Park Plans Alum Cave Trail Restoration
Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced that the next full-scale, Trails Forever restoration will begin on Alum Cave Trail in 2015. The Trails Forever crew will focus restoration efforts on several targeted locations along the 5-mile trail to improve visitor safety and stabilize eroding trail sections. The restoration work will require temporary trail closures throughout the 2-year process. Alum Cave Trail is one of the most popular trails in the park, leading hikers to iconic areas including Arch Rock, Inspiration Point, Alum Cave Bluffs, Mt. Le Conte, and LeConte Lodge. Park rangers respond to numerous accidents along the trail each year, especially along the upper, narrow corridors. The planned work will improve overall trail safety and protect natural resources by repairing historic cable and handrail systems, reinforcing hanging trail sections, reducing trail braiding, and improving drainage to prevent further erosion. There are also several narrow areas where erosion and small landslides have damaged significant sections of the trail, making it difficult to safely travel through the areas during inclement weather or to pass hikers coming from the opposite direction. By restoring these fragile trail sections, the park can best ensure long-term sustainability and protect trailside natural communities from degradation. "Alum Cave Trail has so many unique natural and historic features," said Trails Supervisor Tobias Miller. "Our crew is working alongside the park's cultural and natural resource managers as we plan the restoration to insure that features are protected as we improve trail durability and safety." Alum Cave Trail and associated parking areas will be closed May 4 through November 19 in 2015, excluding federal holidays, on Monday mornings at 7:00 a.m. through Thursday evenings at 5:30 p.m. weekly. Due to the construction process on the narrow trail, a full closure is necessary for the safety of both the crew and visitors. Hikers can still reach Mt. Le Conte, LeConte Lodge, and the Le Conte Shelter by using one of the other five trails to the summit. The Mt. LeConte Lodge and Mt. Le Conte backcountry shelter will remain open and can be accessed from any of these other routes during the Alum Cave Trail closure. “A weekday closure of Alum Cave Trail is not an easy decision to make, but we feel it is necessary to ensure the continued protection of resources and safe use of the trail for hikers now and into the future,” said Acting Superintendent Clay Jordan. “We hope hikers will take this opportunity to explore another route to Mt. Le Conte, hike some of our other 800 plus miles of trail, or hike Alum Cave Trail on the weekends.” The Boulevard, Bull Head, Rainbow Falls, Trillium Gap, and Brushy Mountain trails all lead to Mt. Le Conte, but trailhead parking is limited. Carpooling is encouraged. Day hikers should also consider enjoying other trails offering stunning views such as Chimney Tops Trail, Forney Ridge Trail to Andrews Bald, or the Appalachian Trail from Newfound Gap to Charlies Bunion. Trails Forever is a partnership program between Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Friends of the Smokies. The Friends have donated $500,000 to support the program, in part through the generosity of the Knoxville based Aslan Foundation. The Trails Forever program provides the opportunity for a highly skilled trail crew to focus reconstruction efforts on high use and high priority trails in the park including the recently restored Chimney Tops Trail and Forney Ridge Trail. The program also provides a mechanism for volunteers to work alongside the trail crew on these complex trail projects to assist in making lasting improvements to preserve the trails for future generations. For more information about the Alum Cave Trail closure, please visit http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/alum-cave-closure-faqs.htm where you can find answers to frequently asked questions and updates on the trail restoration. To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles… And indeed, that IS the question: whether to float with the tide, or to swim for a goal. It is a choice we must all make consciously or unconsciously at one time in our lives. So few people understand this! Think of any decision you’ve ever made which had a bearing on your future: I may be wrong, but I don’t see how it could have been anything but a choice however indirect — between the two things I’ve mentioned: the floating or the swimming. Hunter S. Thompson Morning y'all, It's a beautiful, blustery day up top. The high yesterday reached 34 degrees. The overnight low was 22 degrees. It was 23 degrees and mostly cloudy at 7am observation. The mountain received no new precipitation and had no snow on the ground.... until I awoke at 10sh from my post weather slumber and we got an inch in about 20 minutes. The trails were in great shape yesterday, but I'm sure the footing will be a little slick with this new snow. Be prepared for cold temps and slick trails if you intend to summit today! I spent yesterday out exploring, knowing that the forecast was calling for colder temps starting today. I wanted to take advantage of this last bit of warm weather before Jack Frost settled in for the season and unofficially started my torpor. I love deep winter and will always root for snow, but if it's not snow, the next best thing is clear trails. I was running up and down the mountain with no regard for black ice, feeling so free and unencumbered with my little 13 liter day pack. It was outrageously fun, an effort that felt like no effort because it was fueled by pure joy. These types of spontaneous micro-adventures make memories, as my friend Jimmy Jam would say. It is so encouraging to remind yourself that experiences are all we have and if we work at it, we can cultivate the spectacular.
