We love hiking and go every chance we get to the Great Smoky Mountains only a 1 hour drive from our home. This particular hike leads to the LeConte Lodge which has an elevation of over 6000 ft. There are two primary trailheads that lead up to Mt. LeConte, the highest peak in the Smoky Mountains. The main trailhead that the majority of hikers take is the Alum Cave Bluff trail, but on this May morning, we started at the Newfound Gap trailhead, which is right on the state line of Tennessee and North Carolina. Either way you go, it's about a 6-7 hour hike. We were so excited because we had reservations for overnight lodging at the LeConte Lodge. To make a reservation for this lodge you have to call on September 1st of each year to schedule for the next year. We had never been able to get a night at the lodge. What made this opportunity so incredible was the fact that only through a cancellation, "because it had snowed in May", were we afforded this opportunity.
We began our hike shortly after noon at the Newfound Gap trailhead and felt that we had enough time to easily get to the lodge by late afternoon with plenty of daylight to spare. We had checked with the Park Rangers and they said Newfound Gap trail would probably have less snow so we took their advice. The late spring snowfall, which amounted to 5-6 inches, only added to the excitement and challenge. Little did we know at the time what lay ahead along our journey. It seems as if we walked forever, thinking that the Lodge was just around the next bend in the trail. Shirl, my wife, kept asking, "how close are we?" to which I would reply "just around the next bend". It was starting to get dark and we were cold and our feet were wet from walking thru the snow. By the time we reached the Lodge, they were almost ready to send out a search party because we were the last ones there and it was beginning to get dark. We were cold and miserable, but so relieved to get to the Lodge and get some good hot food. I ended up getting a fever that night from the cold, wet hike up that day, but by morning, I was up and ready for the hearty breakfast they serve, which is great. There is something special about eating in a mountaintop lodge. The food is actually brought up the mountain once a week by Llamas. One of the young guys that worked at the Lodge told us that after work on some evenings, he would actually walk/run down the mountain to go to a movie and come back up the same night to be at work the next morning. Oh to be young again and have that kind of energy.
On a clear day you can get up at sunrise and see magnificent sunrises but it did not happen this day. Also the evening sunsets are suppose to be fantastic but it didn't happen for us either due to cloud cover. As we prepared to leave the Lodge the next day, we were told there was not as much snow on the Alum Cave Bluff trail, so that's the trail we took back down the mountain. Once we made it to the parking lot that was only one problem, our car was at another parking lot at Newfound Gap which was a few miles away. A young girl who had walked down with us from the lodge had also parked her car at Newfound Gap so she convinced a woman to give her a ride back to her car and then she returned with her car and picked us up and took us back to our car. What a memory...We'll never forget this adventure and you won't either if you elect to make it happen. Just give yourself plenty of time, take enought water, and keep thinking positive that the Lodge is just around the next bend.
