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LeConte overnighter Alum Cave Trail and Boulevard Trail June 28 and 29, 2008 Church of the Good Smaritan, Knoxville by Connie Houk

The time had finally arrived for the annual sleep over at LeConte Lodge and we were so looking forward to it. We had a few new ones in the group this year. Marti Smith, supervisor at the National History Association (Spur and Parkway locations) and also an accomplished 900 miler which she completed just this May, Jill Lusk, Faye Trentham, Lawana , whom all three work at the Sevier County Court House, and of course the regulars: me, Alden, Liz and her son Jimmy. Several years ago we got in on a waiting list with the Church of the Good Samaritan and they have been kind enough to let us continue to join in with them year after year. Sam and Mary Ann Venable with help from Sarah and Ben Sheppard are the ones that get the plans together and they always do a great job. This is a fun and energetic group to be with. The majority of the people meet at Shoney’s in Pigeon Forge but we Sevierville folks like to get an early start so we usually just meet at the trailhead. I woke up before the alarm went off and was out the door about 5:00 a.m. I swung by Jill’s house to pick her up, and then picked up Lawana at the Sunoco Station while Alden picked up Faye at her Condo. We met at Goodwill where we followed each other to Sugarlands Visitor Center to meet Marti. Dennis had to work that morning and he was already at Sugarlands unloading an order off of the truck. We tried to coax him into going with us but no such luck. After speaking to him we loaded everything into Marti’s and my vehicles and were on the way to the Alum Cave Trailhead where we were to met Liz and Jimmy. After introductions were made, everyone except for me, Marti and Jimmy loaded up their packs and started their hike on the Alum Cave Trail getting a head start. Alden had been having some knee problems, with even a possible knee replacement in the future, so we planned on going very slow. Marti and I drove our vehicles to Newfound Gap Parking Lot with Jimmy following in his jeep. We were hiking out the Boulevard Trail on Sunday and would need our cars at this particular spot. I took a quick picture of the view from the parking lot before jumping into Jimmy’s Jeep. Jimmy, Marti, and I rode back down to the Alum Cave Trail where we three finally began our hike at exactly 7:05 a.m. hoping to catch up with the others at some point and time.  Jimmy would be hiking out early (VERY EARLY) on Sunday morning so he planned on coming down Alum Cave Trail. His church was having a Sunday School promotion and he did not want to miss. Thumbs up to Jimmy for being dedicated and devoted!! Jimmy is a much faster hiker than me but he did hike with Marti and me for a while before pulling on ahead. The forecast called for a 50% chance of thunderstorms for the weekend so as we started out it was quite pleasant, especially walking along the clear waters of Styx Branch.  Marti said we wouldn’t even have to break a sweat but she was soon eating those words. By the time we climbed through Arch Rock at 7:45 a.m. I reminded her of what she had said as we wiped the sweat off of our faces. She quickly took her words back. We had been going at a steady pace to catch up with the other ones. We caught up with the group between Arch Rock and Inspiration Point, except for Jill who was in high gear from drinking 3 red bulls that morning. We wouldn’t see her until we reached the top. I’m glad she grabbed the bull by the horns and stopped before starting down the other side! At 8:25 a.m. we took a break at Inspiration Point and I took this picture of Jimmy while he was in deep thought. (I wondered if he was thinking, “What in the world have I gotten myself into hiking up the mountain with my Mom and 6 other women)?! I think he loved it though after he saw all the food we had brought with us. I had to take a picture of my banana holder that Marti had gotten for me. It keeps the banana from getting squished and holds the peeling for later disposal. The sunrays shining down through the clouds over the Dolly Parton Peaks made a pretty picture and then Jimmy took one of all of us women. One of the boomer squirrels and gray catbird shared break time with us. The boomer wanted really bad to get into Faye’s snack bag while we were taking pictures but we kept a close watch on him. I knew that Faye’s maiden name was Breeden and that we were distance kin but I also knew that more than likely she didn’t remember me because people tend to change over the years. When I told her my maiden name was McFalls she instantly knew who my family was. I can remember when I was a small girl (in the 1970’s) going to her house and getting fresh eggs and fresh cow milk. My, how times have changed!! The views were gorgeous with rolling clouds here and there. We started back up the trail with lots of laughter and talking. We had a lively group this year! At the Little and Big Duck Hawk Ridges we didn’t see the Peregrine Falcons but we sure did hear them. All the way up we enjoyed the different sounds of birds singing. A group of hikers coming down the trail asked which one was the mother of the tall guy that was hiking ahead of us and Liz told him she was. The hiker said, “Well, he told me he was trying to get just as far away from you as he can!” Let me tell you.....with his long stride it would not be very