Mt. LeConte

Yesterday, I led our crew vacationing together in the Smokies on a hike to Mt. LeConte.  Jude, Joe, and Holden turned around at Rainbow Falls and hiked back to the trailhead.  J.P, Terry, Meg, Terry (Jr.), Tommy, Scott, Jacqui, Ben, and Ellie hiked with me to Mt. LeConte on the Rainbow Falls Trail, then back down from Mt. LeConte on the Bullhead Trail.

At my encouragement, we got an early start.  That's not easy when it involves wrangling a bunch of teenagers who like their sleep.  Terry was up early, though, and motivated his boys to get going.  We left the Gatlinburg cabin - "the round houses" - a little after 7:30 a.m. and arrived at the Rainbow Falls Trailhead parking lot just before 8:00 a.m., where we go the last three parking spaces.  

Our ragtag crew hit the trail a little after 8:00 a.m. on the way to Rainbow Falls.  It's funny, but as many times as I've hiked to Mt. LeConte on that route - two years ago with J.P.. for example - I always forget virtually everything about it.  Total mileage.  The terrain.  Total time for the hike up and back.  Difficulty.  I tend to underestimate all of those things, much to the dismay of anyone I'm hiking with which, of course, was the case yesterday.

The draw for me to this particular route to Mt. LeConte is twofold.  First, almost three miles up, you get to see Rainbow Falls, which is beautiful.  Second, you get to hike an alternate route down the mountain on the Bullhead Trail.  In other words, two trails for the price of one.  That's cool, to me, given that I don't get to hike Mt. LeConte as much these days as I did in the past, during and after law school.

Our group did well on the hike to Rainbow Falls, although Jude struggled a bit.  The payoff was there, though, as the falls were roaring after a hard rain in the Smokies the night before.  I cautioned all of the boys about climbing too high up toward the falls and Joe, of course, was mad that I wouldn't let him climb as high as the older boys.  

I took a few pics of the group at Rainbow Falls, after which Jude, Joe, and Holden headed back down the trail.

I also got a few pics of J.P. and Joe.

The rest of the group continued to Mt. LeConte.  The hike up the mountain was longer, and tougher, than I remembered.  More than once, one of the kids stopped and asked me, "how much longer," which was akin to the "are we there yet" queries I used to get from our boys on car trips to Florida.

At one point, in response to yet another question about how much farther we need to hike to reach Mt. LeConte, I estimated the distance at about .5 miles.  Big mistake, given that it turned out we were 1.6 miles from the top.  I caught a lot of shit about that from the group - deservedly so - when we arrived at Mt. LeConte Lodge and sat down at a picnic table to have lunch.  

Everyone was beat, especially, Ellie.  To her credit, though, she was on the point most of the hike up the mountain.  She fell once, ran out of water, and looked to be on the verge of tears at one point, but she made it.  As I gave her an extra bottle of water while we ate lunch, she casually mentioned that she regretted not finishing the hike up the Narrows in Zion National Park two years ago, so she had been determined to get to the top of Mt. LeConte.  I admired her tenacity, for sure.

The hike down, as usual, was tougher than the hike up the mountain.  For some reason, the park rangers haven't done any maintenance work on the upper half of the trial.  As a result, most the single track trail was obscured by knee high grass, which made it difficult to see the loose rocks on the trail on the way down.  Jacqui fell and I almost did more than once, as well.  Fortunately, the park rangers had cut the grass on the bottom half of the trail, so it was slightly easier going.

The last mile or so, I was on the point, with Tommy, Ben, and J.P. close behind me.  It was fun listening to Tommy and Ben talk about the college application process, among other things.  J.P. listened - mostly silently - taking it all in, hopefully, so he realizes the importance of studying hard and testing well.  

Finally, we made it to the bottom of the Bullhead Trail, then hiked .2 miles back two the Rainbow Falls trailhead and parking lot.  All of us, including and especially me, were in pain and ready for the hike to be over.  13.9 miles in one day, between six and seven hours of hiking time.  

I was proud of the kids, because hiking to Mt. LeConte isn't easy.  Hell, I was proud of the adults, too.  

It's strange but I don't remember the hike being so difficult two years ago when J.P. and I hiked the same route to Mt. LeConte.  I'm probably running more than I was then, or at least just as much, so I'm certainly not in worse shape.  Maybe it's that we were hiking with a group and I felt the added responsibility of keeping up with everyone.  Or, maybe, it's because I'm two years older, having turned 55 (gulp!) last Friday.  

It was a good hike with a great group of people.  Jude's friends - and their kids - are special.  Very special. It's always good for Jude to spend time with them, especially during this season of our lives.  

I had to drive back last night for depositions today and tomorrow, which sucks, because I'll miss the rest of the week with everyone.  Still, I'm glad we got to hike Mt. LeConte and I think it's a memory for all of them that will endure.