Hey guys! I finished another post about the Smokies. In this one, I’ll be talking about hiking up Mount LeConte using the Alum Cave Trail. It’s a classic Smokies hike and I hope you enjoy reading about it!
I’m EXHAUSTED. We did a 12+ mile hike, and I didn’t get much sleep the night before. Only 3 hours! I couldn’t sleep and we had to wake up early, so we would finish by sunset. The first half of the hike was very steep and uphill. Sounds like a lot of fun (sarcasm). First, we hiked to the halfway point, called Alum Cave Bluff, to eat a snack and take a break. The terrain was wet and muddy. We also saw a lot of plants and trees.
After our break, we continued up the mountain. It’s very steep so we had to be careful of our footing. We were hiking high up on a mountain, which meant we were in the clouds and our hair got wet. When we were close to the top, we took a quick bathroom break at the LeConte Lodge. The lodge itself hadn’t opened for the season yet, but we could still use one of the pit toilets. I’m so glad that they were available so I wouldn’t have to pee on the trail. Afterward, we continued up to the summit, but there was no view there! It was just a pile of flat rocks. Less than a mile past the summit, we finally got to our true destination, Myrtle’s Point. It was beautiful! We got lucky because when the clouds lifted, we could see the valley below. YAY! I’m glad that we could see a view instead of milk soup, like we saw at Charlie’s Bunion.
When we were leaving, we were all kind of sad and said bye to the spectacular view. We went back to the lodge and took another quick bathroom break, before starting the hike back down Mount LeConte. The trail was REALLY slippery and steep, which is much more dangerous when you go down than up. Thank goodness there were stairs or I would have probably slipped, fallen, and broken a lot of my bones. There were also ropes and cables to keep us steady. Once we reached Alum Cave Bluff, it was mostly easy downhill hiking. We picked up the pace and hiked at 2 mph instead of 1 mph like when we went up the mountain! Not to mention there were LOTS of people, and I got to pass them instead of the other way around!
After we passed Alum Cave Bluff again, we went through a cave tunnel thing again. I didn’t talk about it before because I totally forgot about it! The rock was gray with a layered, pointy pattern and it was really cool. We had to be very careful when walking through the tunnel because the path was wet and slippery.
By the end of the hike, I could barely walk because I was so sore from hiking 12+ miles up and down Mount LeConte. We got back to the car by the time the sun set. Whew! Our goal was to get back by sunset so we weren’t stumbling through the dark on a steep mountain trail. It felt amazing to finish such a long hike in ONE day. As a reward, on our way home, we went to a gas station/store. While Daddy got gas for the car, Mommy and I went into the store and got some well-deserved Rainbow Belts and deli meat. It was only the second time I’ve ever had Rainbow Belts, so it was a big deal for me, and it still is. Sadly, it’ll probably be another 5 years until I can have them again. We continued driving back to the cabin where we ate dinner. So it was an exhausting and sore-ta fun day.
Thank you for reading this post and I hoped you enjoyed this post. I’m hoping to post the next post soon. Onward… to the next post!
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