January 28th, 2023

Saturday, January 28th, 2023

Howdy, Folks!

Today truly meets all of the criteria to be classified as another beautiful day on top of our favorite mountain: clear blue skies, four inches of snow, bright sunshine, and THE ROADS ARE OPEN! Some of my friends would tell you that I am the luckiest man in the world to be living as I do in such a PARADISE!

Since today is Saturday, and with all of the excellent conditions listed above, today is almost guaranteed to be a busy day on all of the trails to the top of Mt LeConte!

​Yesterday I took advantage of the opportunity to hike the Bullhead Trail. I thought that I should do so in order to appear at least half way knowledgeable of the trails, and I hadn’t done Bullhead yet this year . The hike was a great refresher course for me—it validated all of those warnings that I’ve giving you about hiking gear and clothing. When I left the lodge the temperature was 6 degrees with four inches of dry powder snow on the ground. I was wearing a goose down jacket, wool cap, heavy warm mittens, gaiters, and traction devices. There was no snow at the trailhead at Cherokee Orchard. I was comfortable wearing just a long sleeve hollow core polyester shirt. The trip back up was the reverse—the high temperature for the day at the lodge was 15 degrees. So the point of this long dissertation is that if you come to the mountains, you should bring proper clothing for any and all situations that you might encounter.

​A friend brought me a pint of apple butter today for me to put on my home made biscuits.

HAPPY TRAILS!!
​WILDCAT