 Good Morning, It’s a misty mountain this final day of April. The rain showers will be around this morning as we bid farewell to our first full month of this 2023 season. Here’s hoping that May brings us those oft-promised flowers along with slightly warmer temps. The first of the mountain myrtle have already appeared at places like Inspiration Point, and some painted trillium are in their happy stance at mid elevations. The showers are expected to roll out around lunchtime today. Even though we might get to enjoy clearer skies later, temps are going to drop below freezing by tonight. Conditions will certainly feel cool for anyone inadequately layered, and it’s always possible that any lingering precip or cloud cover could produce some flurries. Fret not, as no accumulation is anticipated at the lodge. Winds are also going to increase tonight and be a nagging presence over the coming days. Come prepared for the elements! Have a great end to the week and month. 
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 Good Morning. After a slog of sloppy days, the mountains are due for a sun-filled Saturday. One expects that the park will be busy with weekend warriors today eager to soak up the opportunistic rays. Clouds will be patchy at first but slowly build throughout the day. Temps on the mountain might tap 60° this afternoon, and since winds should remain light, it ought to feel just splendid in the sunshine. Late tonight temps will slide into the 40s and the rain chances return. Sunday will probably be cool and wet, similar to what we’ve dealt with in recent days. Enjoy it if you’re out and about exploring the woods today. A lot of interesting things to see both near and far, or high and low. Have a great day.   Good Afternoon, Clouds and rain are the name of the game once again today. Showers and thunderstorms will be bubbling up from the south and hanging over the Smokies all day. Temps will hover in the 40s, but the wet and windy conditions will make it feel cool. A Wind Advisory has also been issued for our region this evening into tomorrow morning, calling for gusts of 55mph at times. Expect more of the same sloppy conditions on Friday. Trails will certainly become mucky in places as the precip persists, and it’s possible that creeks swell and wet-weather drainages form. Dress appropriately and use caution when out and about over the coming days. Have a great rest of the day.   Good Morning, Guests sure were treated to a grand show at sunset last night. The colors bouncing off the underside of the clouds and the rays cutting through the gaps really added to a magical display. And although it was cool up top once again, another day of sunshine sure helped with keeping conditions pleasant yesterday. Beginning today, we dive into what is going to be a several-days long streak of clouds and rain. So views will be few and far between up top at least until next week. Despite bottoming out at 33° last night, we expect to stay above freezing during this upcoming wet and dreary stretch. High temps should surpass the mid 40s this afternoon. Pack those waterproof shells, and if an extra layer is needed, be sure and hit up our gift shop for a stylish “I Hiked It” long sleeve or hoodie. Have a great day.   Good Morning, Whooo boy, what a weekend. We saw a little bit of everything these past couple days. Bright sunshine, thick clouds, stationary spruces, swirling winds, rain mixed with flurries, sun mixed with flurries, even the hum of outdoor lawn equipment followed by confused flowers covered in frost. Mild day time highs in the 40s have swayed back and forth with icy overnight lows around 20°. The lodge grounds were probably the busiest they had been all season up to this point despite the dramatic changes in the weather. We even had a brief visit from a piloted “whirpa-whirpa” this morning. Always exciting times at the lodge. The sunshine will dominate the skylines today, but even high temps in the 40s won’t be enough to cut the chill just yet. After a Freeze Warning took place this morning, we have another one lined up for us early tomorrow. No ice to worry about on trail at this time, but certainly pack those extra warm layers for when you get to the top. If you make a visit to the lodge this week, you might hear sound of progress via the whacking and tacking of hammers. Ole cabin 9, a preferred favorite of many overnight guests for its quieter locale, is getting a hairdo makeover! We look forward to seeing sport its new shiny shingles soon. Have a great rest of the day.   Good Afternoon, It’s a dreary Earth Day so far, at our elevation anyways. The wind and rain hit us hard during the night, but by breakfast time conditions at the lodge calmed down significantly. The summit hasn’t been able to shake the clouds yet despite a few brief glimpses of blue sky. The thermometer wasted no time in dropping after the storm and has flirted with 32° a few times today, but the ground remains favorably warm and the clouds are yet to produce a mist-to-flurry transformation. Anyone on trail today without proper gear or layers for staying warm and dry will certainly feel the air’s chill. Skies are expected to clear later today, and Sunday should witness the return of sunshine across the mountain. The remainder of the weekend will be cool with temps hovering in the 30s. Breezy conditions will persist as well gusting around 35mph at times. So layer up and don’t bid farewell to winter just yet! Have a great rest of the day.   