Time to get out the shorts and sandals, well not quite. It was a blazing 52 degrees yesterday. Of course, there is still 14" of snow on the ground and the low did get down to 27. I think I will stick to my pants and snow boots. Looks as though we have some shoveling to do around the llama troughs. We are hoping to get a pack trip in on Monday. The weather sounds as though it is going to be beautiful and warm, or warmer. Chris and I hiked up Alum yesterday. The trail was much better then it was on Monday. Be prepared to get your feet wet. The run off was crazy. We used our stabelicers from the last log bridge to the top. It was slushy and slippery. I have not heard about any other trails. I will try and get some updates today. For now, I would go with the information that Nathan was giving.
I pass along warmest regards on a beautiful, sunny day from LeConte Lodge. Allyson and Chris are headed back up tonight to close out the season. Thus, this will be my last High on LeConte update. I'll write more about that later, but first on to the news of the day. It's an interesting time of year: we have more inches of snow on the ground (16) than days left in the season (12). That's a sure sign that crew members are packing up their rooms, some of them sadly for the last time.
As many of you know, our llama teams have been "grounded" because of trail conditions left by the record October snowstorm. This forces us to be a little creative to make sure all our guests are still taken care of with clean sheets, fresh eggs and the like. A helicopter dropped in fresh supplies this morning and hauled off our dirty linens to be cleaned. We hope to bring the llamas back up to the lodge on Monday, though plans can change. I'd like to thank our guests who volunteered to help us haul bags and bags of supplies up and down from the helicopter blowdown. Displaying LeConte spirit, our guests paid their clean sheets forward by making sure our guests later this week could enjoy the same. Our guests and fine crew (including Scott, who made a welcomed visit after working on last year's crew) made sure a tough job was completed perfectly on a sun-kissed LeConte morning. John and I used some ingenuity to haul about 100 pounds of sugar, enough chicken to send chills through the henhouse and some other supplies down to the lodge by sliding our rescue litter/stretcher along the snowy path down to the lodge. That's a tough task, one that will surely make you a platinum member of the LeConte Llama Appreciation Society. Thursday's high reached 35 while the low of 18 occurred a couple hours after supper. Oddly enough, we enjoyed a temperature inversion, and the thermometer reading warmed up overnight. As of 2 p.m. Friday, the icicles are working overtime draining snow off the roof with sunny skies and a current temperature of 52 degrees. The forecast for the weekend looks wonderful. I expect this weather will do much to improve the trails, though I can comfortably recommend Rainbow Falls, Trillium Gap and Alum Cave Bluff Trails now. I'm going to wait for more melting to recommend Bullhead and the Boulevard Trails. Please keep in mind that with all of the melting, there will be plenty of icy water on the trails. I've seen a few freezing, miserable people in tennis shoes here at the lodge. Plan for overnight refreezing as the lows are likely to remain chilly. Tim Line, our general manager and a skilled hiker, found the descent of Alum Cave Bluff Trail in the morning more slippery than his ascent, though still doable. Finally, I'd like to thank all of you for reading High on LeConte during this circuitous trip through the news on Mt. LeConte during the 2012 season. I appreciate you leaving kind comments and coming up to say hello in person with nice thoughts about Allyson's and my daily updates. We spend a lot of time taking photos, visiting with guests to gather news and trying to pass along safety information, and it's nice to know that it's not just floating around in space unread. It's been quite a year. I still remember the crew huddling around the thermometer in June awaiting our first 80-degree day on the mountain (we ended up with three of them this year). Conversely, the monster snowstorm of October will live for many years in the stories of the crew and guests who experienced it. LeConte is a special place, and has been for a long time. Special thanks to all of you who came up and made the crew members' days better with your kindly dispositions. Thanks again for reading and for your passion for this mountain. Happy trails until we meet again. Hello to everyone. Today wraps up the end of the crew introductions as Lindi Berkey takes the stage. In more good news, we're expecting a few days of sunny weather as high pressure builds in Thursday.
