LECONTE (AND BEYOND)
I
got an early start on Monday. I had a
big day planned, so I was up well before first light. A short drive brought me to the Rainbow Falls
Trailhead. The parking lot there was
more than half full, which was a little surprising. I guess all of those cars belonged to
backpackers and folks staying up at the LeConte
lodge.
I
started my hike up Mount LeConte at first light. I headed up the Rainbow Falls Trail, which
stays fairly close to LeConte Creek for the first
couple of miles. I was eager to reach Rainbow
Falls before the sun climbed above the trees so I could get good photos. I made good time up to the falls, and arrived
in plenty of time.
Everything
I’d seen and read regarding Rainbow Falls suggested that it wasn’t terribly
exciting. I was expecting a thin veil of
water dropping over a high cliff. Boy
was I surprised! The high water levels
made Rainbow Falls breathtaking. Rainbow
Falls turned out to be a major highlight of a very eventful day. It was so impressive,
I took a few minutes to scramble upstream for more photos.
From
the falls, the trail climbs on switchbacks before rejoining the creek. A few minutes later, I was reminded of the
downside of high water levels. I arrived
at a creek crossing, which is normally an easy rock hop. On this chilly morning, rock hopping wasn’t
an option. Crossing would require
wading. And there were still patches of
snow lingering along the banks of the creek.
I
went barefoot just downstream from the trail.
The ford was mind-numbing, but quick.
I hopped around a bit on the far side before drying off and putting my
boots back on.
The
trail left the creek after the crossing, climbing the mountain more
aggressively. As I climbed
thru-the-trees views indicated that it was a clear morning, except for pockets
of fog in some of the valleys.
Specifically, there was thick cloud cover over Gatlinburg and Pigeon
Forge far below. This isn’t
unusual. I understand that those towns
are often fogged in. Why would this
be? That’s easy – it’s because God
thinks those places are an eyesore and doesn’t want to look at them!
The
trail had been pretty quiet early on.
I’d only seen a handful of people up to that point. However, the next couple of miles were quite
busy with hikers heading down from the lodge.
Most of them were kind enough to warn me about all of the snow and ice I
was heading into. LeConte
had received 18” of snow the previous week, and quite a bit of it still hadn’t
melted. Temperatures were only in the 30’s,
so that wasn’t likely to change anytime soon.
Fortunately
I’d brought my Yaktrax ice cleats. I used them most of
the rest of the way up LeConte. Although the snow and ice slowed me down, it
made the hike more beautiful. This was
particularly true in the dark tunnels of spruce and fir at the higher
elevations.
At
one point I took a spur trail over to an overlook. However, the morning’s clear weather had
disappeared. The morning fog had risen
up and swallowed the mountain. There
were no views in those conditions, so I kept moving. I climbed through deepening snow to the
junction with the Bullhead Trail. From
there one final climb brought me to the Alum Cave Bluffs Trail junction and then
the LeConte Lodge.
I briefly considered scrambling up the cliffs above the lodge, but the
route was icy, and the persistent fog would’ve eliminated any views
anyway. I pushed on, passing the trail
shelter and the summit of LeConte. Before long I reached a cliff with a good
view south and west. Fortunately the fog
hadn’t reached this side of the mountain.
I had a nice view there of the crest of the Smokies,
Clingman’s Dome, and waves of mountains beyond.
The
sun came out briefly while I was there.
The glare of the sun on the snowpack was instantly blinding. I was digging around in my pack for my
emergency sunglasses (actually just dark plastic inserts I got from the
optometrist) when it clouded back up.
I
resumed the hike and took a spur trail out to Myrtle Point. I found a few more views there, though
conditions were rapidly deteriorating. I
took a few photos and had a quick, early lunch before resuming my adventure.
I
picked up the pace after I left Myrtle Point, as I had a long way to go. I rejoined the Boulevard Trail and descended
through more snow and ice, passing across an exposed cliff. After a gap, a gentle climb brought me to the
Appalachian Trail. I turned left there
and followed the A.T. to Charlie’sBunion, which was
quite icy. The fog had surrounded it as
well, so there was no reason to linger.
