December 7, 2019

Good morning friends,

The temperatures ranged from a high yesterday of 34 degrees and a low last night of 25 degrees The current temperature this morning is 26 degrees. We had no new precipitation.

We currently have 2 inches of snow still on the ground.

Here is the official report from Mountain-Forecast.com

Mount LeConte Weather (Days 0-3): The weather forecast for Mount LeConte is: Mostly dryFreeze-thaw conditions (max 3°C on Thu night, min -1°C on Fri afternoon)Winds decreasing (strong winds from the NW on Thu morning, calm by Sat morning).

Mount LeConte Weather (Days 3-6): Heavy rain (total 45mm), mostly on Mon night. Becoming colder with a light covering of snow, mostly falling on Tue morningFreeze-thaw conditions (max 8°C on Mon night, min -10°C on Tue night)Winds increasing (moderate winds from the SSW on Sun morning, gales from the SW by Mon night).

Cherokee Orchard remains closed above Twin Creeks Science Center.

Well friends today’s blog is going to be a little different. I’m going to have a rare time where I don’t talk about the mountain today but will tell you a little bit about myself.

Many of the wonderful people who support us here at the Lodge and love this mountain as much as we do, and take the time to be gracious enough to follow our blog, have asked about me and how I came to be the winter caretaker.

Well to start with my name is “Steve,” I’m from North Georgia and at the end of 2012 I retired after 37 years working in public safety.

At the age of 55 I took up hiking and backpacking. I have always loved the mountains and being on the trails. For me they’ve always been a place of peace, reflection and renewal.

I fell in love with LeConte when I initially hiked up with some dear friends and later even more so when I started a tradition of an annual father son hike and overnight here at the Lodge each year.

I’m not telling you guys anything you don’t already know but as amazing a place as this is, it’s even more amazing when you share it with loved ones.

So when the opportunity came up and with the support of my wonderfully supportive wife (of 42 years thank you Honey), I’m getting the chance to live out a bucket list type dream for me.

I posted my first blog on November 27th, and although I may possess different writing skills and insights than previous caretakers (I’m a blog follower), I will try my best to give you guys good timely information and hopefully a little bit of the feel of the mountain from day to day.

Sorry for the length but I promise to do my best not to talk about myself too much in the future.

Take care, enjoy nature and as always stay safe.
Steve