I expect that the sun will continue to improve trail conditions. Crew member Walt headed down on off days Wednesday and reported that Alum Cave Bluff Trail remains passable after the new snow. He did mention a few slick spots on the log footbridges, but they're lower in elevation and should melt quicker than ice up here on the summit. Wednesday saw another inch of new snow, pushing us to about five inches of snow this week. We still have 16 inches of snow on the ground at LeConte Lodge. We certainly didn't get any melting done yesterday with a high of 29 and low of 18 this morning. We're still expecting overnight temperatures to submarine below freezing. While I think we'll see some helpful melting the next few days, conditions will probably be most slippery in the morning after the refreezing and before thawing resumes later in the day. Now back to introducing Lindi, the pride of Somerset, Pa. Lindi filled out our 10th and final crew position in 2012, and no one she works with regrets her decision. She's been filling double-duty for us on Sundays--waking up early to lead sunrise service and working a full day as a crew member. I'll turn it over to Lindi. ---------------- Lindi Berkey lives a life that begs for one adventure after another. When she calls home to talk to her mom, her mom begs her to settle down or start a career. Lindi, in return, tells her of her newest set of plans and adventures. So a phone call home last April went something like this. Lindi: "Mom, I've got some interesting news for you, but you're gonna want to be sitting down." Mom: "Oh heavens, what is it this time?" Lindi: "I'm quitting my nursing job, losing my benefits and giving up my apartment to move to a national park and work full-time in a lodge! Sound good?" Mom: "Aaahhhh!" Phone calls like that to the Berkey home aren't always well received, nevertheless last May Lindi moved to the mountain and became the 10th and final crew member for the 2012 season. Although this is her first year on crew, Lindi is not new to LeConte. She first hiked up in 2010 a few times to help lead Sunday morning worship services at Myrtle Point. Last year she was our regular chaplain, hiking up every Saturday, spending the night and then leading church services for the guests and crew before hiking down Sunday afternoon. Having the opportunity to be part of the LeConte staff has been an amazing blessing. How few people get to watch the weather roll in or the seasons change from a vantage point like Mt. LeConte. Lindi has gotten to travel and see some amazing places from the elk rut in Yellowstone to the shores of Belize to a 14,000-foot view in Rocky Mountain National Park. Yet LeConte will always hold a special place in her life and she looks forward to another fantastic year as chaplain next season. _I pass along wishes for a fine day to you from the top of LeConte. I'm continuing with the crew introductions today as Austin Bush takes front and center. However, because of the interest in the weather and trail conditions I'll lead with that first.
The snow returned last night and is still falling to the tune of three inches of new accumulation. We now have 15 inches of snow on the ground. The forecast calls for more snow this morning before giving way to mostly cloudy skies. There's a chance of light snow tonight before nice weather moves in for Thursday. Tuesday's high reached 34 degrees with little sun, so we didn't get much melting up top. The low bottomed out at 25. The temperature is 26 with steady snow falling at breakfast. The trail updates follow. Please keep in mind that the below conditions don't reflect any of the overnight and morning snow. Rainbow Falls Trail - This is our most preferred route for reaching the lodge. The snow line doesn't extend down too far. Trillium Gap Trail - There are some trees down on this trail, but those shouldn't bother hikers too much. The snow line doesn't extend down too far. Alum Cave Bluff Trail - Alum is passable, but I'd still recommend Rainbow Falls and Trillium ahead of Alum. The melting and refreezing into slick ice can be a bigger issue on Alum because of the narrow ledges and dropoffs. I'd still bring some sort of ice traction device for all three recommended trails, but especially Alum. I've never met a hiker who upon sliding on a sheet of ice toward the edge of oblivion remarked, "I'd really like less traction here." Bullhead Trail - I finally got a report on Bullhead conditions Tuesday. A dayhiker came up Bullhead and said it appeared that a lone hiker had previously broken trail coming down Bullhead. The hiker did OK ascending but found Bullhead tough going and chose to descend via Rainbow Falls. We don't advise taking Bullhead until more melting occurs. Boulevard Trail - Crew member John