Cooling off in Alum Creek

Today Delaine and I completed an 11 mile hike to Mt LeConte in Smoky Mountain National Park. We started at 9:30am and returned to the car at 6pm. The hike was mostly up hill with an elevation gain of about 2000 feet. The trail started at Alum Creek which we followed up the mountain until we came to the Alum Arch...a natural arch 2 miles or so into the hike. There were steps that we ascended to get to the next portion of the trail which led to Alum Bluffs. This was a huge recessed area under a rock facade on the side of the mountain. So many rock steps to get to here.

Then really difficult hiking began. The remainder of the hike was rock shelves with eye bolts holding wire cable for hikers to hold on to as we walked upward. We had to stop so much just to breathe and drink water. Finally the last quarter mile to the lodge was flat and on the north side of the mountain where there was so much green moss ! What a relief!

The lodge itself had a dining room,snack bar and restrooms with several small cottages one could rent for the night. We found out the cottages and lodge rooms were booked up for two years or so. We spent a half hour here eating our sandwiches and resting. There were a couple of short trails to scenic overlooks but we decided to start back down the mountain as we knew it was going to take a while on those rocks.

When we got to the creek area when we were almost to the end of the hike the boots came off and we waded in the cold water to cool off.

The extra is a collage of the hiking trail.


We are glad we could cross this hike off the bucket list. Proud to complete it but we will probably not do this kind of hike again!

Heading home tomorrow!