My Mt Leconte Adventure

by Will Mullis

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I would like to share my trip with you from Jan. 19, 2002. When we heard that Newfound Gap Road was closed due to construction my father and I decided it would be neat to hike up Alum Cave Trail the day that the road opened. We called the ranger station and they informed us that it was scheduled to open Jan 18 so we made a reservation for the hiker's shelter on top of Leconte for Jan 19.

We arrived in the park at 1:00 am Saturday morning hoping to drive up to the trailhead and get a few hours of sleep in the truck before daylight, but the road was still closed, it was suppose to open at midnight. So, we instead parked at Sugerlands Visitor Center to catch some sleep. Then at about 4:00 am it began to rain. Of course after an hour of steady rain the truck cab began to leak getting our sleeping bags wet.

We were awoken at 8:30 am with a pounding on our window. Apparently the rangers didn't like us sleeping in the parking lot so they told us it was time to move on. The road was open by then so we were more than happy. It was raining though and we had no real rain gear. Actually we had rain gear but left it at home because we figured that it would be snow not rain. Still we were determined not to let that spoil our plans.

We began hiking around 9:30 am. That had to be the coldest and hardest rain I ever felt in my life. The trail started out with just spots of snow on the ground and was covered with a thin layer of ice where the rain was starting to freeze. By the time we reached Arch Rock we were completely drenched. Just glad the stairs we not covered in ice. We came upon three hikers between the Arch and Alum Cave. The hiker that was lagging behind looked very rough. For being at such an easy spot of the trail he didn't look like he was going to make it. We took a small break at Alum Cave just because it was out of the rain.

As we gained elevation the ice became worst. The cables were all covered in ice. The rock walls to our right shoulders was just pouring water from them in buckets and since it was a drop off to our left there was no other choice but to walk right through it. My father realized that he had a tear in his boot and after a while it completely filled up with water.

As we climbed the rain just got colder and harder. The trail was very icy. I wouldn't advise anyone without crampons to attempt climbing this trail until after the thaw because it is quite dangerous. By the time we reached the ridge and the trail that leads to the shelter, the trail was knee deep in nothing but slush. A mixture of water and snow that just made walking unbearable. We reached the "bear cage" in three hours and forty-five minutes, not to bad for the weather conditions.

The next eighteen hours were spent in our sleeping bags keeping warm. We were joined by a group of four other hikers who stayed in the shelter with us. We enjoyed their company and it was comforting to see that they were just and cold and wet as us. We awoke the next morning with a clear beautiful sunrise, and every piece of our gear was completely frozen. We all enjoyed the morning thawing out our stuff and fixing a hot breakfast. My father and I hiked up to High Top just to summit then we made our way down the trail. It had more ice than before because all the rain had frozen. We enjoyed a beautiful hike out without a drop of rain and plenty of sunshine just as if mother nature herself was giving us a gift for surviving such a storm.

This was our first trip up Alum Cave and I guarantee it won't be long until I'm back.

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