Morning y'all, It's a beautiful, clear morning up top. The high yesterday reached 43 degrees. The low was 23 degrees, recorded early yesterday morning. It was 35 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received no new precipitation and there is no snow on the mountain. The trails (with the exception of Boulevard) are almost entirely clear of ice. Get out and enjoy these clear conditions before winter settles in for good! I had a hard time hiking up Bullhead yesterday. It's become a bit of a struggle for me to figure out how to express all this incredible sensory input. There is a part of me that felt as if I worked hard enough at it, the sentences would come. I'd be able to craft them with persistence and will. However, as I worked my way up the sunny backside of the Bullhead trail, it felt arrogant to try to contain all that glory with my petty words. They are not enough. This experience is too rich for me to capture. The way the sun felt on my legs after a chilly hike up, the warm breeze and pure blue bliss skies, the lingering clouds that rise and fall and seem more alive than many people I've met, the constant joys of a body in motion fulfilling it's destiny... it is all too much sometimes. All I can do is throw my hands up in the air, savor the present moment, keep on climbing, blessing how beautiful life can be. Much thanks to Buddy for hiking me up some more treats! I truly appreciate the variety in my trail-food-centric diet!
The shock of the real. For a little while we are again able to see, as the child sees, a world of marvels. For a few moments, we discover that nothing can be taken for granted, for if this ring of stone is marvelous then all which shaped it is marvelous, and our journey here on earth, able to see and touch and hear in the midst of tangible and mysterious things-in-themselves, is the most strange and daring of all adventures. ABBEY Morning y'all, It's the first truly wintry day since I've gotten up here about 2 weeks ago. The high yesterday reached 42 degrees and the overnight low dipped down to 22 degrees. It was 24 degrees and the mountain is enjoying a stunning-as-always undercast, clear as a bell up high with clouds settling in around 4,000'. The mountain received .95" of rain yesterday and got relatively icy overnight. Trails are sure to be slick, so pack some sort of traction devices if you intend to summit. It is just outrageously beautiful out right now. It is the kind of morning that really makes you pinch yourself and question whether this is real life or some sort of wonderful drifty dream that is capitalizing on all your wildest hopes for perfect bluebird skies, twirling marshmallow clouds, ever changing colour beyond colour and a serenity beyond common experience. I intend to walk amongst this landscape, engaging with this all too real reality, staying rooted to the joys of my delicious present, drinking it all in like a parched wildflower in spring rain. As Janis said, get it while you can.
I love the world, and especially do I love the external eye and the shining heart of pure heart-to-heart mornings in a sane eternity, with love and security, but at this time in my life I'm making myself sick to find the wild form that can grow with my wild heart... because I KNOW MY HEART DOES GROW... SALUD! HEALTH! JOY! WRITE ME SOON! LOOK FORWARD TO A HUGE JOY IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE - I see it in yr cards, in the sky. Someday I am going to be a hermit in the woods... very soon now I'll visit my site. Kerouac Morning y'all,
It is a seriously grey day up top! The high yesterday reached 42 degrees. The overnight low got down to 37 degrees. It was 42 degrees and mostly cloudy (like, need a headlamp to get from my cabin to the kitchen! cloudy!) at 7am observation. The mountain received .35" of liquid precipitation, mostly coming overnight. It's due to be a grey, rainy day - so unique and characteristic of the park. Don't let some clouds keep you in the valley! These are some of the best days to experience this national treasure - no crowds, eerieness and mystery around every corner. Is that a tree trunk or a bear? You decide. Much thanks to Bill and Kathy for dropping off some much appreciated home baked cookies! They were delightful after my long hike yesterday! Also, best of luck to all my mountain loving brothers and sisters running the North Face Endurance Challenge out in SF today! Your dedication is a constant source of inspiration! Sometimes in winter it’s so bitterly cold that one says, it’s simply too cold, what do I care whether summer comes, the bad outweighs the good. But whether we like it or not, an end finally comes to the hard frost, and one fine morning the wind has turned and we have a thaw. Comparing the natural state of the weather with our state of mind and our circumstances, subject to variables and change, I still have some hope that it can improve. Van Gogh Morning y'all,
It's another grey day up top. The high yesterday reached 42 degrees. The low got down to 36 degrees. It was 41 degrees and mostly cloudy at 7am observation. The mountain received .16" of liquid precipitation, most of it coming overnight. There is no more snow or ice on the ground. It is great, quiet hiking conditions. I've seen very few people over the last few days. I love this place more and more with each passing day. One of the reasons it all still feels so fresh and alive to me is that I have a great number of amazing friends who appreciate this environment as much as I do. Seeing it through their new eyes, I feel the enthusiasm I recall bursting forth from my first trip up Alum Cave in January 2011. Unlike my friend Henry, who insists on one world at a time, I feel comfortable straddling between my default mode of happy quietude and revelling in the company of my good mountain loving friends. We are all on the same wavelength, appreciative of all the little gifts the mountain has to offer us. We know that the mountain speaks in mysterious tongues and it is our vocation to be, to listen, to let all that good flow into our veins. Sharing this heightened sense of feeling with others is the only joy greater than solitude. quite clear, no doubt, somehow. ah, but i was so much older then, i'm younger than that now.12/4/2014