hard! The hiker also told us that the pretty black hair lady (Jill) was waiting for us at the bluffs. When we got there one family was taking a break but Jill was no where to be seen so we kept slugging forward. I snapped a picture of Alden, Liz, and Marti as they were climbing up to the bluffs. We were almost at Gracie’s Pulpit when we saw Ronnie Valentine coming down the trail. It was so good to see him! I failed to get his picture though. When I told him I had heard he would be soon releasing his number of LeConte Hikes, (I really did hear that), he assured me that someone had told me wrong! Ed, I tried and tried but he would not come out with it. He said that he told you he wouldn’t release it until after you were gone ( I didn’t  want to say it but..........passed away, dead, you know....that place in the sky) but it didn’t look like you were going to go any time soon! It was all in good humor. His wife is still in bad health so everyone please remember her in your prayers. We talked to him for quite a while before going on to Gracie’s’ Pulpit where Faye and Lawana was already breaking. After cooling off we started down the saddle. I had printed some maps from Ed Wright’s website to give out and it was neat seeing the other ones looking for all of the points of interest. There is so much to see on this trail. Marti found a salamander in the trail and I managed to get his picture before he crawled under a rock. It became hotter as we came to the lower steps but still was not unbearable. We met Randy Baker and his family from Sevierville again making this the 3rd year in a row. We chatted with him a few minutes before moving on. We also talked with the trail runner whose name I cannot remember but anyone that has hiked this trail much will know who I am talking about. He passed us a total of 4 times, stopping and chatting each time. Walking at a slow pace and I was still breathing much harder than him! The section between the lower and upper steps seem so long to me! Jimmy had hiked on ahead but when we arrived at the upper steps he was waiting on us. He had whittled a tiny canoe while waiting. He showed it to us later that night and it was pretty neat. I wished I had taken a picture of it. We stopped there to rest and have a snack and another hiker was kind enough to take a group picture of us. There were lots of people on the trail, coming up and going down. We were noticing the different colors of the 2008 LeConte t-shirts and trying to pick the one we liked the best. Once more we started moving again. The others moved ahead and Marti and I stayed back with Alden. We took our time and I shot lots of pictures. I got a picture of a couple of mushrooms, a St Johns Wort flower and a Michaux’s Saxifrage flower. Marti said it was named after French Botanist Andre Michaus who explored the Appalachians in the late 1700’s. There was a nice run-off at Trout Branch from the rain the night before and I drank 2 bottles of the cold water. It sure tasted good! One young hiker told us he had seen a bear just a short distance up the trail but we never did see him. The views were excellent. We could see the Clingmans Dome Tower, Greenbrier Pinnacle, and the Chimneys. I took these pictures of a large bush that favors the blueberry but we were not sure what it is. I also learned something from Marti. The bright pink blooms that I thought were rhododendron were actually azalea blooms. The difference between the two is where the rhododendron has one round cluster of blooms, the azalea blooms are more scattered apart. I had never paid that much attention to it and thought it was all the same. I took a picture of the forest floor covered in pink blossoms that had gotten knocked off from the rain. Another thing I learned was how to tell the difference between the Red Frazier and the Balsam Fir. The Red Frazier has a reddish tint to the stem and the needles are prickly. The Balsam Fir needles feel soft to the touch. We could see Paul’s Face in the distance and knew it wouldn’t be long before we reached the top. We finally came to the level section and Marti told us a story of when she did an off trail hike with the SMHC.  We were standing in the place where they rejoined the trail after a hard climb up the side of the mountain. From listening to her story I think I never want to do that off trail section. It sounded hard and scary. Allyson Virden came out the trail for a walk and I told her what a nice write up about her and her husband it was in the Knoxville News Sentinel. We arrived at the lodge at 1:15 p.m. where we saw the rest of the group sitting on the office porch. They came down to join us as we made our way to our cabins. We were in cabin #8 and #9. Before settling in we ate our lunch on the front porch of cabin #8. That goes for the ones of us that arrived later because I think the others had already eaten. Cheese and crackers never tasted as good. Jimmy had a big bag of candy orange slices that he passed around and Faye had a bag of peppermint candy that made its rounds. Jimmy had made a remark about Alden’s pack being heavy and after she pulled the bag of canned food out we could see why. I had to take a picture of it. That could not be good for her knees. We all bought t-shirts, visited the potties, got pictures with the date on the kitchen and signed the register. I took a picture of Margaret Stevenson’s bronzed boots. I think Jill snoozed a few minutes and while we were settling into our cabins she took a hike to Cliff Tops. We were glad to see Mary Ann and chatted with her for a few minutes. They didn’t get to make the trip last year because Sam was recuperating from back surgery. Marti and I took a short nap...well; Marti took a nap while I lay there and rested. Normally I could fall asleep anywhere, anyway or anyhow but it just wasn’t to be. After we rested, we had just enough time for a visit to Myrtle Point before supper.  