Good Morning, Like the first strokes of a paintbrush on fresh canvas, soft tones of cyan and salmon are separated by rough clumps of gray from horizon to High Top. Calm air and stoic trees are gradually being replaced by whistling winds and bouncing branches. We should enjoy our fair share of sunshine again today, but there will be more action happening across the atmosphere than we’ve witnessed of late. The breezy conditions will increase throughout the day, eventually leading into a Wind Advisory from 6:00 PM tonight through 8:00 AM tomorrow. The predicted gusts have been bumped down slightly to 55mph. Temps will be warm once more today approaching the lower 60s, but the winds will undoubtedly take the edge off. Beginning late this evening and into Saturday we could receive a couple inches of rain. The forecasts can’t seem to make up their mind as to whether we’ll see flurries on the backside of this storm system or not, but the temps will be dropping into the 30s regardless. Guess we’ll just have wait with anticipation (or dread) and see what the skies above dish out. Overnight guests will certainly want to pack the windbreakers, rain shells, and warm layers for the coming weekend. It would also be wise to have alternate plans drawn up for one’s trail of ascension, just in case a road or two get temporarily closed due to the rough weather. For those folks staying with us in the coming days, we’ll have hot cocoa and cozy cabins waiting for you, especially if the Winter Warlock makes an uninvited return. Have a great day.   Good Morning, By mid-April standards on Mt. LeConte, today is going to be a hot one. The thermometer should have no problem reaching the mid-60s this afternoon. In fact, conditions are such that the National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for our area. That means the recent stretch of dry days, unseasonably warm temps, low humidity, and increasing winds are all mixing together to create conditions conducive for wildfires. Even with all this sunshine, the haze obscuring the valley below is certainly thicker today. And of course there’s no shortage of pollen filling the air. So let’s all be smart out there until the next good soaking rain rolls through and cleanses everything. Winds will start ramping up tonight and could be gusting as much as 70mph late Friday into Saturday. That’s also about the time rain and thunderstorms will come to fruition. Once this system rolls through over the weekend, temperatures will plummet down toward freezing once again. Depending on the timing of it all, we could see flurries fly Saturday afternoon before skies clear that night. You read that correctly, we aren’t rid of winter just yet, at least not at our elevation anyways. It’s historically around mid-May when we can feel better about placing the insulated boots and puffy jackets in storage. Have a great day.   Good Afternoon, We’ve been able to say this quite a bit in April. It’s another sunny day! A much different story from what our caretaker had to report this past winter where cloud cover seemed to dog the summit day in and day out. The mercury is close to reading 60° and it feels every bit like spring up top. It was nice to take those first steps through the cabin door this morning and not get blasted by another icy breeze. Visitors are getting a real treat for outdoor exploration today. The bees and flies have also seemed to escalate their activity around camp. Some of our first wildflowers of the season are blooming here on premises, with a few patches of spring beauties happily tracking the sun. We have a couple more warm days ahead, but winds are expected to whip a little faster as well. Any crew not busily selling shirts, baking cookies, or loading llamas today are outside enjoying this divine weather donning their running packs, swaying in a hammock with a good book, or hanging up that laundry to dry the old fashioned way. Have a great rest of the day.   Good Afternoon, Oh, how nice it is to have clear blue skies. We have ourselves another nice streak of sunny days ahead this week. We’re a little cool up top still after another nightly low around the freezing mark. We hope to reach the mid 50s this afternoon, but the steady breeze will make it tough to pull much warmth out of it. We might even enjoy some time in the 60s the next couple days. Thank you to everyone who answered the crew’s recent desperation call for delicious sweets. You sure loaded them up on chocolates in earnest and for a good long while! If you are still feeling so inspired to bring them something, various fruits and berries would be a welcomed alternative now (and healthier of course!). As always, your thoughtfulness in toting up such goodies is appreciated by our hard working folks. Have a great day.  |
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
August 2023
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