ventured 1.5 miles down the Boulevard from the lodge to give us some updated information on a trail people haven't been trying (for good reason). John said "nobody has any business on the Boulevard right now." Since the trail is not packed, John was sinking down in 1-2 feet of snow with each step. He also found himself in 3-5 feet drifts. He reports plenty of ice and deep snow on challenging parts of the Boulevard. At the slide below Myrtle Point, John reports that the cable has pulled out of the rock. If you slipped on this slide, there's nothing to keep you from falling down the mountain in these conditions. John, no stranger to tough hiking, found the conditions on the Boulevard so tough that he broke his ice traction devices. Please don't attempt the Boulevard for a while. P.S. I know John's family reads High on LeConte often, and he's just fine. While Austin joined the 2012 crew as a newcomer, he didn't stay that way long. He fit right in and we've been glad to have him, keeping us up to date on all matters of music and comedy (which surely makes dish washing more pleasant). Austin's also a fine cook, most recently doctoring up the best pumpkin seeds I've ever eaten in the enjoyable postlude to the LeConte Halloween Pumpkin Carving Contest. With that, I'll turn it over to Austin. ----------------------- Austin Bush grew up in a small town west of Nashville, Tenn., called Kingston Springs. His earliest years were spent living out in the country on a horse farm where he was introduced to the outdoors very early on. Playing in creeks and walking through the woods was how he spent most of his youth. Austin left Kingston Springs for high school. He attended Saint Andrews-Sewanee Episcopal Boarding School. Saint Andrews, located near the Savage Gulf Wilderness Area in Tennessee, offered an environment where he could continue to enjoy the outdoors--biking, hiking and kayaking. After high school Austin attended Maryville College, near the Great Smoky Mountains, where he majored in music performance before transferring to Middle Tennessee State University and earning his degree in music business. Since then Austin has worked in artist management and organic gardening. He is looking forward to returning to LeConte for another year. ------------------ We'll be following up with Lindi in the next couple of days to close out our crew biographies. Unless trail conditions seriously deteriorate, Thursday's High on LeConte update will be in the afternoon. Be careful and happy trails. Good morning to all of you. Happy Election Day to you. If we can find a way to vote living up here on LeConte, then you can, too. As we don't have a precinct located at the lodge (surprise, surprise), some of us early voted, others will vote in person and some had absentee ballots delivered up the mountain by llama. Not a lot of electioneering llamas living in America in 2012 (or any other time for that matter), but our boys are just that good.
As indicated in the photo above, snow has been our most regular guest at the lodge the last nine days or so. New snow began falling overnight and is still coming down as of 8:22 a.m. Currently, we've received about two inches of new snow to give us a total of 13 inches on the ground (accounting for some melting on Monday). The forecast calls for about a 20 percent chance of precipitation today giving way to mostly cloudy skies. On top of LeConte, the probability of snow increases tonight through midday Wednesday--about an 80 percent chance. We could get enough additional accumulation to affect trails and roads, but we're not expecting another three feet of new snow (as a man who carries dozens of eggs on snow and ice, I hope we are done with that). As of now, nicer conditions waltz in on Thursday and remain through the weekend. Monday's high reached 40 under sunny skies, but we didn't get as much melting as I'd hoped. The lowest temperature we saw on Tuesday morning was 26, not quite as cold as Monday's 21 degrees. At the conclusion of Tuesday's breakfast, the temperature registered 27. I'll pass along a few trail updates we received up top throughout the day Monday. Please keep in mind all of these reports reflect conditions before the new snowfall. I still couldn't track down any guests who attempted the Boulevard and Bullhead Trails. Rainbow Falls Trail still seems the best bet, as I heard there's not even much snow below the Rainbow/Bullhead Trail junction--just 0.6 miles from the lodge. We're fortunate to have our general manager Tim Line, a longtime LeConte veteran, up for a couple of days. Tim took Alum Cave Bluff Trail up Monday morning and found its conditions improved even since Sunday night. I received a detailed trail report from a dayhiker who fared well on Trillium Gap Trail Monday. He