THE DUNGEON MASTER!

7/27/2016

Greetings valley dwellers! Turnip here with my first blog post of the season. It's a misty one up here today. The sun graced us with its presence briefly this morning, giving our solar panels a little bit of that much needed, sweet sweet energy juju. Rain is in the forecast for the rest of the week so bring your umbrella hats, galoshes, and plants that need watering up with you. But, more importantly, rain gear. Speaking of plants that need watering, with all the rain some of our beautiful wild flowers have started blooming. Gorgeous yellow cone flowers, bright crimson bebalms, and wonderful deep purple monks hoods. When we aren't looking at flowers, the crew has been getting into a little Dungeons and Dragons. We are HOOKED. So come talk some D&D and wild flowers with us. The current temperature is a nice, comfortable 67 and the low last night was 57.

Logan, the dungeon master

TwistyP

7/27/2016 01:33:28 pm

This post was refreshing. It's nice to read some original thoughts. Enjoy those temperatures, crew.

Chris

7/27/2016 01:38:29 pm

Awesome job on the blog post. We readers like details, not just temps! Keep it up!

TwistyP

7/27/2016 02:52:13 pm

Ditto!

elktonbrant

7/27/2016 01:46:46 pm

Several short comments today:

1. Turn the bed sheet this way, it's a Dungeon Master outfit. Turn it the other way, and you're ready for a toga party!

2. "Without thinking you lost ev'rything that was good in your life to the toss of the diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice"(thanks Aerosmith).

3. D & D where llamas and bears replace trolls and orcs as prized characters!

4. Stay dry!

Kim Luzader

7/27/2016 01:53:18 pm

So if we are coming up Friday via alum cave, has all this rain made it really slick? Have not seen the new trail improvements yet!

7/27/2016 02:13:34 pm

Any of the rocks, water bars etc. can be slick after a rain so you just need to watch your step. The improvements on the ACT are impressive. If you have hiked on Alum much you will notice a big difference. Enjoy your trip.

Melody

7/27/2016 05:30:51 pm

Hello! We are hiking up with our daughter in August and all she can talk about is getting a shirt. Do you have youth sizes in the I hiked it shirts?

7/27/2016 05:53:56 pm

We currently have youth medium. The next size up is adult small

Melody

7/27/2016 07:43:47 pm

Thanks you TL! She is tiny so hopefully the mediums will still be there. :)

Mary

7/27/2016 08:29:04 pm

Just curious...what trail is the best for kids (10 and 8 years old)? I am a little nervous about Alum Cave trail. We are heading up on Sunday.

tomk in SC

7/28/2016 09:54:28 am

If your parental power over your kids is absolute then have at it, it's the shortest. The last third, perhaps the last quarter has cables on the side of the trail, if they slip and they are not holding the cable it could be bad.
Rainbow has four or five log bridges on the first half. If your kids are good, no problem. The stop for snacks at Rainbow Falls is awesome and there is only one crossing above the falls. Don't do Rainbow around heavy rain, Next is Bullhead which has no cable or crossings. The safest is Trillium but I'm not a fan of that trail, but lots of people are, especially where the trail goes behind the Grotto Falls. Me? I've taken my kids up Alum. I recommend Rainbow.

Brian

7/29/2016 10:31:36 pm

At that age, Alum should be fine. My family, including three boys, then aged 10, 7, and 4 hiked Alum two years ago without problem. We talked along the way about being safe and not rushing along, and my wife led the way and I trailed behind on the cabled areas. We had no problems, either going up or down.

Last year, when they were 11, 8, and 5, we did the Rainbow up and Bullhead down loop, again without any problems. For us, Alum was the best way, as the elevation gain and distance are both a bit less than Rainbow. That last two miles on Rainbow seemed to take forever, but maybe that's because it was raining!

No matter the trail you choose, you will love it, and at their ages, I think they should be fine on Alum. The views on ACT are hard to beat!

elktonbrant

7/28/2016 11:33:18 am

WIth Alum, the key is to make sure they know to BE CAREFUL around the spots where there are drop offs. Mostly, though, it shouldn't be a problem for kids that age. Just make sure they stay with you and don't run ahead (which I've seen many times), and make sure they're not wearing headphones or have their nose stuck in a video game (which I've seen many times), and you should be OK. Let them know in advance that there are going to be some places where it is steep, but they need to be extra careful in those areas.

Ron Adams

7/28/2016 04:41:41 pm

I have seen the same thing many times, elkton, on the ACB. I mean, parents letting their little kids dash ahead along the cable area. When I see this, I just cringe and look away. Way too dangerous to be that careless. I do think some folks think they are at an amusement park, and nothing can go wrong.

Franklin

7/27/2016 09:23:20 pm

Great job today. Nice to have a post with some information on the crew, tells a story of day to day life on the mountain, and has some humor. Weather reports we can get elsewhere.

TennesseeTater

7/28/2016 12:18:24 am

How are the trails looking? Coming up Friday. Thinking of up Rainbow

Sherleen

7/30/2016 07:55:32 pm

It is wonderful to have good informative blog again. We shutin's who love the Smokie's can put ourselves there with you with story telling and pictures..Thank you. :-)

Comments are closed.

THE DUNGEON MASTER!

LeConte Lodge

Archives