Tallest Mountain in the Smokies

Our alarm went off at 2:50 a.m. so we could catch the epic May Camelopardalids meteor shower. I put on my warm clothes and went outside to find a good spot to watch the show. Well, we waited, and waited, and waited. Oooo... there went one. Then we waited and waited again. I saw one meteor in a span of ten minutes. I decided sleep was more important so I returned to my warm bed. Oh well, there is always the next one.

When I took a walk the other day, over the peak of Mt. LeConte, I was impressed at how busy someone had been to make Mt. LeConte the tallest mountain in the Smokies.

The rock pile at the summit of Mt. LeConte

Clingmans Dome is the highest mountain in the Smokies, sitting at 6643'. Mt. Guyot is the second highest mountain in the park, at 6621'. Mt. LeConte is the third highest, at 6593'. Mt. Leconte is 50' shorter than the tallest mountain. Well, some people decided they were going to make Leconte the tallest mountain. So, they started piling rocks to see if they could make the top of LeConte 51' taller. I am not sure when this tradition started, but it has been around a while. Many people add that to their to-do list when they reach the summit. I think we still have a few feet to go, but I was impressed at the progress made when I passed by the other day. Maybe one day we will have to change the elevation on the t-shirts to ready "Mt. LeConte, 6643' elevation".