You don't need a map or compass to hike to Mount LeConte. There's only one direction: up. There are five different routes up and down Mount LeConte, the third-highest peak in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and to its rustic lodge.
Those trails and the backcountry lodge with its rough-hewn charm and its very special mystique are very popular. They make Mount LeConte one of the most-hiked mountains in the park and in the Southern Appalachians.
LeConte Lodge, the only lodging inside America's most-visited national park and the highest guest lodge in the eastern United States, is a collection of wooden cabins atop the 6,593-foot peak. You can't drive to the lodge. You have to hike there and back.
You are looking at hikes of five to eight miles each way along the Alum Cave, Trillium Gap, Bull Head, The Boulevard or Rainbow Falls trails.
What you find atop massive Mount LeConte are high-altitude vistas of mountain tops, ridges and valleys, a land the Cherokee called the smoky blue mountains.
The key word describing the lodge is rustic. There is no electricity, no showers. Hot water comes from one spigot into buckets and washbasins. Light comes from kerosene lanterns. Drinking water comes from the pump.
There are propane heaters in the cabins. Hudson Bay blankets provide warmth for the double-wide wooden bunk beds. Linens are provided.
The concessionaire, Stokely Hospitality Enterprises, provides family-style Southern meals in the dining hall: Scrambled eggs, Canadian bacon, pancakes, grits, homemade biscuits; chipped beef, green beans, mashed potatoes, corn bread, baked apples, a half a peach, soup, oversized cookies.
Flush toilets are available to lodge guests, but not to day hikers to Mount LeConte. The same for hot chocolate and coffee. Lodge guests can, for $8 a person, get unlimited wine during dinner.
The must-do activities atop Mount LeConte are simple: You watch the sun set from Cliff Tops and watch the sun rise from Myrtle Point. You can also hang out in the lodge's always-crowded main room with its games and books. You can also sit in rockers on the deck.
Supplies are flown in by helicopter at the beginning of the season. Llamas carry additional supplies up the mountain three times a week.
Getting a reservation at LeConte Lodge is very tough. Reservations for the 50 spots per night open on Oct. 1 for 2008. Telephone calls will be accepted starting at 8:30 a.m. that day. You can also submit forms via mail, and they will be processed by lottery starting at that time.
All 12,000 spots will be booked within weeks.
The 2008 lodge season will be March 28 through Nov. 25.
Adult rates in 2007 are $62 for lodging and $31 for dinner and breakfast; for children 10 and under, the rates are $51 for lodging and $21.50 for meals. The 2008 rates will be posted in late August or early September.
The National Park Service provides a lean-to for 12 backpackers atop the mountain. Advance reservations are required through the park's backcountry office.
Mount LeConte offers some stunning up-high vistas across the Southern Appalachians, when the clouds and fog permit. You might be able to see 60 miles and more across the mountains. At night, the lights below twinkle in nearby Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and as far away as Knoxville.
Many consider the Alum Cave Bluffs Trail the best way to and from Mount LeConte. It is the shortest and steepest at 5.5 miles. It is the most popular and can be done in about four hours.
The lodge atop Mount LeConte goes back to 1925, when Paul Adams established a permanent camp atop Mount LeConte for the Great Smoky Mountains Conservation Association, a grass-roots group that fought to have a national park created. Many prominent guests stayed atop the mountain. The park was created in 1930.
Courtesy of Pittsburgh Post Gazette