A Cave Named Alum

On Labor Day, Fr. Christian and I were finally able to go on a hike! It was an excellent day for hiking, but at the very beginning of our day, we broke our first rule. There is no adequate substitute for an early start!

In spite of hitting the trail way later than usual, we made pretty good time to the cave that also shares the same name as the trail we were on, Alum Cave Trail. I think our hike took me a bit longer after the cave, closer to reaching Mt. LeConte. This trail is one of the trails that takes you all the way to up to Mt. LeConte. It is also the shortest, 5 miles. I believe it's something like 3,000 feet of elevation change. In 5 miles.

Which proved to be a problem for me. You see, at the time, I was recovering from the tail end of a cold. This made it difficult to breath when hiking up so high in such a short distance.

I'm slightly embarrassed at the number of times that I had to stop, just to catch my breath. Now, part of it was also being way out of shape, but I believe it was mostly due to the poor breathing issues. When we were 0.1 mile away from the Mt. LeConte lodge, FC asked me if I wanted to go down a short trail that connects to the Rainbow Falls trail. We missed that little section on our first Humdinger hike because I hurt my leg and vehemently opposed walking up to the lodge. Or crawling. I'm saying "NOOOOO" in the picture:

In spite of all my whining and being mean to Fr. Christian every time he said, "I think we're close", it was a rather enjoyable hike. There are countless breathtaking views. Walking up the stone steps through Bishop's Arch was cool, but it's a one way street so you don't get a lot of time to admire it as there are other people waiting to go through.

Speaking of other people, this trail is very popular. I'd say it's almost crowded compared to the last hike I went on. We didn't see anyone but ourselves, at least until we got to the Little River swimming hole. On this hike, there were a few groups/pairs that we kept leapfrogging with. A lot of people just go to Alum Cave and then turn around, so traffic essentially cuts down after the cave. Once at the lodge, we did run into our friends Vince Chiaro and Fr. Dan Whitman. It seems every Humdinger hike we either A) Go with a group of friends or B) Run into people we know on the trail. How cool is that?

Overall, I'd say this is a pretty fun and yet challenging hike for the beginner. I would know.

If you want to get to Mt. LeConte in the shortest distance, take Alum Cave Trail. And yes, in spite of the steepness of the trail, it really is a fun hike. But don't be fooled by the short distance to the top because it is killer if you can't breath and if you're out of shape. If wicked awesome geological formations tickle your fancy, this is also a good trail. As a former geology major (I am so indecisive), the rock faces, the cave, and Bishop's Arch are extremely fascinating. If nice views where you can count multiple ridge lines are your thing, there are many of those opportunities.

Fall is rapidly approaching, so go on a hike!