September 13, 2018

5:30 PM Update:

Good evening,

Our outlook remains the same at this time. There are too many uncertainties in the forecast for our area. We hope to have a better idea from the NPS tomorrow morning in regards to potential closures. Stay tuned.

6:30 AM Update:

Good Morning,

This past evening turned out to be one of the clearer night skies we’ve had in a while, stars above and city lights below all twinkling in unison. By 6:00 AM the mountain quickly developed a cap cloud so bye-bye constellations. Yesterday ended up being a toasty day for September with a high of 70 degrees. Our low was 52, and for one brief moment we had 0.15” of rain pour down. Here we are just 5” of rainfall away from an average year on Mt. LeConte, and we have 3.5 months left in the calendar. Who knows, Hurricane Florence may get us there.

On that note, the park, and in turn LeConte Lodge, are making preparations in case there is a closure of roads, trails, and facilities in the coming days. If one were to happen, it could be as early as Friday to allow people enough time to clear out of the backcountry. Folks wondering what that looks like can refer to last September’s blog posts around the time of Hurricane Irma. For now though, we remain open and ready to serve.

As things develop, we will let you know the latest here on this blog and our reservations office will quickly notify guests booked for this weekend so they can plan accordingly.