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!

We're Back!

After a quite full summer with virtually no time for hiking, we are back! Our hiatus happened on accident really, but we've remedied that.

On Labor Day, the two of us went on a hike. There will posts to follow very soon, maybe later today if you're lucky.

Our schedules are rather full, what with fall classes starting back for me and Fr. Christian, well, he's just a busy man to say the least. It is my goal, as I'm sure it is FC's as well, to fit in more hikes in the rapidly approaching fall season. Here's to wonderful weather and views in the Smokies!

Watch Out!

We actually did this hike on June 27th, but Fr. Christian and I are both very busy people with no time for blogging!

This was our biggest hike thus far, in terms of the number of people who came with us. Our friends Tony, Mark, Ken, and Anthony (Fr. Christian's nephew) came along for the 7.5 mile Round Top trail.

In keeping with FC's favorite phrase, "There is no adequate substitute for an early start!", we hit the trail at about 8:30a.m. We left one car at the river end of the trail and took the other car to the trail head farther up. Keep in mind that you can hike Round Top with one car, but you will have to loop back to get to it.

I noticed that the trail ends at a favorite watering hole, for tourists and natives of Tennessee alike. There was no one there when we started hiking. In fact, the entire hike we didn't see anybody but our own shadows and each other on the trail! It is my understanding that this trail isn't very well known.

The weather in East Tennessee has been extremely hot and muggy as of late, but that Sunday morning, it didn't feel too bad. The trail is mostly under the tree cover, and we were fortunate enough to have a nice breeze the entire time.

Our group was split in 2 parties for most of the hike. You hike your own hike, as FC likes to remind me. So Mark, Tony, and myself were out in front of the others by a few minutes.

The only annoyance from the actual hike was the incredible amount of spiderwebs that we ran into. Since I wasn't with FC's group during the hike, I don't how terrible their experience was if they even had the same problem as the 3 of us did. I for sure can tell you that Tony, Mark, and I ran into a lot of webs. Only a few of them had spiders sitting in them...or so we told ourselves when we couldn't find the spiders on ourselves.

I know, I know...we were outside in the woods. That fact still doesn't make me feel better! Mark and I hate spiders, though I believe my loathing for arachnids is much stronger than his. The 3 of us took turns leading, meaning that we took turns taking the brunt of the web assault. I caught a couple of them, mostly little ones. After the second really big nasty web, I decided that I was done. Mark and Tony took turns the rest of the way, but after Mark got a good one, Tony was out front for the rest of the hike.

He miraculously found the spiderwebs before he ran into them. I guess I pay more attention to the ground than what's in front of me. I'm just thankful for Tony's uncanny avoiding spiderweb ability. The ones he found before we ran into them had monstrous spiders sitting in them, so we just ducked under or grabbed a stick to move them out of the way.

The other interesting thing happened after we finished the hike. The trail ends at the Little River, where you have to cross (unless you turn around and loop back to your car). We got there and played (that was mostly me) and waded in the water, trying not to fall in. Some of us were successful, others not so much.

I didn't realize how popular of a swimming hole the area was until that hike. We sort of appeared out of nowhere to the bathers as we popped out of the barely discernible trail in the forest behind the beach. There was an interesting demographic of East Tennessee and surrounding states (judging by the license plates in the parking lot later on) presented in all their bathing suit glory. The river was full of pool toys, screaming children, and tubers.

The tubers were actually a little rude. The mentality I got from them was that they were more important, that everyone had to get out of their way. "Tubers coming through! Tubers coming through!" shouted one girl as she barreled towards me. I got more than annoyed. I was standing in front of a pile of rocks that were not submerged. She should have been watching out for me and my rocks! You could clearly see them. I have been tubing before, and I know that you can steer yourself.

That girl apparently didn't realize that fact because I had to step back, nearly falling in to get out of her way. She then proceeded to hit the pile of rocks that I was standing near. I just smiled. Mark avoided a terrible situation of being mowed over. He introduced himself to the woman who was heading right towards him and proceeded to push her away before she could knock him over.

We all made it across the river, mostly unscathed. I got a wonderful view of a lady's backside (look to the bottom left of the picture...and that is just the cropped version). Mark fell in...albeit, before we decided to cross, but he fell in nonetheless.

