There was a short break in the weather. The clouds lifted and the sun highlighted the valley below. The total rain fall for the 24 hour period was .8". It seemed like a lot more. It rained all night long. The high was 43º and the low was 38º. The rain didn't slow the day hikers down. We saw a steady flow of hikers coming in to get warm. October is usually our busiest month.
It is "prom season" on the mountain. You know the couple of months before summer break? The kids are looking forward to prom and the end of the school year. We look at our season like that. We are just opposite. Our summer break is actually during the winter. The crew is starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They are excited about the months ahead. Some of us are heading to faraway lands, some are heading to the beach to find employment for a bit, and some of us are starting new chapters in our lives. The anticipation will make the last 50 days fly by. In the meantime, we will soak up every experience the mountain brings our way.
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I thought I would share a different perspective this morning. I received a text yesterday afternoon from my cousin's wife. They said they would be flying around Mt. Leconte in 15 minutes. I went out on the back porch and saw them. I waved, but something tells me they could not see me. My cousin sent me this picture last night. I thought it was such a cool perspective I asked him if I could share it with you all. It was a gorgeous day to be in the air or on the mountain.
The sun warmed us a bit. The high was 44º with a low of 35º. The fall weather has been perfect. Folks have been asking about the vegetation. We don't have much vegetation that changes on the top of the mountain. Most of the flowers have gone to seed and the fir trees are the same year round. We have Mountain Ash trees that produce berries every three or four years. This is an off year for them, so we are missing the brilliant reds they add to the mountain top. It is getting to that time of year when we can take a stroll out to the Myrtle Point and see the patchwork of color in the lower elevations. It was a cold day on the mountain. The high was 34º with a low of 21º. We sold a lot of hot cocoa to cold day hikers. Around dinner time, we witnessed the first flurries of the fall. Lesley guessed the date for the crew snow pool. The funny thing is she is at the beach with her family and missed this cold spell and the flurries. I am pretty sure she will be able to experience winter on the mountain before we hike down in November.
Ruthie is getting to experience what it means to run this place during cold weather. There are a lot of things that could freeze like the water pump, the flush toilets, the crew shower room, and the lines to the kitchen. One thing the management is responsible for is to make sure these things to do not freeze and break. She is going to be a pro at tearing down a water pump before she leaves LeConte. Oh my, I did not expect to wake up this morning to 25º. It seems on this 4th day of October, fall has left us and made way for Old Man Winter. The high yesterday was 59º. I had a hard time believing folks when they said be prepared for snow, but I am starting to wonder. With only 53 days left in the season, I guess winter is closer than I want it to be.
I keep seeing my little rabbit friend around camp. This makes me happy. Our first season on the mountain, we saw rabbits every where. They seemed to disappear the next season. We figured a predator moved in over the winter and helped themselves to our rabbit population. We have not seen many over the last 12 years. It was a delight to see our little friend and several more over the last couple of weeks. I just hope another predator does not move in over the winter. It reminds me how much this mountain can change from season to season. I guess that is why so many people come back year after year. Their visits are always different. There are a lot of things that remain a constant on the mountain, but there are plenty of things that change and make each trip a different experience. I want to take a minute to remind everyone, 2015 is just around the corner. If you have not ordered your 2015 LeConte Calendar, make sure you do so. You can enjoy images from your favorite mountain as you jot down your hectic schedule. Hopefully the photos will bring a smile to your face and peace to your soul. The calendars are available on our website. Just click on the link and it will take you to our online store. http://www.lecontelodge.com/store/ Good afternoon to you all. Today I'll update you on our weather conditions and then reintroduce you to Matt Lowell, who is finishing up his second season on the LeConte Lodge crew.
