Aug. 31, 2014

English Mountain, the most distant peak pictured, rises out of the morning fog draped in the valley.

Hello to all of you High on LeConte readers.  We stayed plenty busy yesterday on a pretty, pre-Labor Day Saturday.  I had to stay up late to count our sales reports, which should make all those folks in the Sevierville office happy.  I'm happy we have more room in the merchandise storeroom (and fewer boxes stacked sky-high waiting to fall and crunch my bald head).

We ended up getting just 0.36 inches of rain Saturday with a 71-54 high and low.  The Sunday forecast was not as promising, but it's been a nice day thus far.  I hope all our overnight guests arrive before we get any precipitation.  It was a little cloudy earlier this afternoon, so I started up the gas pump to counter the sluggish solar pump and get our wonderful spring water headed uphill to be treated in the holding tanks.  Of course, that guaranteed that the sun would pop back out.

We'll be bidding August adios tonight and turning the page to September.  August has been a nice month up here, albeit with some sporadic heavy rain.  The supermoon earlier this month was a great highlight for me, as was some homemade baklava from some nice guests in Indiana which arrived via llama.  I understand we are to get another viewing of the supermoon during the September full moon.  Even if it's not as brilliant, I'm hoping for a clear night.  My Granny told me many years ago about the old timers predicting how many snows we would have in a winter by counting the fogs of August.  I didn't keep a close tally, but if there's anything to that J.P. should have some snow to kick around this winter.

Allyson mentioned last week about how she enjoyed September on LeConte.  She's exactly right.  I think September is the most underrated month of the year on LeConte.  It's odd, but it's also one of our slowest months of the season.  Family vacations are in the rearview mirror, and the leaf-peepers haven't yet arrived in the Smokies in September. 

Meanwhile, up top, we'll get started on our autumn long before our friends in the valley.  We'll also, on average, see drier weather with cooling temperatures but probably not early flurries (usually those come in October on top of LeConte).  The visibility should clear up more often as we leave the haze behind and allow us to see clear across the Tennessee Valley to the Cumberland Mountains--a rare sight in summer.

We've also been lucky to welcome back some faces from LeConte past in August, from former crew members, chaplains and one of the First Kids of LeConte.  Just last night, we were happy to host Barbara Brown, daughter of former LeConte Lodge managers Herrick and Myrtle Brown.  The Browns ran the lodge during parts of the 1960s and 1970s and are well thought of by their former employees.  Herrick has passed away, but we pass along a hello from high on LeConte to Myrtle, who lives in North Carolina.  Their daughter, Barbara, told me stories of growing up with LeConte as her summer playground.

Thanks to all the nice folks who've come to visit us in August.  Come on back in September and see why we like it so much on top of LeConte.  Happy trails.