Afterward, as I complained about tubers and spiderwebs being in the way, Mark had an interesting thought. We, though we didn't enjoy the tubers or their attitudes, were kind of like the tubers when we ran into the spiders and their webs. The spiders were there first, staking their claim. We barreled, accidentally, through them much like the tubers nearly mowed us over. The spiders were just as annoyed with us as we were with the tubers.

All in all, Round Top is a great trail. It's quiet until the end at the river crossing. If you go on a day with great weather, I'm sure you will enjoy yourself. I certainly will make this hike again.

Just make sure to watch out for spiders and tubers!

The Pancake Project

Yesterday Ashley and I set out on our quest to discover the best pancake house near the Smokies. Since the Log Cabin Pancake House is right across the street from St. Mary's Catholic Church in Gatlinburg, we decided to invite the pastor, Fr. Joe Brando, along. He was happy to join us for our first taste of Smoky Mountain pancakes. Fr. Joe had pancakes of the cornmeal variety, while I went for you basic old fashioned, with Ashley settling for chocolate chip.


Fr. Joe warned us that we may be attempting an impossible task, due to the number of pancakes houses in the area. He likened it to trying to eat at every restaurant in New York City. This did not deter us from beginning our search for the best pancakes in the area, however, and I must say that the Log Cabin Pancake House has the best pancakes we have tasted so far. Fr. Joe also unwittingly helped us begin another recent humdinger project suggested by friends, that being an exploration of the area wedding chapels. Gatlinburg has often been called the Las Vegas of the South due to its numerous wedding chapels and the relative ease of obtaining a civil marriage license in Tennessee. Fr. Joe spoke to us about the numerous Catholic weddings that occur at St. Mary's.


It seems that in this regard, Catholics are very similar to other tourists and that many call upon St. Mary's as a place to tie the knot. Fr. Joe explained that many couples complete their preparation at home and bring their own priest for the celebration. He noted that the parish charges a 300 dollar fee for the use of the facility.

It was a beautiful day in Gatlinburg for a pancake lunch and I am glad to have our first pancake companion in Fr. Joe Brando.

Easiest Hike Ever

Fr. Christian and I were fortunate enough to be able to travel down to the country of El Salvador from June 3-8 to visit Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH). NPH is a home for orphaned and abandoned children, and they have 9 houses in Latin America. It is an organization that aims to provide children with the skills to break the cycle of poverty. It is an organization that truly works. Visit their website to learn more.

For safety reasons, the two of us didn't venture off the grounds of NPH El Salvador, but we did take a stroll around the grounds. It is a beautiful home full of wonderful children and staff.

We dubbed our walk the "Easiest Hike Ever" because it was all flat and concrete. Although, I think I was sweating more in the El Salvador heat and sun than I ever have on a hike here in the Smokies, but that's a personal problem. We guesstimated that the entire hike was around 0.5 mile. We ran into some of the kids, and FC played a quick game of soccer.

I hope you enjoy these brief snapshots that don't do the real thing justice.

A little bird told me that the next Humdinger project will be the kick off for our pancake house contest. Our goal is to visit every pancake house that surrounds the park, and then we will determine which one is the best!

Wet Rocks Are Slippery

Of course it is obvious that wet rocks are slippery, but I like to emphasize and reiterate important information.

This hike was a lot of fun, in spite of the ominous clouds and humidity. It rained on the way up, but it only rained for a short while when we were actually on the trail. I might make this hike again with friends as part of our summer hanging out. There were also an awful lot of tempting swimming holes along the way...

Jakes Creek, Cucumber Gap, and Little River trails were relatively flat. The only noticeable incline was the first 0.3 mile jaunt. Even so, with a bum leg I was hurting at the end of the hike. Hopefully, this funky ligament isn't a permanent nuisance.

If you're hoping to keep your feet dry, whether professional or beginner hiker, then this little loop may not be for you. There are several stream crossings, and if you are anything like me, well, you could get a little wet.

Luckily, I never fell in. At one point though, I almost lost it. As Fr. Christian was climbing up the bank, I literally danced/skated across the hardest crossing. Wet rocks are slippery, I knew that. Having that knowledge doesn't prepare you for flying across a stream, but that's basically what I did. When I landed on the other side, my bum leg/ligament wasn't very happy, but the rest of me was because I didn't fall in! I don't know how it happened.

Stay dry folks!