Our group of 10 Mt. LeConte hikers departed Columbia on July 15, after church. Our first night was spent at Lake Summit, NC, where Cope Fralick’s parents, Johnny and Tracy Johnston, fed us well and let us enjoy the lake from their dock. Johnny shared some stories of LeConte, having himself taken a group there for 35 summers. We enjoyed Compline by the lake and read the story of the Lord’s Transfiguration on the mountain. We drove the next morning to Gatlinburg, TN, where we took a shuttle van to the Alum Cave trailhead, because parking is now extremely limited. Alum Cave trail is the shortest (5.5 miles), steepest (gaining 3061 feet), and perhaps most scenic of the trails up to LeConte. Our young people nonetheless made the hike in about two hours. The adults took a little longer, finding the kids settled into card games upon our arrival. It was 90 degrees in Gatlinburg that day, so the ascent was a sweaty business. But temperatures were in the 70s at the top of LeConte. It is the third highest peak in the Smokies, named after Joseph LeConte, a professor at Carolina in the 19th century, and Georgianna Wheeler’s great great grandfather.
A few hours of rest separated us from the traditional and hearty LeConte Lodge dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes, baked apples, and other good things that can come from a can. There is no electricity at the lodge; everything is kept very simple. We were pleased to learn that we were there during the 100th year of the lodge’s operation. We showed the young people their buckets for such bathing as was possible using the water from the spigots, how to light a kerosene lamp, and watched the llama train which brings supplies up the mountain depart with dirty laundry. After supper, we made the short, steep hike from the lodge up to Clifftop for a fine sunset, gratifying to anyone who has been there in fog and clouds. We had Compline prayer around a picnic table, reading from Jesus’ sermon on the mountain. The next day we heard other guests talking about a church group that had been at prayer. It was early to bed for most of us, in creaky double-bed bunk beds, as temperatures reached the upper 50s.
A select few rose to see the 5:30 AM sunrise at Myrtle Point, before all joined in a vast breakfast of pancakes, eggs, biscuits, and Canadian bacon. We collected our things and returned to Clifftop to celebrate Holy Communion. We shared the spot with three high school boys from Maryville, TN, who had risen at 3:30 AM to make a day hike of the mountain. They joined our service, reading of Moses meeting God on the mountain of Sinai from a Bible one of them had brought. From Clifftop, we descended LeConte via the Rainbow Falls trail. A longer, gentler trail, it offered more wildflowers than the Alum Cave routs, particularly Turk’s Cap lily, rhododendron, bee balm, and blueberries we happily sampled. The van collected us, and we returned to Lake Summit for a final evening of hamburgers, swimming, and tubing.
We walked in the footsteps of many St. John’s people those days. Our rector Rufus Morgan (1931-1940) wrote about LeConte in his autobiography “From Cabin to Cabin.” Rufus first ascended Mt. LeConte in the summer of 1928, before the Great Smoky Mountains were protected as a national park. He hiked it many times, at one time holding the record for the most ascents, climbing it well into his 90s, even after he was blind. He accompanied St. John’s groups led by his nephew, our rector John Barr. Rufus’ hikes up LeConte included the same elements as ours: sunset was viewed at Clifftop, “while there, we turn(ed) to things of the spirit, singing hymns, reciting poems, and quoting Scripture while enjoying the descending sun.” Some on his trips rose to see the sun rise from Myrtle Point, facing East, where his groups often celebrated Holy Communion. He said “the LeConte trip is more than just a hiking trip. It has become a spiritual experience.” It was for our little group, and we can hope that it will be again.
View a gallery of photos from our LeConte trip here.
Learn more about other important updates in the latest church newsletter: The Epistle – September 19, 2024