October 31, 2017

HALLOWEEN

Good Afternoon and Happy Halloween,
     Despite winter rearing its head a tad early for some, we're making the most of the holiday anyways.  Some of the crew have dressed up for the occasion, quite hilariously I might add.  Several have also been tapping into the creative sides of their brains, hoping their designs for the annual pumpkin carving contest will produce a winning favorite among tonight's guests.  There's been no shortage of tricks and treats, or boos and giggles going on around camp.  Glad to see so many folks getting into the fun holiday action.  We'll be sure and post all of the pumpkin carvings tomorrow once the crew has had time to complete them and the lighting becomes appropriate.  Even Henry has added to the event by hooking up a rotating ghost light projector to a car battery.
​     It seems like folks have been kindly donating candy to the crew all month, and we are very thankful.  Sometimes it can be difficult to satisfy the sweet tooth on the mountain.  That has surely not been the case this season, and we have all of those nice folks to thank for hiking up so many goodies!

We weren't expecting Chrissy to come up with the llamas today...wait a minute. Or is it just the crew getting into the Halloween spirit?

     The thaw continues.  Remaining snow is rather patchy, but even with warmer temps, the places where snow and ice have gotten packed down can be dangerously slick.  It's still smart to have those traction devices handy until it melts away for good.  Yesterday's high temperature scraped 38 degrees, and despite the low for the period being 11, we never dropped below 33 last night.  It was quite windy, though, which contributed to conditions feeling cooler and re-hardening everything that was in the process of thawing.
     Those of you who may remember former lodge employee, Nathan Kirkham, would be interested to know that he is once again working waaay down south...Antarctica in fact.  Nathan caught wind of the cold spell that hit our region this week and informed me that the 11 degree temperature on Mt. LeConte was the same as it was at the McMurdo station during the early morning hours.  Who knew that Mt. LeConte and Antarctica had so much in common?
     Today has been a little warmer, with daytime temps reaching the lower 40's.  The warming trend is expected to continue in the coming days, a great way to kickoff the month of November and enjoy the remaining fall foliage in the lower elevations.

Someone turned a Unicorn loose inside the LeConte kitchen!

     Have a safe and enjoyable Halloween in your neck of the woods, and have a great conclusion to the month of October!  Take care.