February 14th, 2013

2/14/2013

wish you were here.

Morning y'all,

It's a stunning day up top. The high yesterday reached 38 degrees. The overnight low was 14 degrees. It was 15 degrees and clear as a bell at 7am observation. The mountain received an inch of new snow, keeping our total up top at about 2 inches. I would suspect that the trails have become a bit nasty with the cold overnight temperatures, so be sure to pack some sort of traction devices.

The mountain is a festival of colour at the moment. We're above the clouds and the sun is rising over my cabin. The slow procession of reds and pinks on the horizon is firmly setting itself up like a circus tent in my memory. I hope fate lets it linger there long after this gaiety, overcoming all the tumult and empty noise that tend to clutter up my mind. This time of year is particularly magical: clear skies make for great colours and the contrast with the snowscape is just all the more lucid. All I can do is sigh and hope for more moments of clarity to drown out the confusion.

above the clouds.

A big shout out to the Park Service's trail crew. They have done an incredible job on the Alum Cave trail this past week. It was in rough shape and there is no sign of damage beyond the freshly sawed logs and smells of evergreeny joy.

Enjoy Valentine's day!

The blog will be returning on Saturday morning...

Ken T

2/14/2013 01:03:46 am

With my hip and knees, hiking poles are a life saver. I sometimes hear of some controversy over syncing the left hand pole with left leg or with the right leg ? Any comments.

tomk in SC

2/14/2013 01:55:15 am

Synching is senseless. I'll spare you the mathematics of it all, but your new front legs will have their own cadence. Let that happen. If you feel like you need to synch them, you have not walked with them long enough. I've seen people walk with poles where they move them together, both ahead or both back. It's a sure bet the tip protectors and price tags are still on them. Once you've hiked enough with poles, they become a natural extension of you moving without thought.

Charlotte

2/14/2013 01:04:09 am

Happy V Day JP. Enjoy the day.

Marilyn

2/14/2013 01:08:43 am

JP, I'm sure all of us LeConteaholics wish we were there too! Enjoy your time off.

Happy Hearts & Flowers Day to all!

Mike

2/14/2013 01:19:45 am

Returning Saturday mourning.........I guess I'll not see you up there Friday then.
Maybe later my friend.

Paul B

2/14/2013 01:39:46 am

Valentine's Day, what...did they move it up this year?? Love the sunrise photo and I copied the heart shaped rock along with the Valentine's Day Cliff Top rock formation one that Alex posted a couple of years ago and sent to my wife. I told her I hiked up and took them just for her. Think that will keep me out of the dog house?

doug y

2/14/2013 02:28:36 am

Very well stated tomk in SC. Better to simply follow a natural cadence with trekking poles. Synchronizing them is useless, at least in my experience. JP: very nice photo today. Your title for the second photo led to my short verse below:

High up on the mountain where my soul touches the sky,
I gaze about in wonder without asking why;

My spirit soars in awe, my thoughts to me are loud,
This is where I'm drawn, high "above the clouds".

2/14/2013 03:52:59 am

I asked about syncing 1 pole with which LEG, not syncing both poles together.

2/14/2013 06:29:30 am

I understood your question, the BOTH poles illuminated am EVEN WORSE practice that I have seen with people new to poles.

Every object with any length has a "natural frequency" (ask any engineer friend) that freq is mostly a function of the distance from the fulcrum to the center of gravity. In this case, the top center of your wrist grip to the balance point of your pole.

To see this, set up your pole ready to go. Then take a pair of ice picks or stout pins and use them to hold the top of the pole in the grips. Then have someone pivot the tip back and release such that the pole swings back and forth. It will swing at it's own natural frequency and do so with no effort at all. Lengthen the pole and you will find it swings a bit slower, shorten it and it will swing a bit faster.
It is possible to swing it much faster, or retard it to move more slowly. In either case that takes energy and coordination.
The odds that anyone hikes at a speed such that the natural frequency of the pole and your leg movements are identical is infinitesimally small. The only way to time them is to add effort. Do that and you likely won't like poles very much.
Let go, Grasshopper. Let the poles do what comes natural to them and they will be there for you a long time.
Walk with them anywhere, even around the neighborhood and you will find that rhythm where the pole goes all by itself. When that happens you will LOVE hiking with poles. It's like riding a bike!

elktonbrant

2/14/2013 10:18:16 am

Ken,

When I used only one pole, more often than not the upcoming trail dictated where I planted the pole. Usually, though, I would have it in my right hand and plant when my left leg was moving forward. This seemed to balance out my movements.

I tried right leg/right hand plant, and I kept hitting the pole with my leg. Then again, I have doors at my house which move into my path all the time, so I can't testify to being an expert in coordination!

tomk...

I've seen the "sticker poles" to which you refer both in the Smokies as well as here in Nashville. I had a hiking friend say it best -- "Those who use the poles like crutches will soon be needing crutches." I agree that it's a natural stride idea. I actually take two steps for every plant.... Left pole, STEP STEP, Right Pole, STEP STEP, and so forth. I find that a pole plant per stride doesn't work for me.

Now, if I can just get the people on the street portion of Radnor Lake State Park to quit saying, "When's the ski trip?"... I gave up explaining the concept of hiking/trekking poles to them a long time ago.

Tony Ga

2/14/2013 03:27:20 am

Prayerwalker (a fellow LeConteaholic) started her Appalachian Trail thru hike today. Here's a link to her blog:
http://prayerwalkerat.blogspot.com/

Steve D

2/14/2013 03:43:28 am

Tony Ga-thanks for putting that out there for us, I was just thinking she must have started.

Frank G

2/14/2013 03:57:56 am

How is The Boulevard Trail?

Jenny B. link

2/14/2013 06:51:21 am

Thought I'd throw in my two cents about hiking poles. I've found them very useful for backpacking and snowshoeing. On my bushwhacks I bring one pole along to help with rockhopping and going up and down steep slopes. I often need to use both hands, and I can loop one pole around my wrist, but two really get in the way. My bushwhacking buddies use ice axes (in summer), but I decided after going up Panther Stairs with an ice axe that it didn't work for me. For regular trail hiking, I've had my share of knee problems but think poles are counterproductive. In my opinion, and I know folks will disagree, it's better to learn how to balance on one's feet and to do extra leg-strengthening exercises to shift the work from joint to muscle. I know about knee problems, I've had them for years, but this is what I honestly think.

Debi

2/14/2013 10:32:11 am

I just read Dougs nightmare from yesterday. If some of you don't go back and read it, I put in my 2 cents worth that maybe a chair lift would be a good thing for all of you with bad knees. Hehe!! I think I'm starting to get sold on the walking sticks. Happy Valentines Day Everyone!!

Sherleen Cardwell

2/14/2013 01:23:37 pm

Thanks for making the snowheart.My husband and I thought that was very creative .Of course we already knew what a creative and interesting mind you have AND we miss you when you are gone. Hope you had a nice Valentine day and enjoy your time off.JUST COME BACK ! :-)

hrtn

2/14/2013 02:42:35 pm

Love the snow! So beautiful b. Happy Valentines Day!

m ha

2/15/2013 03:52:15 pm

Above the clouds is near to the Moon but I am like a tree in rock.

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February 14th, 2013

LeConte Lodge

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