It was a beautiful day for a hike yesterday. The high was 72. The rain helped clear up the air and made for some great views. There were a lot of hikers on the mountain. I am sure this weekend will be busy. It is getting to be towards the end of summer and a lot of families are making their annual trip up Mt. LeConte.

There have been some comments talking about Woody the llama. I thought I would share with you what brought Woody to be the LeConte mascot for the next few days. As you are all aware, it has been very hot down below. Monday was one of those extremely hot days. Heat exhaustion can effect animals just like people. Woody was having a difficult day. The llama wrangler stopped at every water source to let them drink, but you can not always guarantee that they are drinking as much as they need to. Woody gave up about a mile from the lodge. The wrangler did not want to push him so he came up to the lodge to let us know what happened and send the troops. The crew put together llama chow and a lot of water and took off down the trail. After a couple of hours the rest of the crew returned and left Doug to watch over Woody. Later that evening the mountain was hit with a large amount of rain and hail. Doug took his umbrella and held it over Woody so he would not get hurt. In the mean time, we called the vet and asked her opinion about what to do. She gave us several ideas and things to try. The crew and some wonderful guests hiked down to try and get Woody to drink. They massaged his hind legs and tried to get him to stand. Realizing he was not going anywhere, Chris decided to grab his sleeping bag and sleep on the trail with Woody. The next morning Nathan took off down the trail to sit with Woody for a while. Nathan, being the Willie Nelson fan, decided it was time to sing to Woody. After everything we tried, Woody decided to get up when he heard Willie being sung. He walked a little ways and then stopped. Nathan did not want to push him so he let him rest. Chris then hiked down to relieve Nathan. Chris got Woody to eat ferns and grass. This must have been what Woody needed. The next thing Chris knew, Woody was walking up to the lodge. After two days we got Woody up to the lodge and have been spoiling him rotten. He has become the LeConte mascot. The vet sent medicine for him, which he gets every day. The crew and guests have made sure he knows how appreciated and loved he is. I did want to add that we will be sending Woody back to the llama farm as soon as he is fully recovered. He knows how good he has it up here, but I 

I thought I would share with you how our weather recordings work. I included a  picture of our weather station. We read the weather every morning and call it in the National Park. They then report it to the National Weather Service. The thermometers in the white box produce an accurate temperature reading. We have a thermometer on the porch of the office, this thermometer is in the sun, so it is not an accurate reading. There has been some miscommunication about a record high on July 25th. We recorded the temperature as 76 degrees. It has NOT reached 80 degrees on Mt. LeConte. I am sorry for the confusion and hope you will trust me when I say that as soon as it hits 80 degrees the whole world will know. 

My mother-in-law hiked up the mountain to celebrate her 70th birthday. We were very excited to have her spend a couple of days with us. She had decided to make the loom her project while visiting us. She reworked the loom and taught Katie and Meredith how to weave. It is great to see these arts passed down from one generation to the next.


For those of you asking about Woody, our llama. He has made it to the lodge and is hanging out eating lots of grass. 


We are still enjoying some cooler weather up here. It reached 70 yesterday with a low of 58. 

The mountain received almost 1.5" of rain in about an hour. The stair case leading into the dinning room looked like a beautiful cascade. Then the hail came. It was the size of gumballs. The high yesterday reached 77 which is the new record for this year. 

76 degrees was the high yesterday. It is getting closer to 80 everyday. It is currently a beautiful day up top and an observed temperature of 71 degrees. 

It was a warm one yesterday. We reached 74 up top. I know that is nothing compared to the temperatures down below, but us mountain folks are spoiled. The humidity reached us all the way up here at 6593'. The flowers are amazing right now. I found a pink turtlehead that was in full bloom. The crew is patiently awaiting blackberry season. Only a few more weeks. Some of you asked if we had seen the bear anymore. It has not returned. I believe it was just passing thru. 

Check out this video that was taken by Walter Wuthmann. He shot this piece for the Great Smoky Mountains Association Blog. It is a very informative video about the LeConte Lodge llamas. 

I posted a picture of the turk's cap lily before it bloomed. Here it is in full bloom. Temperatures hit 70 degrees yesterday. We received another afternoon shower. Typical weather patterns for July. 

chris and I had a great time in California. We were ready to get back on the mountain. We returned to find the mountain bursting in color. The cone flowers, bee balm, and monks hood flowers are all blooming. It is a beautiful time to be up top. The high yesterday was 68 degrees with an afternoon shower.