Well, we lucked out with no snow so far today. Although the temperature has actually dropped since I got up this morning to start cooking breakfast. At 5 am it was 33 degrees and by sunrise it had dropped to almost 30. It is going to be a cool day. Unlike yesterday which reached 54, I think it will stay much cooler and more breezy. We are expecting much colder temperatures tonight. Even though I was never a fan of waking up before the sun, cooking breakfast is one of the favorite parts of my managing day. I enjoy the quiet "me time" and starting the day with some news. And the gorgeous sunrises I usually miss are an added bonus!
With only 14 days left in the season, our provisions are dwindling. I thought I would show you a preseason shot of food storage and a photo taken today. Chris and I will be hiking down the mountain this evening. We have five more days off to take before the end of season. Meredith will keep you up to date on the happenings on LeConte. I will return next Wednesday and introduce you to the new winter caretaker.
I don't want to tell you a lot about him or his duties. I need to leave something for him to talk about. He will have 3 1/2 months up here and will need some topics to discuss. I would also like to tell Betty Pierce at the Edgewater th People ask me why I come back year after year. Where else am I going to get a view like this from my work window??? Another beautiful morning on the mountain. The crowds are dying down. The trails are less traveled and the mountain has a quiet feeling about it. I love this time of year.
It was another gorgeous day for the books. The temperatures were in the mid 50s. The night time temperatures are around the high 30s. If you are hiking up to stay the night, make sure to bring plenty of warm layers for sunset viewing. We only have 16 days left of the season. It won't belong before I hand the reigns over to the winter caretaker. He should be on the mountain by next week. I am sure you all are anxiously awaiting the return of the splendid winter photos that are captured from the top of Mt. Leconte.
It is a peaceful morning in the Smokies. I love the time change. I wake up earlier and get to enjoy an extra hour of solitude. The temperature, as of 6:50 a.m., is 45 degrees. It is looking like another warm day up top. The ice and snow is melting. Should be a great day for a hike.
On a personal note, I want to send a greeting to my sister-in-law. She is getting ready to run her first New York City Marathon. "Good luck Stacy. We are super proud of you and excited for you. Have a great run!!" Yesterday was a perfect day for hot chocolate and beignets. Thanks again to our buddy Ryan who sent up a care package for the crew. They were perfect on a day like yesterday. The mountain stayed cloaked in a blanket of clouds. It warmed up enough to turn the snow to a big slushy mess. There are still patches of ice on the trails. Just be careful hiking up. The sun is out up top and it is currently 40 degrees. It is going to be a beautiful day up top.
The rain moved in yesterday afternoon. It continued to rain for most of the evening. As the temperatures dropped the rain turned to snow. We awoke this morning to about an inch of fresh powder. The ground was soaked before the snow fell, that makes for a good base layer of ice. If you are hiking up today, please make sure you have the proper clothing and some form of ice walker. The temperature is hovering in the mid twenties. The wind is blowing. It is a bone chilling morning on the mountain.
Tic tac toe??? The sunset was beautiful last night. The planes flying overhead made for some great images. Today is starting out to be an amazing day. The wind is blowing pretty hard. The forecast is calling for rain. So far it is beautiful blue skies. The ice has pretty much disappeared from the mountain. All trails look good.
Temperatures are rising up top. Yesterday was a beautiful day. The high was in the upper 40s. The snow and ice is starting to melt away. There are still some icy patches up top.
Chris and I are back in training mode. We have a race in February we are training for. The icy trail was putting a damper on our schedule. Thanks to our good buddy, Dave Worth, he shared with us the solution to icy trails. Sheet metal screws in the bottom of our shoes. We drilled the short screws into the bottom of our old running shoes. So, if you hike up and see two fools running around on the ice, no worries, we are prepared. First things first. I will go ahead and get the trail report out of the way. We had a cold day yesterday. The temperature hovered around 30 degrees for the most of the day. There were a few snow flurries through out the day. The low last night was 23 degrees. The trails are still icy in spots. The guests have been making it up with out ice walkers. Today is starting out to be a beautiful day. I believe the forecast calls for warmer temperatures. Yesterday was the ninth annual crew pumpkin carving contest. The crew members that wish to participate get to carve a pumpkin for dinner on Halloween. The guests are the judges. The crew member that receives the most votes get to sleep in one morning. The winning pumpkin was actually carved by our chaplin, Lindi. She decided to give the prize to Dave since it was his birthday and he had to work. One of the ways the crew keeps it exciting on the mountain is by playing tricks on one another. I thought I would share our Halloween shenanigans. We have had a bear that has been coming through camp during the early evening. We think he has an ear tag, which means he has been an issue before. The park service asked us to put the bear trap out and see if we could catch him. They would then hike up and check him out and possible relocate him. Chrissy, our enthusiastic crew member, was super excited about the possibilities of seeing a bear up close. We thought we would play a little joke on her. We told her we caught the bear. Play the video and you will see what happened next. |
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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