Climbing Mt. Leconte

It has been a couple of weeks since our latest Humdinger Hike, but I wanted to weigh in with thoughts on Mt. Leconte. Our most recent hike was to the top of this well known mountain in the Smokies by way of the Alum Cave trail, which is by the way one of my favorite hikes in the park. Alum Cave trail has some of the most spectacular rock formations and views in the park, but it is also steep and I would even consider certain sections of the trail to be dangerous. The first time I hiked this trail was in the winter and patches of ice made me cling close to the cliff walls for fear of plummeting to my death off the side of the mountain.

There are four other trails that lead to the top of the mountain, two of which we have already hiked as a part of the Humdinger Project. The other four trails are Rainbow Falls, Bull Head, The Boulevard and Trillium Gap. I have never been on the Boulevard Trail, but Trillium Gap is one that I am looking forward to hiking again. Trillium Gap is the only trail in the park where one can walk behind a waterfall at Grotto Falls and it is not unusual to encounter llamas coming up or down the trail carrying supplies to Leconte Lodge.

As you can see from our pictures, the views are great and there is ample opportunity to take in some relaxation between the work of hiking up some steep inclines.




Leconte Lodge is an interesting place. It sits atop the third highest mountain in the Smokies at 6593 feet. It is one of the highest places to stay overnight in the Eastern US. I have stayed at the Lodge twice and for those who can get a reservation, I highly recommend it. The benefits of staying at the lodge are that one gets two days of hiking in beautiful country, a nice beef stroganoff dinner and breakfast the next morning, a bed to sleep in and a great place to be with friends and make new ones.



We are always looking for new friends who like to hike. If you would like to join us for a visit to the Smokies, please let us know. We would be happy to have you join us for a walk in the woods!

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!

Rainbow Falls, Mind Over Matter & Traveling String Bands

This morning we set out on the first of what I hope will be many hikes on the way to our goal of hiking every trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Today's trails were chosen by Ken Naumann, a parishioner of St. Thomas who has been wanting me to head into the woods with him for many months. He chose a loop that took us near the summit of Mt. Leconte via the Rainbow Falls Trail, then down the mountain via the Bull Head Trail, ending with a very short section of the Old Sugarlands Trail to arrive once again at our car. As expected, we did not get the early start that we would have liked, but there was more than enough daylight to get us from beginning to end.

It has been a few years since I have hiked on Mt. Leconte and I had forgotten how high one climbs to get to the top. At 6593 feet, Mt. Leconte is the third highest peak in the park. There are five trails that will take you to the top of the mountain and prior to today's adventure I had only hiked three of them. Tonight as I write this I can add Rainbow Falls to the list. On a beautiful spring day like today, Rainbow Falls Trail is spectacular. It could be a tough trail for beginners though as it climbs 4,000 feet in under seven miles. Early in the day, I found myself breathing hard as we continued climbing, climbing, climbing.

As continued our trek up the mountain, we began looking for signs of Rainbow Falls. I didn't know whether to expect a large or small waterfall, but thankfully a couple who had been on this trail many times gave us a description that would make it hard to miss. They also were traveling with a beautiful Siberian Husky whom I felt sorry for due to the heat. When we reached the the falls and creek below, however, the dog knew where to find comfort and was soon resting in the cold mountain waters.

As we continued up the trail, we soon discovered some bad news. Ashley was beginning to feel some pain in her leg that was not to soon subside. Pain is part of hiking, but it is never fun to endure. One thing I have learned in many years of hiking and backpacking, however, is that much of this kind of pain can be overcome with what I would refer to today as "mind over matter". When things are tough on the trail, your thoughts can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Ken and I did our best to encourage Ashley as she made her way to the downward section of the trail, while also making sure to take plenty of rest breaks and pain killers. It isn't all mental after all!

On our downward journey we encountered an unexpected group that included another St. Thomas parishioner and an excellent musician, Bo Carey. Bo and his fellow musician friends were heading up to Leconte Lodge, instruments in tow, to spend the night and no doubt to entertain the other lodgers with their excellent skills on the strings. I hope they had an enjoyable time. Leconte Lodge is a wonderful hiking destination. Here's how it works. You reserve a spot in advance, hike up Mt. Leconte, sit down to dinner (which always seems to be beef stroganoff and noodles), sleep overnight in a bed, sit down for breakfast, and hike back down. Not a bad deal, is it?

So down we went on the Bull Head Trail, with beautiful views and several stream crossings. At around the half way point of this trail is a stone platform known as the Pulpit. Here I took a few moments to preach upon the one of the fundamental tenants of hiking, that being,

THERE IS NO ADEQUATE SUBSTITUTE FOR AN EARLY START!

There are certainly substitutes, like starting late with friends and making sure to care for one another with concern for injuries, good conversation and cold bottles of Snapple prepared in advance for the end of the day. But is this type of substitute adequate? I'll let you decide.