Future Park Rangers

8/6/2013

There are rain drops falling on the mountain, but we can see the valley below. The clouds do not look promising for clearing out. I think it is going to be a read indoors kind of day. Yesterday was beautiful. The high was 69º with a low of 45º. There seems to be a push to get that last vacation in before school starts. We have seen a lot of kids over the past few days. I love watching the children get excited when they discover some cool insect or salamander while exploring the mountain. I wonder how many little LeConte Lodge guests will become future Park Rangers?

tomk in SC

8/6/2013 02:01:32 am

JennyB: How did yesterday's bushwhack go? The road to Greenbrier was shown as closed. . .

Jenny B. link

8/6/2013 05:01:17 am

Thanks for asking, Tom. I believe the Greenbrier road closure doesn't happen till the 11th. At any rate it was open yesterday. The Shutts Prong trip was a great and challenging adventure. I'll have a blog up about it by the end of the day. You'll note that I did go solo, as I often do. Please forgive the fib. It suddenly dawned on me that someone seeing that might try to stop me.

Nancy K

8/6/2013 02:03:25 am

love these pictures! Everyday is a new experience when I see these posts!

Becky Moore

8/6/2013 03:22:33 am

Headed up tomorrow to celebrate my 60th two weeks early - due to school starting. First time we stayed the night was for my 50th. Looking forward to it as always!!!

Ryan--La

8/6/2013 03:28:09 am

Morning to all up top and to Steve D. in Hawaii. Allyson I will still take a day of rain up there than a day of pleasant sunshine down here. Doug Y. having never met you in person I must say I am envious of your life style. Yesterdays comment fit me to a tee. Your knowledge of the local area and the mountain we both admirer so much makes for entertaining mornings. Keep up the great work. Anyone know the effects of all this rain on the fall colors? Will the be late or early this year.

doug y

8/7/2013 12:44:54 am

Ryan: thanks very much for the compliments. I have truly been blessed to have lived a good life and have had so many wonderful experiences and adventures; I will always desire more as long as I live. The best thing these days is sharing my experiences and knowledge with others. Some folks occasionally misconstrue my comments as boasting, but that couldn't be farther from the truth; Helping and sharing with others, especially those individuals who share my passion for hiking, etc., is absolutely the greatest pursuit of my existence. My knowledge of the "mountain" may not be the most extensive for there are others who know facts that I have just not yet absorbed, but I do love being in the Smokies. I'll have my ashes spread there one of these days, probably deep in one of the valleys in the middle of the Park. Perhaps some day we will meet, maybe on one of the trails to the lodge ! G'day.

Ryan--La

8/6/2013 03:31:51 am

Will they be late or early this year.? Forgive the miss spelling.

norman airborne

8/6/2013 09:53:41 am

Ryan--La YOU ONLY DROPED THE 'Y'!!

holtknoblady

8/6/2013 05:01:53 pm

Living in WNC, I should know the answer to your question re:fall colors. As I remember, the rainfall impacts the brightness of colors more than the time of those changes, as we need to have cold nights (frost) to encourage the leaf change. There is a professor at WCU who gives her prediction about the leaf change each year but it will probably be September before her prediction.

Dwight

8/6/2013 05:25:02 pm

Lot of rain, les, less color. Less rain more and more color. Needs frost, cool nights and sunny days. My prediction is that it won't be very bright but will last longer.

Carlos Wolfe (SARGE)

8/6/2013 06:50:34 am

I like all the pretty flowers.....what is is name of the yellow ones ?? They look like black-eyed susan,???

Debi

8/6/2013 07:41:22 am

Carlos, I think there called cone flowers. They are beautiful up there.

doug y

8/7/2013 07:45:40 am

Debi: As a regular here I anticipate your daily comments. I would like your opinion on something; if you could send me a brief message to my email I'd appreciate it but if you choose not to then I'll understand. My emal is: dryork68@gmail.com

Sheldon

8/6/2013 08:44:38 am

What is the current status of Rainbow Falls trail? I read a post here some time ago that it was in rough shape from the extended rainfall we had.

Amanda

8/6/2013 01:22:10 pm

I'm curious about the Rainbow Falls Trail as well. My husband and I are hiking up for the first time on Labor Day and we had planned to hike up Rainbow and down Bullhead. We are thinking about other trail options. Any suggestions? We'd prefer to hike 2 trails.

tomk in SC

8/6/2013 01:56:36 pm

Rainbow UP and Bullhead DOWN is a fine plan. Stop and take a long break at Rainbow Falls and be sure to take the side trail to Rocky Spur. The Rocky Spur trail dumps you right back on the Rainbow Falls trail, so take it for the great views.
Apparently something changed on the Rainbow Falls trail on 4 JUL 2013. After days and days of heavy rain, the trail was reported impassible above the falls by a bunch of unprepared hikers hiking down. I have not heard anything conclusive since.
One version is that the flow has changed so now there will be a generally wetter section that will not be passable after heavy rains.
Another is that it will only flood under the extraordinary conditions experienced around 4 JUL, days and days of heavy rain.
Finally, it may be passable under most circumstances by prepared hikers and impassible by hikers in tennis shoes without poles.
I really don't know. Call the rangers for advice if it is raining a lot.
We rotate trails and this year we are doing Boulevard/Alum.

Debi

8/7/2013 12:18:31 am

We spent the night July 4th and a couple of young hikers came in and couldn't get back down Rainbow. Some stream was running too rough. They decided to come back and not take a chance, Thank God. They ended up spending the night. I did talk to some women the next morn and they crossed the same stream the young couple decided not too. They had reservations and weren't going back. I think a lot of people scraped their plans to come up that night. Rain wasn't too bad, wasn't great, but we certainly weren't able to view the fireworks. Socked in big time.

doug y

8/7/2013 12:53:11 am

I was in Gatlinburg recently and managed to get up and hike the Rainbow Falls trail; I had no difficulty anywhere, but each individual has his/her own limits and abilities, especially when faced with steams and creeks swollen with rainwater; Rain can make particular crossings a lot rougher and more intimidating; perhaps I take more chances than I should, so I try not to give too much advice on such, but I have seen plenty of "unprepared" hikers out there who have given me great cause for worry. This has been quite a different season as far as rainfall goes; here in central KY we've had plenty of it and I have read daily about the amounts that have fallen up at the lodge. Perhaps the Mayan rain god "Chaak" has smiled on the mountain !!

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