Alden and Jill decided to stay at the cabin while Liz, Jimmy, Faye, Lawana, Marti, and I headed up toward the LeConte Shelter. There were several hikers there too. We took pictures of Newfound Gap parking lot from the Boulevard Trail. That is where we would be hiking tomorrow and it sure did look a long ways off! We passed by High Rocks and started the downhill section that would lead us to the side trail. We could see the Greenbrier Pinnacle. The views were absolutely out of this world! Jimmy took a picture of us with the mountains as a backdrop. I took several of Liz and Jimmy and the silly pose is my favorite. We would have liked to stay longer but didn’t want to miss out on any of the dinner food! We all freshened up some and then made our way to the steps leading down to the kitchen. I took a picture of Alden, Jill, and Faye sitting on the steps while we waited. While we were sitting there, Henry Neel came out and announced that supper had been canceled. He grinned as he rang the dinner bell. It sure was loud! Some of us had put our food bags in the office earlier that day so we wouldn’t be tempted to snack. We were hungry! Our group of 8 got to sit together at a back table. It was hot in the dining room so we opened the window next to our table to let the mountain breeze float by. As soon as the blessing was said we dug into the soup and cornbread. The help soon brought the roast beef and vegetables that we started devouring. They kept asking if we wanted 2nd’s and we kept saying yes. Maybe we looked as hungry as we felt. It was all delicious and I ate more than I had ever eaten at LeConte. I think putting the food bag away earlier did the trick! Then it was time for the much anticipated story telling and prizes. The prize committee went all out this year! They even gave away a Cadillac escalade (hot wheels). There were a lot of good stories told: one from a young man about his younger sister pulling a joke on him and his friend. They were at Myrtle Point at the same time our group was when his younger sister met them on the trail and told them that supper had been served and they had missed out on it. She had him running back to the lodge to an empty dining room before confessing to him she was pulling his leg. Sam Venable also told a funny story about a turkey-hunting trip. There were several more but one particular story (a true story) stuck with me. It was told by Dan Proctor, a cartoonist for the Knoxville News Sentinel and this is the way I recall it (sorry if it isn’t exactly right):  I went to see my 86ish year old grandfather the other day. His day pretty much consists of sitting out on the front porch in his rocking chair with his old cats sitting at his feet rubbing against his legs. He really loved those cats. So, there he was sitting on the porch rocking, reading the newspaper with his cats lying there next to him. He said the other morning he walked out to the road and there on the pavement laid that old black cat, flat as a flitter. “Grandpa, what did you do?’ I asked him. Well, I went to the shed, got the shovel, scraped that old black cat up, took him and buried him. You know, I really loved that old black cat. I then went back to the porch and sat there for about an hour, just rocking and pondering. I was just thinking how much I would miss that old black cat. After awhile, I felt something and looked down and I couldn’t believe it! There was that old black cat rubbing against my leg! “Grandpa, what did you do then?” I asked him. Well, I was just so happy to see that cat but wondered who’s old black cat I had just got finished burying. I was telling Jim Davis, whom is married to my second cousin Gina and works for the City of Gatlinburg (at my part-time job) that I would be going to LeConte. He told me that another second cousin, Doug McFalls would be working there and I should look him up. So after the meal I made some inquiries with some of the help and sure enough he was in the kitchen washing dishes. He came out to talk to me for a while. I had not seen him since he was a small child and it was amazing to me how much he looked like his father. How neat…I had renewed acquaintances with two of my relatives: Faye Trentham and now Doug McFalls. As we waddled toward our cabins with our very contented bellies we ran into the ranger who was showing off a bear skin that we stopped to admire. He planned on giving a talk about the mountain at Cliff Tops just before sunset. We were all hoping for a good sunset as we started toward Cliff Tops. The sky was blue with just a few white patches of scattered clouds. Sarah had said at dinner she felt like it would be a pretty one. Boy, were we all wrong! We took the short walk along the bright green fern lined trail, choosing the side trail just below the shelter because it is not as steep. We all forgot flashlights so Jimmy retraced back to the cabin to get them. By the time we came to the side trail we could see the dark clouds starting to roll in from the North Carolina