Thursday's weather turned out to be pretty nice, though the clouds swallowed us last night. The winds began to howl overnight. The wind velocity was not uncommon for LeConte, but, with a couple of exceptions, we haven't had a whole lot of wind since the spring. The wind raised its voice to you as it rounded every cabin corner. Thursday's high was 62 with a low of 47. We had no precipitation at observation time early this morning, though that changed by breakfast. Yesterday we hit a season countdown milestone I watch for every year on LeConte. Some people begin to count down from midseason. Others begin at 100 days left to start their countdown. I know we're in the homestretch when the number of guests we host equals or surpasses the number of nights left in the season. Last night we hosted 56 guests, equal to the 56 days left in the season. When I offer the crew members a chance to introduce themselves, I give them some latitude to write their profile. Matt decided to take quite a bit of latitude, but I think you'll enjoy it. I'll turn the update over to Matt. ---------- Dearest High on LeConte readers, This is my second season on our beloved Mt. LeConte, and my time here is rapidly drawing to a close. It has been a remarkable experience, but I will spare you all from too much remarking. Instead, seeing as how this is my five minutes on the blog, I thought I would take some time to shamelessly self-promote as I look forward to the future. In a few short months I will be hunched over a computer with a $2 cup of coffee by my side, mooching wi-fi and working tirelessly to fill out applications. No kerosene lanterns, no propane heaters, just the sleet-wet streets of Nashville and the steadfast resolve of a tender-hearted, hard-working, mountain man trying to find a job in the big city. I know this blog is read by people all over the world and from many different backgrounds. So if this bores you, I will take no offense if you minimize your browser window, turn back to that spreadsheet and try HighonLeConte.com another day. I assure you that there will be enough lodges, llamas and lanterns to get you through the week. However, if you happen to be an HR person, hiring manager or owner of a business in the Nashville, Tenn., area, please read on. My name is Matthew Lee Lowell. I am 28 years old, well traveled, easy going, hard working and, starting February 2015, on the prowl for employment. I have a degree in public relations. Aside from all the specific classes and clubs and campaigns, what that means is I am a communicator. I like taking an idea or information and packaging it in a way that is concise, thorough and achieves a desired purpose. I have worked successfully in sales. I am currently working on a Kickstarter campaign for some friends, and I have written compelling letters to companies who, in return sent me a lot of really nice free stuff. On Mt. LeConte I regularly communicate how to NOT turn a pilot light off on a propane heater. Admittedly, I am not always successful in this endeavor. LeConte's pilot lights tend to be a little tricky, as many of you can attest. I love being out of doors, and my experience here on the mountain has really scratched that itch for me. I'm not scared to scrub toilets and sweep floors. I will look for lost hikers in the dark. I will help carry a stretcher. I will not shave my beard. Trim, maybe. I value humor in the workplace, and I like to feel good about what I do. I have a passion for homebrew, writing, hiking and travel. If you think I could fill a niche' in your business let's talk. My Internet access is limited up here, but I will respond as soon as possible. References, writing samples and resume available upon request. No pyramid schemes, please. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Matt Lowell matt[dot]lee[dot]lowell[at]gmail[dot]com ---------- Thanks to Matt for providing his profile. Allyson should return to the mountain from off days this afternoon and will take over updates. Thanks for reading and come see us. Happy trails. Hello to all of you. I noticed in yesterday's comments that some of you were having a tough time reading High on LeConte on your mobile devices. We're looking for a fix, but don't have one yet. This is not the easiest place in the world to get tech assistance.
We've enjoyed a nice Thursday so far on top of LeConte, but I hear changes are in the forecast. Wednesday's high and low were 63-43 with no precipitation. The overnight temperature readings from the last three days have been a little unique, as the temperature at observation (6:30 a.m.) has been slightly warmer than the temperature at 11 p.m. the previous night. Typically, we register our coldest temperature of the day during that 5-7 a.m. period. I mentioned the periodic bear activity nearby the lodge yesterday. Today I'll focus on some smaller animals we've been seeing up top. Something we haven't been seeing much lately are the deer. Perhaps they've headed down for greener pastures. I have seen a rabbit hopping in and out of our grassy spots the last week. Spotting a rabbit is fairly uncommon on top of LeConte. I can only remember seeing about five in my four years up here. In perhaps a related note, we've not seen our on-again, off-again neighbor the weasel in a long while. Maybe the rabbit knows something we don't. Crew member Matt took a walk down Bullhead Trail the other day and saw some grouse fly out of the trail in front of him. He had an interesting way of describing the sound of their wingbeats -- "like the sound of your own heartbeat in your head." Crew member Pat also saw some sort of hawk harassing a raven a couple of days ago. We see the ravens all the time. They may be one of the smartest animals in all the park. As the first and second days of October rolled around this year, I couldn't help but remember life on LeConte one year ago. This is the anniversary of the dreaded 2013 federal government shutdown, which locked our doors half of October in the prime of our fall season. We've had lots of guests the last few days say they were planning on coming up to see us this time last year, but were thwarted because of the shutdown. Many of them asked how we dealt with the shutdown here. A few of my remembrances follow (others can't be repeated in front of polite company, but I remember my empty wallet and will be voting in November). I ended up managing for the transition on Oct. 1 and first eight days or so of the shutdown. The park service, whose employees would also have rather been working, allowed our guests to stay the night of Oct. 1 and then vacate the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Oct. 2. General manager Tim Line came up and relieved me for the second week until operations resumed. For two or three nights in the beginning some crew members stayed put because no one knew when we'd reopen, and we'd have to move quick when we got the word. No one was getting paid, and the crew can burn through the money fast on hotels and food down in the valley. Gradually the rest of the crew headed down, and I spent several days up here by myself, the closest thing I've experienced to the LeConte winter caretaker role. At night, I was probably the only human within at least a five-mile radius. That sort of isolation doesn't often exist these days. Even in Antarctica and the wilds of Alaska where I worked, I was usually pretty close to someone. There wasn't much to do compared to my 18-hour schedule today. I still had to call in the LeConte weather conditions to the park service early every morning and ask if the situation was resolved yet. Every morning I got a bad answer. Legally, even though LeConte is run by a private company operating this concession through a contract with the park service, we couldn't host overnight guests or even sell someone a t-shirt. We could legally leave the pit toilets open and keep the treated water spigot flowing (as a few people managed their way up the mountain on under-the-radar day hikes). Also, I wasn't even supposed to leave the lodge grounds, as the park was closed and no rangers were on duty if I got hurt and needed to be rescued. I read a lot, sat out on the porch on a beautiful, sunny October Saturday and listened to the Tennessee football game by myself. On a normal October Saturday there would have been hundreds of dayhikers scaling LeConte, but the shutdown was eerie. After all of the nasty weather we'd experienced during that summer, finally fall had broken through in glorious fashion -- and no one else was around to see it at the top of Tennessee. At any rate, those memories have returned this week. Please keep in mind this is not the forum to blame anyone for the shutdown, just a recollection to respond to a question I've received often this week. As I alluded earlier, we're expecting a rainy Friday followed by colder weather this weekend. Remember, just because it's comfortable in Gatlinburg doesn't mean you'll see anything similar on top of LeConte. When you're preparing for your trip, always bring raingear and plan for a high and low 15-20 degrees lower than in Gatlinburg or Knoxville to be safe. That's not always the case, but it should put you in better stead if weather is snarly on top of the mountain. Happy trails. Good afternoon to you. This is Nathan, filling in for Allyson while she's on off days. We've enjoyed a nice last couple of days on top of LeConte. We ended up getting some real September weather the last half of the month, featuring little precipitation, nice sunrises and sunsets and plenty of sunny days.
After I bragged about how nice September is on the mountain early in the month, the weather decided to make a liar of me. We saw more gray skies and rain than usual the first half of September. However, the most underrated month on LeConte came around and offered us only 0.59 total inches of precipitation from Sept. 16-30, a veritable drought. We only had measurable rain on three days between Sept. 18-30. I hope that sets a nice trend for us moving into October. Today has been quite nice, especially through lunch. We've seen a few more clouds this afternoon but no precipitation. Tuesday's high reached 63 with an overnight low of 40. We did have a report of a guest spotting a large bear Monday morning near Cliff Tops. I hope the bears will pass through LeConte without hanging out too long. There's just not much for them to eat up here right now. The tail end of the blackberries finished up about three weeks ago up top. Additionally, after last year's bumper crop of the brilliant red mountain ash berries, we have very few clusters on the trees this fall. Conversely, Bill Stiver, the Park Service's top authority for wildlife in the Great Smoky Mountains, told me the hard mast (acorns, etc.) crop is excellent down below. Maybe that will keep the bears moving downhill for dinner. It seems we've had an Ohio theme going on for a day or two at LeConte Lodge. We were honored to host Ohio natives Tim and Lisa Parkison for their wedding on Myrtle Point Tuesday morning. The bride squirreled away a wedding dress in the bottom of her backpack and surprised everyone by hiking out to LeConte's eastern-most peak in wedding white. Carol and Gene Parkison, the groom's parents, sprung for wedding cake for the whole lodge last night. Assistant cook Nicholette worked hard to make it, and, after having a piece of wedding cake for lunch, I can testify it was tasty. I first met Carol and Gene Parkison on the trail on a brutally windy, wet and cold night when LeConte was still holding on to winter in 2010, my first season on crew. It wasn't a very fun hike for them, as the thermometer read 36 degrees when we arrived at the lodge and the wind was blowing rain up the steep slopes of Alum Cave Bluff Trail that night. Once they arrived at the lodge, however, Carol and Gene took a liking to the spirit of the place. We've been privileged to welcome them twice a year since--always a treat for us because of their enthusiasm for the mountain and warmth to everyone. We were also fortunate to taste some fine "Ohio Buckeye" confections different Ohio natives hiked up for the crew. The candy was delicious and the guests even nicer. This being Oct. 1 and the beginning of reservations week, we wish all the folks on redial and all our cohorts in the Sevierville office answering those phones a good night's rest. Happy trails. |
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April 2024
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