Eve Porter

Eve's Trail Notes: {mosimage}

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The whole experience was as wonderful as I thought it would be all these years. It took us 5.5 hours on the ascent, and that included a short time at Rainbow Falls, a short lunch, and lots of picture taking. This is the average time it takes for a steady pace and a fit hiker. I am including a few shots from the hike with this email. The first three miles you go through a forest of rhododendron, ...a dried forest of different kinds of trees, but fewer wildflowers.....very open feeling and look. It gives you the feeling of being a tiny person in a land of giant trees. The second 3.7 miles the trail becomes very lush and green, with a forest of ferns and wildflowers. Rainbow Falls itself is magnificent. You cross the wide creek several times, by bridges made from massive trees that were cut in half. A nice balancing act, to get across!! We were a little early for the July wildflowers, with mostly just foliage and bloom stalks, but the flowers needing another week to bloom. The last hour of the hike it began to rain, but we had our ponchos. With the rain came fog, which made the most beautiful scenery of the hike. I held up pretty good until the last hour of the hike, and about the last half mile I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. However, there was no other alternative but to soldier on!! When we got there and were told that it was the most difficult trail, it made us feel good to have made it.

 

After checking in and purchasing Mt. LeConte (dry) tee shirts, we settled in the recreation area by the warm heater, with everyone in big rocking chairs and hot chocolate. Our cabin was about 12 x 15, with two double bunk beds and a little tiny table, one chair and a kerosene lamp. Two very nice wool blankets per bed, and great sheets and pillows made for a sound sleep that night. After a hearty family style dinner and all the wine we could drink from 6:00-7:00, we hiked .2 of a mile to the top look-out area for the sunset. What a treat! There were about 30 people up there, all sitting and standing on huge rock outcroppings. You could see forever. After the sunset, everyone started getting ready for bed. We sat on the front porch with a family of 19 and watched the twinkling lights of Gatlinburg below until turning in about 10:00.

 

The early risers were up by 5:30 to hike 1.5 miles to see the sun rise. We, however, were warm and comfy in our beds till 7:00 a.m. Then up for another huge breakfast of buckwheat pancakes, warm syrup, eggs, juice and grits (ham for those who eat meat) and hot coffee or chocolate. I had packed the backpacks the night before, so by the time we got our whole group ready to go, it was about 9:00 a.m. Alum Cave Trail is also beautiful and very different from Rainbow. Lots of rock overhangs, narrow trails with steel cables to hold to. More beautiful fern areas. Most of the lush flora in the park is above 5,000 feet . The upper regions of the park, like Mt. LeConte, get 86 inches of rain a year, so even through they have had a drought it was still pretty. This amount of rainfall is as much as a rainforest, for comparison. You can come down Alum Trail in about 3.5 hours, with a steady pace. However, we had a big group and they liked to stop a lot, so it took us about 4.0 hours.

 

Back to our truck, back to Gatlinburg for lunch at Bubba Gumps and cold beer, and then on to Winston-Salem for the night, and then on to Raleigh the next morning. You know all of you were in my thoughts on the hike, especially that last mile. Mart and I toasted you at sunset and were very aware of your support throughout the trip. Thank you again for supporting Hospice and for your encouragement. Thanks to your generosity, we will end up with a check for Hospice somewhere around $4,000.00. Doesn't that make you feel good??!!!

 

There are still a few pledges roaming around out there. And, there are just a few who have yet to pledge/donate. Please feel free to still send a check our way. There are no better folks to help than Hospice.


Thanks again.

Eve Porter