John Northrup, Bonnie Scott, Chris Virden, David Scanlon, Nathan Kirkham, and Alan Householder
A dear friend to the lodge, David Scanlon, hiked up to celebrate his 900th trip up the mountain. He was full of enthusiasm as he shared some of the stories of his past trips. The ones that stood out the most were of winter hikes he had done. We asked him about his first trip to this magical mountain. He said he remembered it as if it were yesterday. He hiked up, for the first time ,when he was 30 years old, 1966. He remembers it well because he got to meet Harvey Broome at the lodge. He listened to stories told by Mr. Broome and the then lodge operator Herrick Brown. Dave has no plans of slowing down. He tries to hike up every Monday and bring us a newspaper. Congratulations Dave. I hope you have many more years of climbing Mt. LeConte.
Patty Stevens
5/7/2012 11:26:59 pm
Awesome and on Chris's birthday to boot. 5/8/2012 12:04:18 am
How wonderful to hear about Dave's 900th trip! He has been a good friend of mine ever since I joined the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club in 1982--in fact, I think he was on the first hike I did, to Shuckstack. Nice to see your smiling face, Dave!
debbie and larry in lancaster
5/8/2012 12:57:17 am
What an accomplishment! Congratulations!
Pat N.
5/8/2012 01:25:54 am
Congratulations, Dave! You are my Hero of the Day! May God bless you with many more trips to LeConte.
tomk
5/8/2012 05:22:15 am
Ed Wright
H Clark
5/8/2012 02:18:00 am
Congratulations to David for his 900th hike to LeConte. That's an astonishing accomplishment knowing the effort required to reach LeConte's summit.
Ben
5/8/2012 05:39:31 am
Hooray for David! That's awesome! It amazes me that David, Margaret, and Ed had the foresight to start logging their hikes from the beginning. My first was in 1978 at the age of 18. I went up and down Alum on a foggy day in late May. My friend and I became more and more awestruck as we got higher. There was no view but it was fantastic just the same. I was hooked. I had the pleasure of encountering Margaret a few times over the years. Once was near the top of Alum. I was coming up alone. She was coming down. As I rounded one of the sharp curves I heard her making noise. She was by herself and told me she had just shooed a bear away. She said "I recognize you". It made me feel great that she remembered me. Another time I passed her on Alum as I was on the way down. She was coming up with a huge entourage (55 according to her log) on her 500th trip. Since I don't live locally, about 3 trips a year is all I can do. After 30 years, I decided I would call it 90 and start logging from there. I'm at 98 now. All of them have been day hikes. I'll never get anywhere near those high numbers, but I savor and cherish every trip. It has given me a large treasure of memories of weather, bears, and the people I have met along the way. 900! Congratulations David!
clif
5/8/2012 06:12:23 am
does anyone know which trail Dave usually hikes or does he do a variety ? what an accomplishment !!! well done, Dave !
GA_weatherboy
5/8/2012 02:59:48 pm
We passed him on Alum too after our first-ever night at the Lodge. I'm only 885 behind him!
Guy
5/8/2012 07:26:18 am
To Dave Scanlon: "You got some legs on you". Congratulations...
Ken T
5/8/2012 11:49:20 am
Congratulations David, I really appreciate "older hikers" since I are one. Hang in there like a "hair in a buscuit". Hope to meet you someday !
greg d.
5/8/2012 01:45:13 pm
Congrats david.Looking forward to seeing on the mountain.
Barbara B
5/8/2012 02:28:25 pm
Congratulations ! I have hiked up three times- plan to hike up this
Brian N
5/9/2012 08:57:03 am
I know Debi, my youngest son got him a hiking stick and is doing the emblem's as well. He is now as addicted to Leconte as much as me and my oldest son are. As for my wife and daughter...... not so much.
scotta
5/9/2012 04:39:45 am
Imjust hoping for ONE trip up to the Lodge someday. 900 is just crazy!!
Juanita foust
5/9/2012 10:30:13 am
Dave I am going to mt laconte may the 16 with a group this will be my first trip I am so excited juanita
doug y
5/10/2012 01:45:23 am
I loved Ben's account of his hikes to the lodge; inspiring; I, too, must congradulate Dave on his accomplishment; Well done. I wish I had started visiting the lodge far sooner than in 2004; perhaps I would have a few more trips to my credit, but I do so love going there; I've hiked the Park for well over fifty years and always used old tobacco sticks as hiking staffs; Dave: when you get to the 999 mark, I'd love to accompany you on the 1000th hike up and present you a specially made hiking staff to commemorate the event !! G'day 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
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