Mount Leconte

I've made this hike twice. This is a short photojournal of my second time up, Jessica's first. Mount Leconte is one of the highest peaks in Eastern North America. At the top sits a lodge that can only be reached by trail. Supplies for the lodge are carried up by a pack of llamas. Reservations for one of the many small cabins have to be made years in advance. Most people hike up, stay the night, then hike down the next day. Some of the more hardcore types, like us, make it a day trip. We took the Alum Cave Trail......the shortest, but steepest, of the many trails that lead to the top. The first time I hiked it, in 1999, I made it up and down in four hours, in a new pair of hiking boots that left bloody blisters the size of half-dollars on both of my ankles. On the way down I ran into an older gentleman by the name of Ed Wright. Mr. Wright developed a fondness for the Alum Cave trail, and starting in 1991, the year of his retirement, hiked to Mt. Leconte over 1300 times. In 2007, he finally had to give it up because of knee problem (go figure). He has written a book and created a website devoted to the mountain and trail: http://www.mtleconte.com/. He kept a log of every hike and on the day I spoke with him, he took my name and added me to the list.

The trail starts low and meanders beside a peaceful creek for a while. A few miles up is the trail namesake, Alum Cave(below). There used to be a mining operation here, where alum was mined for use in epsom salts.

Past the cave, the views become spectacular and the trail is so narrow and rocky in places, cables are bolted in to the side of the mountain for hiker safety.

The views disappear and its straight up to the top. I'm out of breath just thinking about it.

Near the top, the trails converge.

Made it! The cabins appear through the mist.

The lodge. Only the paying overnight guests get to eat at the lodge. The smell of that food cooking was just too much for us to handle, having just hiked uphill for almost 6 miles, and facing a downhill hike of the same distance with only cheap snacks in our backpacks. We didn't stay long.....there is a KFC a few miles from the trailhead.

Jason

All photos © 1992-2008

1/7/08