Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Newfound Gap - Mt. LeConte 

October  28-30, 2007

I had a great time and the weather was perfect. I did two trips with some great friends. The 1st trip was with an old buddy of mine Carl (aka rifleman); I did a repeat of a trip I have done many, many times. But, Carl insisted I do this with him.

We started out at Newfound gap at 1:30 PM & headed up the A.T. to Ice Water Springs shelter. The start of the trail was very hectic due to the fact that two buses of tourists had just off loaded and all wanted a short part of the A.T. After mingling through the crowd, we made our way up the A.T. After a nice, pleasant climb up Mt Ambler, We took a break at the overlook, which I have had the opportunity to enjoy thru the years and we passed several day hikers along the way.

There were 5 south-bounders and 5 section hikers at the shelter tonight. I dropped my pack at the shelter and headed for the bunion. Clear skies and long range views. All the day hikers were gone by this time, so I had the bunion to myself for a beautiful sunset.

BTW: Ice Water Springs was flowing and was able to get a quart of water in about 3 sec. temps that night registered @ 29 degrees.

The next day we headed down the BLVD to LeConte. Great views and met many hikers coming down from the lodge. Had a total of 7 bpers at the shelter tonight. We all went to see the sunset at cliff tops and it looked like the lodge was full. Temp was in the high 30’s tonight with no wind & the stars were out in abundance.

I was up early and headed down the Alum Cave Trail leaving Carl behind at the shelter. I needed to get into town by noon to meet up with Hutch, who would be doing the 2nd trip with me on Wednesday. Another good day of hiking with clear skies & great views. Again, met many day hikers coming up to stay at the lodge. When I was about a ¼ mile from the cave, I came across Hutch hiking up the trail which was good news. That meant my deadline had been cancelled and I did not need to hitch a ride when I got to the parking lot. The cave was filled with tourons as well as arch rock but we still enjoyed our hike down. Then we headed into town for me to change packs and to resupply and most important of all, to get me a HOT shower.

Second trip report to follow:

Sugarland  Mountain Trail

Husky Gap
Little River Trail
Goshen Prong Trail

Here are some Pics from both trips.

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/561324031cfapbi