mountain! The morning temperature was 30 degrees and the skies are clear. Two or three hours after the roads opened yesterday LeConte was overwhelmed with day hikers ! The sun was shining and the temperature reached a high of 45 degrees in the afternoon! I hiked out to Myrtle Point in the afternoon and t Cliff Tops in the evening. The back country shelter was full last night, so there was a large group joining me to watch the sunset. I also observed the moon as the sun was setting. HAPPY TRAILS!! WILDCAT Good Morning!
First of all—the news that you want to know, but don’t want to hear—all of the roads in the park are closed because of last night’s high winds and downed trees. Winds of 97 mph were recorded at Cove Mountain Road! Mt LeConte sustained no apparent wind damage. The temperature at 7:00 AM was 28 degrees. The skies here are clear, but the valley below is completely covered by a cloud inversion. We received 0.70 inches of precipitation yesterday. I’m hoping that our views from Cliff Tops and Myrtle Point will be awesome today. If so, I’ll try to take some pictures for you! We’re remaining cautiously optimistic that the park service will get the roads opened today! From High On LeConte! WILDCAT/Bert Good Morning, Y’all!
Breezy! The top of LeConte is cloudy, foggy, and windy. Highway 441 to Newfound Gap is closed due to a high wind warning—the weather service is predicting 80 mph! The current temperature is 42 degrees. We received 0.40 inches of precipitation during the night. I only saw one day hiker yesterday. I hope to see at least one today—my wife! She was hoping to come up Alum, but I guess that she’ll be doing Rainbow Falls again. At least she won’t have snow and ice today! I hope that you are able to have a good day today! WILDCAT Good Morning, Folks!
It’s a little damp up here this morning! Last night Mt LeConte received 2.15 inches of rain. That’ll the most precipitation that I’ve reported in one 24 hour period since I assumed the job of winter caretaker! Naturally all of the trails that were dry yesterday have turned into creeks running bank full this morning. The temperature is 43 degrees at 7:00 AM. This appears to be an excellent morning to stay in the kitchen sipping hot black coffee and listening to classic Bluegrass music. Hot biscuits with Blackberry Preserves and scrambled eggs for breakfast! Not a good day for spring breaker’s wearing cotton to climb the mountain. Waders might be considered to be appropriate footwear for today! I think that I’ll work on my lamps and try to stay dry this morning. I hope that you have a good day! From High On LeConte, WILDCAT/Bert Good Morning!
It looks like it will be another awesome day on Mt LeConte! The temperature at 7:00 AM was 42 degrees. The high temperature yesterday was 50 degrees, the low was 34 degrees. I was able to enjoy a beautiful sunset from Cliff Tops—without high winds! With the warm temperatures, the sunshine and light breezes, yesterday seemed like a perfect day to do laundry. After performing that task, and my laundry drying on the clothes line outside my cabin, I heard Myrtle Point calling my name. I took the short walk past Apollo Overlook to the Point. We were sitting on the rocks enjoying the sunshine and the views when a gentleman came up to me and asked, “Are you WILDCAT?” I replied, “Yes, I am.” As he reached into his daypack he said, “I enjoy reading your blog so I brought a present for you just in case I met you here.” He handed me a pint jar containing Blackberry Preserves and said, “This is for your biscuits!”. I thanked him for his thoughtfulness. This what backpackers call TRAIL MAGIC! This morning I am enjoying classic Bluegrass music on the radio and freshly baked homemade biscuits with Blackberry Preserves. Special thanks to all of those folks who made this possible! HAPPY TRAILS!! WILDCAT |
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 2025
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