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July  6, 2014

7/6/2014

 
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Good afternoon to all of you.  We're putting the bookend on our Independence Day weekend on top of LeConte tonight with our annual crew progressive dinner.  After we serve our guests supper, we'll wander around to all the crew cabins and sample different dishes prepared by crew members.   I'll let Allyson write more about it tomorrow if she chooses, but it's always one of the most anticipated events of the season for the crew.  We shine up our rooms and roll out the welcome mat for each other, ending the night happy and fulfilled.

We've enjoyed another pretty day up on LeConte.  The high temperature was 65 with a low of 45, just about perfect.  We notched our fifth consecutive day without measurable rainfall, an eternity during a LeConte summer.

It occurred to me that I've written from time to time about the Huffs, the first family of LeConte.  However, I've given Paul Adams, the creator of the first camp on LeConte, the short end of the stick.  Today I'm going to relate Paul Adams' story of his first supply trip up LeConte to build a camp.  This account comes from Adams' book, Mt. LeConte, published in 1966.

Even before the Huffs, Paul Adams got the assignment to carve out our slice of paradise on top of Mt. LeConte in 1925.

"It was on the morning of July 13, 1925 when four of us started packing supplies to LeConte to start the camp that has remained to this day," Adams recalled.  In the first supply trip, the pioneers hauled up a tent, two blankets each, utensils, food for three meals, a rifle, six-foot crosscut saw, double-bit axe and a 10-pound sledge.  All of those items seemed like good, practical ideas to me.  Oddly enough, Adams chose to bring up a typewriter on the second supply trip.

All of it was certainly hard work as he toiled to build what would become LeConte Lodge.  However, it appears that his heart was in the task whole-hog.  "Before I slept, I thanked God for having lived this very happy day," Adams said of his thoughts on his first night on the mountain.

For his second night's supper, Adams feasted on fried squirrel, boiled potatoes, fresh green beans, sawdust gravy, bread and coffee.  You can still find derivations of some of those things on tonight's guest menu (don't hold your breath waiting for squirrel).  They have their genesis in the past, when Paul Adams blazed a trail to LeConte.

Allyson has returned from her off days, so I'll be turning updates over to her for a while.  To all of you who came up to see us recently, thank you.  Thanks to all of you for reading.  Happy trails.
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Jenny B. link
7/6/2014 11:03:01 am

Wood sorrel in the top photo! One of my favorites. Pretty soon we'll be seeing Grass of Parnassus, another wonderful high-elevation wildflower. I'm curious about that bottom photo. Well, it could be any one of many small draws on LeConte. I'm guessing that might actually be the bottom of the shortcut down from the shelter discussed recently. Either that or it's one of the side draws of Styx Branch.

norman
7/6/2014 03:34:39 pm

i was wondering where the bottom photo is located also??

Jenny B. link
7/6/2014 06:25:05 pm

Sorry, did not mean to open up a big question about the photos. You will not see me here again.

norman
7/7/2014 02:42:29 am

Jenny , see below!

norman
7/7/2014 02:46:17 am

Don"t leave!

High On LeConte
7/7/2014 12:29:57 am

Jenny,
Nathan said this photo was looking up from Trillium trail at one of the creek beds right below the spring.

Marilyn D
7/6/2014 02:47:28 pm

Love your posts and pictures! Heading your way in a couple of weeks and can't wait. Do have a question though...if I want to hike up Trillium and down Alum, how do I get back to my car, or if I leave my car at Alum - how do I get to Trillium trailhead?
See you soon!

H Clark link
7/6/2014 04:49:45 pm

I've always partnered with someone on hikes to LeConte when the trailheads are separated by several miles. There are shuttle services in the area and probably have web sites regarding rates and schedules.

High On LeConte
7/7/2014 12:32:47 am

Marilyn, You will need to shuttle your cars. Park one of two cars at Alum and then you will have to take your car from Alum to Trillium when you come down.

norman
7/7/2014 02:35:54 am

Jenny B , I"m sorry, I did"t mean to start any thing; don"t leave. Yes I can follow you on your site, but I like your comments here also!!

Jenny B. link
7/7/2014 05:58:04 am

Thanks, Norman! I appreciate your interest. I've come to realize that my approach to LeConte is totally different than the approach of folks who come to this site just looking for a fun experience of the mountain. My hikes up the mountain have been at times incredibly difficult, the best example being my 17-hour bushwhack up Shutts Prong last summer. This has no relevance to most people. So I am going to bow out. If you want to read about bushwhacking in the Smokies, visit my blog. Thanks again.

Norman
7/7/2014 07:46:03 am

I will follow you on your site Jenny.


Comments are closed.
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