A Family Affair: Mount LeConte Part I

Since there are tons and tons of pictures to choose from, there will have to be at least three posts dedicated to this day!  These pictures are from our Canon camera, the camera that Daddy brought, and my iPhone.  I’m not exactly sure who took which pictures.  Brent took a ton and Daddy also took several. [I do know that some jerks in the parking lot took the first one for us.]

Ready to go!  We met at the trailhead at 8 a.m.  It was about 60 degrees, as best I can remember (compared to 90-ish degrees when we were here in July, our first time hiking Mount LeConte).

The trail begins alongside beside Alum Cave Creek.  The first 2.5 miles to Alum Cave are fairly easy.  You are in the woods, the climb is gradual, and there are bridges to walk over, etc.  On this day, the wind was blowing and the leaves were falling.  It was wonderful!  For the record, I’m not sure that the pictures are all in chronological order. 

The leaves were already starting to turn in the higher elevations.

Here we are at Alum Cave, almost halfway.  It is a good resting spot, but the best (and most difficult) is yet to come!  Although I do think that this is the steepest part of the entire trail.

I did so much better than I did last time!  So much better!  It was probably a combination of factors, including: weight loss, cooler weather, a Camelback, more peer pressure, in better shape, and the knowledge that a Cadbury Screme Egg was waiting for me at the top.  With that said, it was still very hard.  It was the second hardest thing I have ever done physically (the first hike being the hardest). I got really irritated the last 1.5 miles – just so ready for the steady climb to be over. It is really tough! But then you see this sign and know you know you have made it!!!!  The worst is over!

The trail levels off as you walk to the lodge.  It is beautiful on top of the mountain!

Weekend in the Smokies

It is a Freeman family tradition that we take a vacation around Brent’s birthday.  Ever since I hiked Mount LeConte in July with Daddy, I have been dying to take Brent back to do it with him.  So we had been planning this trip for months (almost as soon as I got back the last time!).  We were both off on the Friday after his birthday, so we left Thursday after work and drove straight up to Gatlinburg with the plan of going to Cades Cove on Friday and hiking LeConte on Saturday.

We stayed at Park Vista, a very nice hotel away from the strip.  Our view was awesome!!!  Brent did such a good job picking the hotel!

On Friday, we planned to sleep in until 8, but Brent ended up waking up early and waking me up to watch the sun rise over the mountains.  What a nice start to the day!

Shortly after breakfast, we headed to Cades Cove. Brent brought his bicycle to bike the loop.  We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day.  The highlight of the day was when we saw a mama bear and three bear cubs!!!  I was too startled and excited to get the camera out, though!

I hope this is not too blasphemous a thing to say, but I really think that Heaven might look like Cades Cove.  It is just so beautiful. 

After Brent biked and I drove a loop and a half, we decided to take a short “warm-up” hike in the park.  I had read on line about this great hike to Abram’s Falls and how it was easy and perfect for beginners.  It was 5 miles out & back, so we headed out around lunchtime, thinking we would get in a leisurely stroll. Wrong!  It was pretty tough – lots of long, steep inclines.  And since we went in thinking it was going to be super easy, that made the difficult parts that much worse.

But soon enough we were finished and headed back to Gatlinburg to find some lunch….at 3 pm. We were starving! No Way Jose’s to the rescue! [In our defense, as we were leaving the trail, we noticed a sign indicating that the Abram’s Falls hike was actually rated “moderately difficult” by the park.  Whoever said it was beginner-level easy on the internet mislead us just a bit!]

After eating lunch, we got some groceries for the LeConte hike, and then drove back to the hotel.  We couldn’t really think of what we wanted to do and the strip didn’t sound too enticing after all the walking we did at Cades Cove, so we decided to drive back up the mountain road to find the parking lot at the Alum Bluffs trailhead that we would be using the next day.  When we found it, we just kept going, deciding to take a scenic drive.  The sun was setting and it was gorgeous, and we just kept going….to Newfound Gap…and then to Clingman’s Dome.  We talked about just staying at the base, but then we got there and the sun was setting and it was gorgeous, so we decided to do the 1/2 mile walk to the top.

Brent took off, but I was a little slower because I had to keep stopping to rest (that 1/2 mile is no joke – it is STEEP!).  It was really cold, too!  About 50 degrees!  We both had jackets (thankfully) but were wearing shorts & short-sleeved shirts underneath.  Anyway, I huffed and puffed my way to the top, but in the end, it was definitely worth it.  This was the most beautiful sunset I have EVER seen.

[LOVE this guy!! He is becoming such a fantastic photographer!]

Can you even believe this sunset?!  I have never witnessed anything like it in my life.  When we got back down to the parking lot, the sun had set and the scenery was just so moody.  I could have stood there and just looked at the mountain for hours.

Finally, we got in the car and headed back to the hotel (with the heater on!).  We pulled off a few more times to take some pictures, but made it back to the hotel in time to take an Epsom salt bath while warming up with some coffee!  Preparing for LeConte!

Total miles hiked today: 6!