Morning y'all, It's a nasty day up top. The high reached 47 degrees (!!!) and the low hit 28 degrees. It's currently 30 degrees and short blasts of freezing rain are coating the mountain. We had about 2 inches of melt yesterday, bringing our snow total down to about 5 inches. The mountain received .15" of rain last night before it all started freezing. If you plan to summit today, be prepared to suffer. Rain gear is a must and every trick in the book is necessary to minimize risk in conditions like this. All the blue skies have cleared out and it's one of the more miserable days I've seen up here. The winds were howling all night and freezing rain is creating a treacherous layer atop hard, crusty snows. There's something about that first few drops of rain in the evening... it brings me back to nights spent under a tarp on the AT. There's such a sense of expectation with rain - people are always warning you about weather and you're getting better and better at 'reading' it on your own, that when it comes, it's a kind of liquid exultation. The first few nights under a tarp during such a storm can be intimidating, you wake, wonder and worry if it'll be enough... surely, it's impossible that an 8 X 10 sheet of sil-nylon can keep such fury at bay! Once you realize the worst that ever happens is a slightly damp sleeping bag, it's incredibly empowering. You can go anywhere with this seemingly flimsy material, weighing under a pound and survive the night! It still astonishes me, from time to time... we're constantly limiting ourselves with glass ceilings.
tnbs
2/22/2013 01:10:04 am
Every day looks a little bit brighter
bdtn
2/22/2013 01:22:12 am
And each day brings more love. I cannot wait to go higher, together to this mountain top.
Ryan--La
2/22/2013 01:47:26 am
Morning all, the dispatcher in my office wants to know if there's a way to the eye of the needle. If so, would taking alum be the shortist route.
JP
2/22/2013 02:01:15 am
Both 'duck hawk' ridges are nesting sites for Peregrine Falcons. It's illegal to try to head up there. Not to mention, they're pretty territorial...
Ryan--La
2/22/2013 02:07:33 am
Thanks JP, will be up there next Friday. What news paper is it that you like? Will you need anything from Old Dads also?
JP
2/22/2013 02:11:26 am
Ryan,
H Clark
2/22/2013 07:28:32 am
Purchased a book entitled " A Natural History of Mount LeConte" at the Clingman's Dome gift shop. The chapter on the Alum Cave trail references a manway to the Eye of the Needle. The book's copyright date is 1998 and the falcons returned to the ridge, as referenced in the book, during 1997. I assume the park services as long since closed the trail and nature has probably obscured its features over time.
tomk in SC
2/22/2013 08:14:05 am
Natural History of Mount LeConte is a great book. Our group found the manway the year it was closed. It was fairly hard to find even then. That book is what got us back to taking the Boulevard and adding the Jump Off to the Boulevard hike.
Ben F
2/23/2013 12:50:35 am
I went out the ridge to the eye of the needle several times back in the early 80s. Going up on the Alum trail it was a left turn a tenth or two above the bluff. I had a partner or two back in those days. I think I did it solo once. If we didn't want to continue to the lodge, we would scramble along the ridge top and follow the downward turn through the woods. The scramble through the woods ended on the Alum trail probably 3/4 to a 1/2 mile in from the parking lot. At some point, a small chain and a sign was put across the entrance to the manway mentioning the falcons. Of course, I honored the sign and haven't been out there since.
PWP
2/22/2013 04:32:46 am
In July of 1966 I spent the night in my sleeping bag under a tarp on the grounds of LeConte lodge (there being no room in the lodge). It rained and got cold during the night and somehow I managed to dump all the water that had collected on my tarp into my sleeping bag! What a cold, wet night that was! We took off down Alum at first light to get warm. Bears were hanging around us that night, too, but they were friendly.
David c.
2/22/2013 07:33:30 am
Hey bdtn it's beautiful when you live in the spirit. Lucky you.
m ha
2/22/2013 03:45:42 pm
You see 2 films (Gladiator and Troy).
Lee Y.
2/22/2013 10:15:30 am
Recently and reluctantly moved from East TN to Memphis. Resolving to the move has been hard. Your daily posts and pics keep me going. Love to all in East TN.
larry
2/22/2013 12:24:05 pm
Lee, we traded places, I lived in Covington & was raised in Memphis. We moved to Sevierville almost 2 years ago. I definitely got the best of the swap.
Marilyn
2/22/2013 10:45:03 am
H Clark
H Clark
2/22/2013 11:39:01 am
Marilyn, the gift shop is located at the start of the path leading to the lookout tower and sits elevated above the roadway.
jay
2/22/2013 12:24:34 pm
If you ever had reason to visit the old restrooms at the Dome, when you visit the gift shop you will get that Deja Vu feeling. :o)
Rexanna
2/22/2013 11:12:53 am
Missing hearing from Doug Y and from Debi today!! :(
Debi
2/22/2013 04:12:51 pm
I'm here Rexanna. Gee, thanks at least someone misses me, lol. I started reading earlier and then got side tracked on something else.
m ha
2/24/2013 04:28:14 pm
A pretty funny eats a cup of rice in here a day she tell me want to see leconte mountain she is 16 years old.
doug y
2/22/2013 11:27:12 pm
Rexanna: I'm here, too, and humbled that someone misses me. I had to think twice about the note about the gift shop at the Clingmans Dome parking lot; I seldom go out that way. When I hike the A.T. I never stop at the observation tower. Speaking of bears, I saw a brief video not too long ago about a man that appeared to be running from a bear that certainly looked like he was chasing the man; they both were headed up the Clingmans Dome paved pathway, and that is STEEP ! A Park ranger eventually chased the bear off I think. I looked pretty funny watching it, but I'm sure that man may have had other thoughts ! I've seen many, many tourists who try to feed the bears and are so lucky they've not been hurt by the bears. Comments are closed.
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LeConte LodgeWelcome to the official blog of LeConte Lodge. We hope you find the information provided here both helpful and enjoyable. Thank you for visiting the site, and we hope to see you on the mountain! Archives
February 2023
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