said that there are about five trees down on the trail, which shouldn't slow down hikers too much (llamas are a different matter, unfortunately). Like all the trails, Trillium is quite wet, carrying a great deal of snowmelt away from LeConte's summit. However, there's little snow below Trillium's junction with the Brushy Mountain Trail. The snow is patchy above that point until it transitions to packed snow about one mile below the lodge. You should be fine if you stay on the packed snow, but the drifts will swallow your lower leg if you stray too far. Please be well prepared if you come up to see us in the next couple of days. We're expecting some continued overnight refreezing, which is slicker than just snow or slush. Thanks to everyone for their help with accurate trail reports. You are helping keep our guests safe, and all of us at LeConte Lodge appreciate that. Hello to all you High on LeConte readers. It's certainly been an eventful last week. I'm glad that some sense of normalcy is returning to the lodge after our record October snow. After doing a wonderful job keeping folks up to date on the dangerous snow conditions last week, Allyson is taking her November days off, and I'll be filling in.
Allyson's update from yesterday remains the most current information we have on the Trillium Gap, Bullhead and Boulevard Trails. I have the expectation that more melting occurred Sunday as a result of the overnight rain and warmer temperatures. We are enjoying sunny skies as of now, which will help trail conditions I hope. Sunday's high was 43 degrees but our overnight low dropped to 21, refreezing everything that was slushy. Even though much has melted, we still have 14 inches of snow on the ground at the lodge with higher drifts. I would still give the Boulevard and Bullhead Trails a couple more days of melting before I'd give them a go. Our trail recommendation for reaching the lodge is Rainbow Falls, Trillium Gap and Alum Cave Bluff Trail (in that order). Chrissy ascended Rainbow Falls Sunday and feels comfortable recommending it. She says there is an incredible amount of water flowing down the trail. Wet and icy feet make for a dangerous day. I came up Alum Cave Bluff Trail yesterday evening. The trail is passable but still difficult in spots. I would bring some sort of ice traction device for any trail you choose for the next few days as melting and refreezing will be an issue each day. You won't need them for every foot of the trail, but they don't weigh much and you never regret having them when the edges get slippery. The downed rhododendron on Alum is not a huge difficulty. I escorted a hiker without proper cold-weather gear to the lodge who was caught in a dangerous situation as night fell on Alum. We ended up having to hike three hours by flashlight but all ended up OK. Please plan for more hiking time than you expect you'd need. Also, keep in mind how much shorter the days are now that we've swapped from Daylight to Standard Time. Please pack plenty of batteries for your light source. In fact, I always hike (even in the summer) with two light sources so you have a backup if you need to change batteries in the dark or need to lend one out in a rescue situation. If you've not checked your headlamp batteries since the Clinton administration, then make sure you bring extra. You never regret having too much light when night descends on a wet, snowy and/or icy trail with questionable footing and dropoffs to the side. Sunset tonight is at 5:35 p.m. on LeConte and will only be getting earlier the rest of the season. Footwear is the most important place to start with your gear. Please don't attempt to climb the mountain with tennis shoes and cotton socks on. I didn't have to break any trail on Alum, but there is still plenty of snow and lots of icy water holes in the trail. Make certain you bring extra dry shoes, cold-weather socks and have enough warm clothes packed to allow you to spend the night on the trail (if you happened to break an ankle or something) in melting snow and icy conditions with the low dropping down into the low 20s. We'd be happy to see you, but want your trip to LeConte to be a happy and safe one. I awoke to the sweet, sweet sound of rain coming down. It has been raining off and on all night. With yesterdays high of 45 and the temperatures staying in the low 40s overnight, we have had a good amount of snow melt. This will help conditions on the trail considerably. There were a lot of day hikers who made it up yesterday. We got some good information on the trails. I want to explain about the information you get on this site. I am giving information for the beginner to average hiker. Someone who may have never hiked in these conditions, or someone who has and is still trying to make an