One of the most visited National Parks in the US is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The park is huge with trails galore. Had we traveled here by ourselves, I’d have schedule back to back to back hikes. As part of a party, I needed to be considerate of others who may not regularly eat trails like we do. As a consolation, we did go on one of the longer day hikes in the park – the 13-mile out and back Mount Le Conte trail to Myrtle Point.
But first, zip line.Fun, but relatively tame. No near death experience here, so that was much appreciated.Striking a fierce pose.
Mount Le Conte is the 3rd tallest peak in the park, standing a hair shy of 6.7k feet above sea level.
There are 6 different trails that lead up to Mount Le Conte. We chose the shortest, thus steepest, and the most scenic route – Alum Cave Nature Trail.Crossing the Alum Cave Creek.At Arch RockFall colors started a bit late this year, with a smattering of them along the trail.Bright redsNot quite as impressive as what we saw at Acadia National Park 2 years ago, but sure beats nothing at all.View at Alum CaveFor some, Alum Cave is their final destination.Past the cave, the trail gets a bit steeper and rockier.Reminds me of the Precipice trail in Acadia.Looks scarier than it is.View along the trail.The final push to the Cliff Tops Viewpoint. Mom and dad are to never see nor hear about this Vicky.View at the top – Great Smoky Mountains gets its name for the layers of vapors shrouding the ridge lines. The volatile organic compounds emitted by all the trees create this moody look. Some compounds contain a blue tint, giving the Blue Ridge Mountains their iconic color.
Faith was having a bit of a tough time with the distance, so Michelle and I left Joe to keep her company, while we made a quick side trip to Myrtle Point. Michelle had hiked Mt. Le Conte twice before, but had never made it to Myrtle Point, so she was excited with the opportunity to do this.
We were awarded with more colors along the trail.Sweeping VistasFinally got to see what I came here for!Photo op at Mt LeConte lodge, the highest guest lodge in the Eastern US. Reservations for lodges are open every October for the following year, and are normally sold out shortly after.Back near the bottom, soaking tired feet at Arch Rock.
In total, the hike took 10 hours to complete including the two hours up at the summit. It wasn’t necessarily a difficult hike. We just went at a very leisurely pace to accommodate everyone’s needs, and Joe discovered that this pace works well for his ankles – no soreness during and after. Looks like he may be able to join me on longish hikes in the future, as long as we’re not charging along at my usual pace.
FIRE'd @ 47 