What is so delicious as a just and firm encounter of two, in a thought, in a feeling? How beautiful, on their approach to this beating heart, the steps and forms of the gifted and the true! The moment we indulge our affections, the earth is metamorphosed; there is no winter, and no night; all tragedies, all ennuis vanish; all duties even; nothing fills the proceeding eternity but the forms all radiant of beloved persons. Let the soul be assured that somewhere in the universe it should rejoin its friend, and it would be content and cheerful alone for a thousand years. Emerson Morning y'all,
It's a beautiful, still morning up top. The high yesterday reached 40 degrees. The overnight low was 36 degrees. The mountain received .04 inches of liquid precipitation yesterday. There is still no snow remaining up top and very little ice remains on the trails. It is far too beautiful out today. I need to get out and hike instead of looking at this screen. Excuse my briefness, I promise to write something lengthier tomorrow! Enjoy the day! Morning y'all,
It's yet another blustery, foggy day up top. The high yesterday reached 42 degrees and the low was 39 degrees. It was 40 degrees and cloudy at 7am observation. The mountain received .24" of liquid precipitation throughout the day yesterday. There is no more snow left up top and very little ice remaining on the trails. The ground is still rather saturated, so be prepared for wet shoes unless you have something 'waterproof'. I spent a lot of time yesterday relaxing on the porch. There's something about these misty foggy rainy days that affect your bodily rhythm, calling for you to wrap yourself in a blanket with a good book and forget that you live right next to a number of fantastic trails, all beckoning you to join them for an experience. I've spent my share of days exploring here in less than ideal conditions and I love it... but there's also something about saying 'Tomorrow.' that is rewarding in it's own way. I'll always look back with joy and reverence on my more gung ho days in my early twenties, when I'd ride a bike through any sort of conditions because that is just what I did... but it is nice to have balance, to know when to back off and be able to savor both extremes with the loveliness of contrast. Morning y'all,
It's another blustery, foggy day up top. The high yesterday reached 44 balmy degrees. The overnight low was 39 degrees. It was 40 degrees and cloudy at 7am observation. The mountain received no new precipitation and there is no snow left. I'd expect there to be some icy patches on the shady spots of certain trails (especially Boulevard and Alum), but for the most part, I'd imagine you could hike up without any sort of traction devices. I spent a great majority of yesterday further settling into my cabin, meandering between putting up scenic posters, maps and art, re-arranging my library and clothes just right so that they are both accessible and produce a sense of uncluttered calm (feng shui is real!) when I walk in. I certainly looked like a crazy person, up here by myself, walking in and out of that doorway many times yesterday. I was aiming to produce just the right effect, one that feels like a deep sigh in your brain. After a few hours, my legs decided it was time for something else. They always tell me when it's time to feel some reality, to seek a little bit of truth. With all this melt, I figured I should take advantage of prime running conditions before the ice moves in for winter. I went down and up Alum, arriving up top just as the sun was setting. Any one who hikes or runs to their limit knows the truth I felt as I climbed high yesterday, the way all troubles and concerns drop away in the flow of endorphins. You forget who you are and become a simpler animal. All that matters is forward motion. It is one of the most redeeming feelings I know of. Much thanks to Stephen & his father (Joe? Sorry, I'm awful with names!) for bringing up some dark roast coffee yesterday! It is so, so cherished up here. Morning y'all,
It's a rather dreary day up top. The high yesterday reached 46 degrees and the overnight low was 35 degrees. It was 40 degrees and cloudy at 7am observation. This warm front has nearly melted all the snow, leaving patchy conditions up high. There is still a little bit of ice on the trail, so continue to use caution and pack some sort of traction devices if you intend to wander around the summit. I had an awesome (awesome in the most literal sense of the world, all kinds of awe was buzzing around and through me) hike up Alum last night. I got to the parking lot around 5:25, just as the sun was setting on the high peaks. There is a special kind of adrenaline that comes with racing darkness and I wanted to use my headlamp as little as possible. I got through Arch Rock before it got pitch black and crossed Styx Branch just as the moon was peeking through my rhododendron laced wonderland. I turned on my headlamp and continued to venture up, up and away. I took a big breath, the kind that makes your fingers tingle - at Inspiration Point and let the last rays of colour on the horizon set themselves deep into my mind. I am so grateful that I continue to be thrilled by these mountains, this strange pursuit of peak experiences that bring me ever deeper into Nature's all enveloping grace. The peace of wildness is ours for the taking. Grab it while you can. Much thanks to my trail angels Dick, Ann and Buddy for bringing me up some much appreciated tea and dried fruit! Looking forward to seeing y'all again! |
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April 2024
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