informed decision. I am also giving this advice for the day of the post. The conditions can change day to day. If the weather stays this way, we could see clear trails with in the next week. Rainbow Falls- The most traveled within the last week. It is going to be slushy in places. I have seen folks make it up with out ice crampons. It will still be a bit slow going, so start early and take your time. Alum Cave Trail - We had about 10 day hikers make it up Alum. They said it was tricky. The rhodo thickets are bouncing back to life and that should not be an issue. Be careful if you choose Alum. The area around the cables are going to be slushy and slick. Trillium - We have had reports from guest going down Trillium. The rhodo thickets are no longer an issue. There are still some trees down. They are passable. This trail is has a lot of northern facing slopes. This means the sun has not melted it off as much. The rain may have helped the situation. Bullhead- I have not heard of anyone coming up or going down Bullhead. If this is the case and you decide to try Bullhead, you may be breaking trail. Boulevard - No one has gone out Boulevard that I am aware of. This trail is north facing and usually the one that clears up. There are going to be deep drifts on this trail. The reason I told people to not try it was because people tend to take this trail thinking it is going to be the easiest. This is not the case. If you are an experienced hiker who has hiked in conditions like this, you will probably be fine. If you are an average hiker, this could be very difficult. If you are a beginner, DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS TRAIL. I do more rescues on this trail then any other trail leading to the mountain. I am talking about people needing assistance to a make it to the lodge because they are warn out from attempting this trail. Once again, this information is for today's post. Conditions may change by tomorrow. I am heading off the mountain for a few days of rest and relaxation. Nathan will be keeping you up to date on conditions. It has been a fun week, but this girl needs a break. See you on Friday.
Another day is upon us. The sky is coming alive with color. The forecast is calling for warmer temperatures and sunshine. That is always good news when you are staring at 3 feet of snow. Yesterday helped a bit. The snow is melting off the trees which should help the rhodo situation on the trails. The high yesterday was 35 with a low of 19. This means the snow is melting on the trails and then freezing at night. I highly recommend using some sort of traction device on your shoes. It will make your hiking experience much more pleasurable. Trail Updates:
Rainbow Falls Trail - This is still going to be the best bet. The trail is packed down. You will find it becoming slushy as the weather warms up. Most people hiked up Rainbow yesterday. Trillium - A few folks have come up Trillium. It is still going to be slow going. There are trees down along the way. Alum Cave Trail - I had guy staying in the shelter who made it up Alum. He said it was tricky. There are areas around the cables that have big snow drifts. There are no cables to hold on to. They are buried in snow and below your feet. I am still recommending hikers to NOT use this trail. Bullhead - No one has been out that trail. Boulevard - Do Not Attempt We are still hanging in there on top. Currently, the crew is packing laundry up to the heli pad to get a supply drop. The conditions are too bad for the llamas to make it up for at least another week. The high yesterday was 25 with a low of 15. We heard from some folks who hiked down Trillium. They said it was slow going. The rhodo thickets are still an issue on that trail. The park service attempted to hike up Trillium and said the rhodo made it impossible to get through with their equipment. We are suggesting everyone use Rainbow until some of the snow melts off the trees.
We have an Alum Cave Trail update. Chrissy and Nathan left at 8 am heading down Alum. They just returned saying it is impassible. It took them an hour to go a quarter of a mile. They said the cables are covered in snow and layer of ice on top. They are below your feet. The snow was waist deep heading around the cliffs. I would say this extremely dangerous for anyone to try at the moment. They hiked back up and decided to head down Rainbow. Please do not attempt this trail. I will not send my crew down this trail to rescue anyone who decides to attempt this trail. It is dangerous. Give it a day or two of warmer weather and sun. I will keep you posted on the conditions.
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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
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