A bit farther on I picked up the Dry Sluice Gap Trail, which I descended
to Bradley Fork. From there I followed
the Bradley Fork Trail downstream to the Smokemont
Campground. I continued out to highway
441 and thumbed a ride into Cherokee.
I
went straight to the casino and put our entire savings account on black
14. The wheel spun, and the ball came to
rest on black 14. I collected my
winnings and used a small part of it to buy a motorcycle from a teenager. I sped on to Bryson
City, abandoned the bike, and hopped a slow moving freight train on the Smoky
Mountain Railroad. I rode the train up
to the Nantahala Outdoor Center, where I disembarked. I bought a whitewater kayak, and caught a
ride up to the put-in at Beechertown. I rode the rapids back down to the NOC, acing
Nantahala Falls at the end. For an
encore I successfully rain class V Wesser Falls and
paddled on down to the shore of Fontana Lake.
I
met a young Cherokee maiden in an outrigger canoe there. She was fascinated by my kayak, so I offered her
a trade. I then paddled my new canoe
across Fontana Lake to Fontana Dam. I
met an old Cherokee warrior on horseback there.
He liked my canoe, so I traded it to him for his horse. I rode that horse like the wind, all the way
up to Clingman’s Dome.
It
was nearly dark when I arrived. I still
had to get to Gatlinburg, and Christy and our friends would be waiting for me
to go to dinner.
There
was a spaceship parked on the summit of Clingman’s
Dome:
https://www.angelfire.com/trek/fungi/Smokies/Clingmans_Dome_12-11.html
Elvis
was there, hanging out. I offered to
purchase his spaceship, but he was getting ready to leave for Vegas and
couldn’t sell it. However, he was really
interested in my horse. It turns out that
he was planning to go horseback riding with John Wayne while he was in Nevada. (Go ahead and picture it – I’ll wait).
As
luck would have it, Elvis had a hang glider.
I swapped him the horse for the hang glider, and soared over the Smokies. I coasted
down into Gatlinburg and made a perfect landing on the balcony of our
condo. I arrived just in time to take a
quick shower before heading over to the Mellow Mushroom to meet Christy, Marsha,
Ian, and the kids. The pizzas were
delicious.
APRIL
FOOL!
After
lunch I left Myrtle Point and returned to the LeConte
lodge and back towards the car. Early on
I ran into a few of interesting characters.
First there was a German girl hiking in a pair of Daisy Dukes. That was quite the combination. Needless to say, that outfit just didn’t go
with her accent. I’m guessing she wasn’t
counting on winter conditions when she planned her spring break trip to
Tennessee! Later, shortly after turning
onto the Bullhead Trail, I ran into two guys that asked me for directions to
the Alum Cave Bluffs Trail. I directed
them, but spent the next few minutes puzzling over how they’d missed it.
Descending
the Bullhead Trail was frequently pleasant but occasionally annoying. The pleasant parts came when I was strolling
along a well-graded, snowy path under a thick canopy of spruce and fir. The annoying sections were due to frequent blowdowns blocking the trail. Several had to be crawled under – in the
snow. This was extra fun since I hadn’t
brought gloves.
A
long gradual descent brought me to a cliff with a narrow view to the west. Another descent followed. Along here I crossed several small streams
that are probably no more than trickles in normal conditions. There were several modest waterfalls above
and below the trail, courtesy of the high water levels. A bit farther down I reached the actual
Bullhead Ridge. There is an overlook
here, but the views are mostly obscured by rhododendrons.
Farther
down I found a few Hepatica blooming. Eventually I reached the Old Sugarlands Trail, which is a gravel road. I followed it back to LeConte
Creek, which I crossed on a footlog. I finished up my 16-mile hike in about 10 ½
hours.
From
there it was back to the condo for a shower, and then on to the Mellow Mushroom
in Gatlinburg for pizza. It was
delicious.
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