Mt LeConte Lodge Cabin / Gatlinburg - Weekend Adventure

EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED

Join us for a 3 day weekend Adventure in the Smoky Mountains with 15 awesome people! 

We have four, 4 person cabins reserved for Sunday night at the top of Mt LeConte, 6360’ above sea level. Saturday we will stay at Cross Roads Inn and Suites in Gatlinburg. You are in charge of making your room reservation at the Cross Roads Inn & Suites for Saturday night.  **We Suggest making this reservation ASAP as we expect hotels to fill fast on a Saturday in April**.

Reservations for LeConte Lodge are made 1 year out, go by a Lottery system and are extremely difficult to obtain. Each cabin is rustic and cozy! It will be complete opposite from what you will have Saturday night at the Hotel. While there is no electricity, kerosene lamps light your accommodations and propane heaters warm the cabins. A privy building with flush toilets is available, but there are no showers. Wash basins are standard in all lodging. Sunday night dinner and Monday morning breakfast is included and served family style.  

In each room there is a queen size set of bunk beds, with complete bedding. When you sign up, please put in your note if there is someone you would like to share a bed with (two per bed, 4 per cabin).  If you come on your own you may be sharing a double size bed with someone you don't know. 

We will be looking for Drivers with "all terrain" vehicles! We need at least 3 other drivers willing to get us there no matter what the weather throws at us, so we will give these people priority on the list. We have stayed up there before with last minute road closures.  This is end of April which means it still could be icy. We also ask that you have traction devices for shoes as well if needed. The ice can get very tricky that last 0.5 mile to the top. LeConte is very good about posting weather updates on their website. You can also look back on past years to see previous weather conditions these dates: highonleconte.com  and Leconte Weather. The mountain is famous for its beautiful sunrises and sunsets, these are optional.

SATURDAY

Plan to Hike Alum Cave 

Elevation gain 2853' in  5.5 miles (11 miles roundtrip)

This is the most picturesque and popular of the trails up the mountain, approaching from the south. In the chance that Newfound Gap Road is closed for ice and snow (as we have experienced in the past), Bull Head Trail would be an alternative as it enters from the West. Alum cave is located at only 2.2miles into the hike and is actually a rock shelter. The halfway point is Gracie's Pulpit at 2.6 miles and then following some ledges, water crossings and a Spruce-Fir forest, the trail merges with the Rainbow Falls trail at just over 5 miles before arriving at the Lodge. We will have lunch at the top of LeConte in the Dining Hall. Following the break and more water, we will head back down.

After the hike, check into the Hotel. You can lay low the rest of the night or you can choose to go into Gatlinburg. An optional Saturday night activity would be  Gatlinburg SkyBridge - it is the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in North America and has glass bottom in the middle of the bridge. Tickets will be purchsed on your own - but do so in advance. This is located a .5 mile walk from the Hotel.

SUNDAY
Meet at 8:00 am in Hotel Lobby, we will then caravan into the park.

Rainbow Falls Trail

Elevation 3,900' gain, 6.7 miles 
Dinner 6 pm in Dining Hall - Family Style
Sunset at Clifftops (Optional)

MONDAY
Sunrise at Myrtle Point (Optional)
Breakfast 8 am in Dining Hall - Family Style
Hike out after breakfast:

Trillium Trail (first choice)

Elevation 3,300' loss, 6.5 (really 8.5) miles - 

Pack Llamas also use this trail, weather permitting, three days a week, so this might be a really fun hike out. This only issue is that it will be an extra 2 miles to get back to the cars in the original parking lot.

OR

Bullhead Trail

Elevation 3,820' loss, 7.2 mile

This trail is the option if the weather is bad and the llamas are not coming up the mountain on Monday. This hike rejoins the Rainbow Falls trail and would be a shorter hike back to the car as it shares a lot with our hike up on Sunday.

Before heading home may decide to drive to top of Clingmans Dome and walk the short bit up to the tower if its a clear day for photos.

***There is potential for parts of this event to be EXPLORATORY for either/both of your trip leaders, depending on any last minute changes***

THIS IS A WAITLIST ONLY EVENT. All registrants will initially be placed on the waitlist to be evaluated by the Trip Leaders prior to being moved to the attendee list. Drivers with all terrain vehicles will be added first.

We will offer more directions/links to the first parking site for Saturdays hike as we get closer to the date and have more information about the weather, but we will all drive up together.

*Itinerary is subject to change anytime at the discretion of the trip leader(s). FLEXIBILITY is the key, as weather can throw us curveballs.   Similar to our past experience here, we may have to change trails if there are road closures, but think of it as part of the adventure.

Anyone with a National Park Pass, feel free to bring one for the car - we have at least 1 already.

Overnight lodging (shared queen bunk bed with bedding) in the rustic 4 person log cabins. 
Family Style Dinner at 6 pm Sunday and breakfast at 8 am Monday.

Full payment is due upon booking.  If you don't pay within 48 hours of being moved from the wait list to the active list, you will be moved back to the wait list.   

If you must cancel, there will be NO refund unless we replace you with someone from the waitlist and they pay in full.  At that time, you would receive refund less a $15 administrative fee.

Event is rain/snow or shine!