Mt. LeConte 2012

This past weekend, I hiked Mt. LeConte with my parents! We had a great time. I always think I'm in such great shape... until I do something like a 10-mile hike.

For those of you who haven't hiked LeConte, think of this like camping lite. There's hiking, but at the end of the day there's a real bed, a hot meal (someone else has cooked), and a roof over your head. There is NOT running water or electricity, however. It is a great experience, and I'm glad I had my fun Mama and Dipsey to enjoy it with.

Here are my cute Mama and Dipsey at the trailhead - we went up Alum Cave Bluff Trail.

look how nice and clean we are!

and here are mama and dipsey crossing the bridge into arch rock

going through arch rock - precarious footing!

the three of us at inspiration point - very inspirational, but also very hot day.

itty bitty mama and dipsey at the alum cave bluffs

One of the first times I hiked this with Mr. Smith, he slipped off the trail and fell down the mountain. Don't worry; his fall was broken by a patch of vegetation - stinging nettles, I'm afraid, though. They were, in fact, quite owie according to Mr. Smith. I look for that patch of nettles every time I go on this hike and thank them for saving my husband's life.

dipsey fixing to nose dive into the nettles

After the last pull up the mountains, before you get to the lodge, there's this beautiful copse of trees you walk through. I swear, one day I'm going to see a white knight atop a charger there and I won't even bat an eye because it will look so in place. Dipsey calls it Cold Beer Corner because that's where you can crack a coldbeer and enjoy it on the last steps to the lodge.

me, mama and dipsey with our coldbeers. daddy's recipe is - freeze the beer the night before, then hike up with the slushy beer wrapped in foil. by the time you get here, the beer will have melted, but still be ice cold. dipsey forgot to ice the beer. DIPSEY. so we had lukewarm beer corner.

on the way up, mama and dipsey ran into some old friends. they got married up on leconte two years ago, and they visit every year on their anniversary. they day hike it to celebrate with their children up top. it was a sweet story, and dipsey wrote about it in his column. this year, to thank him for the nice column, they hiked up a nice bottle of wine for mama and daddy to enjoy. wasn't that nice of them? 

after supper, at clifftops. the view was GORGEOUS! it isn't always; sometimes the mountains smoke and you can't see doodley doo. not this weekend! you could see for miles!

see? great view!

me on the hike back to civilization.

i don't know how i missed this on the way up - it was the prettiest stump ever! it had all these cute toadstools all over it. i was taking a picture of it when three hikers crossed my path and we all four stood there and marveled for a minute about how pretty this stump was. 

Recently, I bought a pair of Chacos to wear while riding my bike. Since I only wore them while biking, I pretty much never walked anywhere in them, so they were all pristine and new. I thought I'd gamble on blisters because I really hate wearing closed toed shoes in the summer, and hey, that's what Chacos are FOR, is for hiking. So, without knowing how my feet would take ten miles in Chacos, I bravely faced the mountain armed with just the one pair of sandals strapped to my feet. I'm pleased to say, they did GREAT. The barest smidge of blisters (which I likely would have gotten from boots anyway) and no hot and sweaty feet. When I made it back to the parking lot, I was very proud to take a photo of:

my muddy, sweaty, filthy legs and appropriately broken in chacos! they were initiated!

Yea! Good hike, great fun time with my sweet Mama and Dipsey!