Aug. 10, 2014

Larry Russell doubled Alum Cave Bluff trail Sunday to make his 99th and 100th hikes to LeConte Lodge. He has hiked LeConte 43 times in 2014 alone.

Good afternoon from a soggy LeConte Lodge.  We've got lots of news to sort through today, but I'll start with the weather first.  In an unassuming fashion, sunrise eased into the room and let itself in to start our day.

Yesterday we only received 0.08 inches of rain--not bad for a forecasted 80 percent chance of precipitation.  Most of the day was cloudy, but we were kind of ahead of the game given the forecast.  The high was 64 with a low of 55.  After holding off most of the morning, we've seen steady rain since lunch.

I'll continue with congratulations to Larry Russell, who often reads High on LeConte.  Larry finished his 99th and 100th hikes to LeConte Lodge Sunday afternoon.  That's right, Larry doubled the Alum Cave Bluff Trail (20 miles, partially in the rain) to hit the century mark on LeConte hikes.  Larry's 43 hikes to LeConte Lodge in 2014 alone put him in rare company.  Larry is a retired police officer from Covington, Tenn., (way out in West Tennessee) and is always a big help to LeConte rookie hikers.

I was also glad to meet Debi and her family this afternoon.  A frequent reader here, Debi journeyed from Michigan, will be staying with us soon and chose to get in an extra day trip up LeConte today.

We did have a bear sighting in camp a couple of nights ago with no issues reported.  However, we welcomed 15 members of the Crockett party last night, and wisely bears steered clear of LeConte Lodge.  They must have heard about the namesake.  Two of the Crockett party members, one of them 70 years old, have made the overnight trip to LeConte Lodge for 21 consecutive years.

I'll wrap up with a little celestial news.  We're expecting the most impressive "supermoon" of the year tonight.  A supermoon appears larger and more brilliant because the full moon is closest to Earth.  If weather prevents us from seeing this supermoon, there is another expected Sept. 9.  Also, the Perseid meteor shower takes place in the predawn hours Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  The brightness of the supermoon may make viewing the Perseids more difficult.  However, the most impressive meteor shower I've ever seen on LeConte came thanks to the Perseids in 2010, when I saw about 75 meteors in two hours.  It was spectacular and well worth the interruption of sleep. 

That about wraps up Sunday's news, glad almost all of it was good.  Happy trails.