June 25, 2013

Hello to all of you.  This will be my last update for about a week as Allyson and Chris are returning from off days.  The weather has been quite similar the last four days or so--mostly cloudy, some rain and sun.

The high temperature yesterday, 69 degrees, marked the second-hottest day of the year.  The overnight low dipped to 52, excellent sleeping weather.  All told, we received 0.41 inches of rain.  We got a splash of rain around lunch but are sitting under a mottled mixture of clouds and sun as of 1 p.m.

In today's update I'll tackle a frequently asked question to the crew.  "How do you get the propane up here?"  We only get one shot at propane for the year, so we better have our numbers right.  That's also why we prefer folks not to run their heaters if the cabin windows or doors are open.  We fly in multiple tanks (big, oval tanks like you might see in your neighborhood) by helicopter during the annual March airlift to bring in all our heavy, non-perishable supplies.

As those of you who've followed the fortunes of our preseason airlift know it's a delicate and expensive operation.  However, the construction helicopter company we use is good and can drop pallets of t-shirts or propane tanks just about anywhere we request.

Because we can only fly with the construction helicopter once a year (usually airlift takes two or three days depending on weather conditions), we send all of our propane, gas and kerosene tanks down to the staging area where the fuel truck is on standby.  At that point they'll be fueled and reattached to the cable to fly back to the top of LeConte.  Typically, the helicopter can fly off four empty tanks and bring back two full tanks.  Our loyal ground crew here at the lodge has the unenviable task of standing underneath the tanks as they're lowered by cable and finessing them to their precise spot on the ground.  It's a heck of a thing to see those propane tanks spinning on the end of the cable flying over Myrtle Point.

My favorite variation of the "how do you get the propane up here?" question involves the use of llamas.  I guess every crew member has had a hiker ask if the llamas deliver the propane tanks.  This question usually comes after people have looked off the deck into the propane field and see how big the tanks are. 

My response to that question is this: "If you find a llama who can tote that propane tank up Trillium Gap on his back, make sure you let us know because he's getting a job offer."  Such a physical specimen wouldn't even need to go through the usual physical, background checks and psychological analysis we require for the right to call yourself a LeConte llama, one of the chosen few.

Thank you all for reading.  Have a fine day.  Happy trails.

The helicopter just after a propane delivery during 2012 airlift in early March.