People often ask the crew what we do during time off while on the mountain. I usually tell them we enjoy what the mountain has to offer. Remember when you were a kid and how much fun it was to explore? We get to do that on top of Mt. LeConte. It makes the job even more enjoyable to have access to such an amazing mountain. I love to discover new places I have not been before. Yesterday was yet another great day to do so. The high reached 51 with low around 26. Winter is trying to hold on. I hope to get out today and see how the wildflowers are holding up. I will keep you posted.
It just goes to show you never know what your going to get on LeConte. The low last night hit 25 degrees. We woke up this morning to frost on the trees. Yesterday was gorgeous. It was still a bit chilly at 51 degrees, but the sun was shinning and there were a lot of day hikers out and about. The clouds seem to moving out this morning and it looks like another beautiful day on Mt. LeConte. We had a special treat on the mountain last night. The Early Morning String Dusters from Loudon, Tennessee, played for the guests. It was a great time hanging out in the dining room and listening to some great bluegrass. We were also treated to a few songs by Alex Tedford. Alex is an eleven year old, accomplished fiddle player. The crew always loves to hear live music on the mountain. It gives you a time unwind and enjoy this amazing place we call home.
As for the weather, we hit a high for the 2010. It reached 71 degrees yesterday. It was another amazing day on the mountain. Today we awoke to raindrops on the roof. It is currently socked in and raining. It sounds as though this front may stall out on us for a little while. That is fine. The flowers need the water. The rain will bring spring a little quicker. Today is my husbands birthday. Chris will be ecstatic to find that I have posted this on the blog for everyone to see! ( Can you hear my sarcasm?) We made home made ice cream to celebrate. Now, don't let him tell you that I made him hand crank his own ice cream. He just posed for the picture. I had a few questions in regards to bears. One question was what are the signs for bear activity. We usually find scat the next morning. The bears tend to come thru camp at night. Tuesday, we actually had a bear spotted during the day. I have not had any scary bear encounters, not to say it is not impossible. I know how to act when I see one and I have a lot of respect for them being wild animals. We try to educate people about why it is not good for bears to be around camp. We do not want the bears to associate humans with their food source. The best bear is a wild bear. That is a bear that you will never see because they are afraid of us. If a bear comes into camp during the day we have a protocol to follow. We want to scare the bear so it does not want to come back in camp while humans are around. If this does not work, we call the park service. They send a bear specialist up the mountain. The bear is trapped and darted. This dart puts the bear to sleep for a few hours. In the mean time, the biologist will weigh the bear, tattoo it, pull a tooth, and tag it. The bear is then woken up and scared away. The idea is that the bear now has this scary experience and will remember this and not want to come around humans. If the same bear continues to cause problems, the park service will relocate the bear. We try very hard to keep the bears wild on this mountain. That is why is so, so, so important that you do your part by picking up your trash and keeping your food put away. If you stay at the shelter, make sure you hang you food and do not cook in the shelter. We can all do our part to keep the bears wild. It was a great day to scout for bears. We have had an active bear on the mountain, so Chris and I decided we would go looking for it. The only thing we saw were some awesome views. Not a cloud in the sky and the temperature reached 66 degrees. I am wondering if this year will be "the year" we hit 80 degrees on the mountain. That would be a record breaker. I personally hope we do not. I am rather used to the cool temperatures on the mountain.
An old friend of mine from high school showed up on the mountain to celebrate her honeymoon. Casey and Mike Armstrong made the hike up Alum Cave on Monday and spent two nights on top of the mountain. The weather was beautiful yesterday. The high reached a comfortable 62 degrees with the low last night of 40. It was a great day to see what the mountain has to offer. So, congratulations Casey and Mike. Anybody who honeymoons on top of this amazing mountain is guaranteed a long and wonderful marriage. Chris and I returned to the mountain yesterday to find spring has arrived. The Trillium are coming up and the Spring Beauties are beautiful. The rivers were ragging with the 3" of rain that came down the night before. The weather man had called for 6" to 12". Thank goodness we did not get that much rain on the mountain. Our cabins may have ended up in Gatlinburg. It turned out to be a dry hike up. The high reached 61 degrees with a low of 43. I woke up this morning to find not a cloud in the sky and visibility for miles. It looks to be a promising day on the mountain.
|
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
April 2024
|