side. Halfway there and the clouds kept getting darker and moving much faster. Thunder and lightening made an easy decision for the ranger to start sending everyone back down to the lodge. He said he would give the lecture in the office. Earlier I had taken a rain jacket to Myrtle Point and it had not rained, so I decided not tot take one to Cliff Tops since the blue sky at the lodge had looked so promising. Along with some of the others we were pretty much drenched by the time we got back to the cabins. The heavens opened up and everyone was taking cover! It was pouring the rain down and the wind blew hard into the night. We kept waiting for the rain to slack up because we wanted to go to the office to listen to the ranger’s lecture. It never did so we hung out in our cabins for the remainder of the evening. We did get to see a glimpse of a beautiful sunset looking out the cabin door toward Gatlinburg. I even tried to get a picture of it but it was too dark. That night I had the worst night’s sleep ever at the lodge. Liz and Jimmy slept on the bottom bunk while me and Marti slept on the top bunk. I tossed and turned but could not get comfortable. Liz said she heard me snoring when I first went to bed so I must have slept some, but I don’t think the other three slept that great either. We didn’t hear any little creature visitors during the night. Jimmy was up at 5:20 a.m. and gone by 5:50 a.m. We wished him a safe trip as he headed out in the cold steady rain. He told us later that it rained on him the whole trip down. We all three headed out in the rain to the bathrooms, then came back and laid down until about 7:00 a.m. I was glad the night was over. Breakfast was at 8:00 a.m. and it was just as good as dinner the night before. I ate some of everything that passed by my plate. After the meal Doug came out to visit for a few minutes. It was nice talking to him and I hope to see him again some time soon. By this time the rain had stopped as we packed up to leave. We took pictures of Marti, and Liz and me standing in the doorway of our cabin. We were on the Boulevard Trail at 9:00 a.m. The others said they would stay back and hike with us and they did for the biggest part of the day. I got this picture of Faye and Jill as they walked down the misty trail in front of me. Every living thing in the forest, from the trees to the smallest plants were standing erect, healthy and looking very happy after the rain. This is a beautiful trail and so much more enjoyable hiking down it instead of the time we hiked up it. The views were awesome and we took lots of pictures. We stopped at the slide to take group pictures. I got several pictures of different kinds of snails. There were lots of them on the trail and the ones we saw were carefully scooted to the side so they wouldn’t get flattened out by one of us. Alden saw a tree with a prefect shaped archway for a door just at the ground. I wondered what kind of a critter it belonged to. Then Marti found a tree that had moss growing on it that looked like an old man’s beard. I even found a rock shaped like a boot and I still have it in my backpack. We passed several hikers but I didn’t keep count them. Mother Nature had dropped pink blossoms in the trail the night before and it made a pretty picture. We also spotted another mushroom growing along side the trail. Around 1:00 p.m. we came to a nice clearing where we had lunch. This is where Jill started pulling items out of her pack that was unbelievable, such as tweezers, a razor, shampoo, and bath and body lotion. She carried these 13.2 miles but what I can say: I always take silky pj’s to sleep in and we all know what Alden’s emergency food bag looks like! Each person’s “Do Not Go Without Item List” varies considerable. (Our group likes to kid and cut up so if you don’t know us please don’t take us serious. Laughter is good for the soul.)  Lunch was soon over and the others hiked on ahead with Liz, Alden, and me in the back. Alden was having some pain with her knee but she said it was bearable. We took our time so she wouldn’t have to push herself. Just before arriving at the AT it started raining enough to put our rain jackets on. The others were waiting on us at the intersection and we posed for pictures in the light drizzle. The rain stopped soon and we pulled our jackets back off. We could see Newfound Gap Road through the clouds. Liz and me made homemade toothbrushes out of birch. I took a picture of Lawana next to a tree that had the white blaze for the Appalachian Trail and then the others hiked on again and waited on us at the Sweat Heifer intersection. From here we only liked 1.7 miles so I gave Marti my car keys so Jill and Lawana could load their packs. I told Marti not to let Jill have them because I had a feeling she would have hidden my car. I took this picture of a white blaze that someone had drawn a smiley face on and another picture of a white moth and a rhododendron bloom shaped like a pineapple. When we arrived at the Newfound Gap Parking lot this is what we found: Three hikers lying out in the grass taking naps. They got to enjoy the music of someone playing bagpipes. It had been a fun filled weekend with friends and even some new friends. We enjoyed the trip back down the mountain and can’t wait until time for our next overnighter in 2009. It was........another great weekend for a hike.

Return to... Guest Hikes 2008.

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