Godspeed, Dave Scanlon

There are well over 2,000 ascents represented in this 2012 picture: John and Bonnie Northrup, Chris Virden, Dave Scanlon, Nathan Kirkham, and Alan Householder

 Dave Scanlon was within a few weeks of his 1,000th hike when he he died at age 78 on Oct. 24, 2014. His final hike on Sept. 30 was #982. 
 Chris Virden wrote on the Lodge blog:

It is with great sadness we learned of the passing of our dear friend David Scanlon. He graced us with his smiling face and gentle soul almost every week. He hated to miss a Monday due to holidays or weather, so he would hike up another day during the week. He enjoyed bringing us the paper and catching up on the week's news. David was a true advocate for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He served as an officer on the boards of the Great Smoky Mountains Association and Discover Life in America. He was an avid hiker and completed all 900 miles of trail in the park. David was a longtime member of the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club and had the opportunity to lead many hikes for them. His knowledge of this park and its history was abundant.
We are better people for having known him in our lives. 

 Dave was a forestry graduate from N.C. State and Yale who worked for Firestone on its rubber plantations in Liberia before going to work for the Tennessee Valley Authority. 
 Here are some of Dave's hikes, mostly taken from the logs of Ed Wright or Paul Dinwiddie. I list them here to give you an idea of the pace you need to sustain to approach 1,000. 

• #1, July 4, 1966. Met Harvey Broome. 
• May 22, 1988. Hiked with Paul Dinwiddie on Paul's 400th trip. 
• #123, Aug. 31, 1994.
• #127, Sept. 19, 1994. 
• #133, Oct. 26, 1994. 
• #137, Oct. 3, 1994.
• #163, April 13, 1995. 
• #182, June 19, 1995. 
• #183, June 23, 1995. 
• #184, June 26, 1995. 
• #189, Aug. 18, 1995. 
• #197, Sept. 11, 1995. 
• #200, Sept. 18, 1995. 
• #201, Sept. 20, 1995. 
• #202, Sept. 27, 1995. 
• #204, Oct. 30, 1995. 
• #209, Nov. 13, 1995. 
• #210, Nov. 20, 1995. When Ed Wright's journals mention Scanlon, it's usually in the context of "I was overtaken by Dave." On this hike, Wright wrote, "Speedy VIP Dave Scanlon passed me." VIP was a title the Park gave to regular hikers like Scanlon and Wright as they patrolled the trails. 
• #225, March 11, 1996. 
• #226, March 13, 1996.
• #236, May 2, 1996.  
• #242, May 20, 1996. 
• #248, June 17, 1996.
• #249, June 19, 1996. 
• #250, June 26, 1996, to celebrate his 60th birthday. 
• #251, June 28, 1996. 
• #255, Sept. 18, 1996. "He was involved in an automobile accident recently and hasn't hiked for several weeks," Wright wrote. 
• #256, July 30, 1997. "He really hasn't been the same since his automobile wreck about a year ago," Wright wrote. "He said that he was no longer counting his trips to LeConte."
• #309, Nov. 16, 1998. 
• #354, Aug. 16, 1999. 
• #355, Aug. 23, 1999.
• #360, Sept. 30, 1999. 
• #361, Oct. 5, 1999. 
• #362, Oct. 11, 1999. 
• #363, Oct. 18, 1999. 
• Over 500, Aug. 8, 2002: "Dave is looking good and is even registering his trip numbers again," Wright wrote after his 1,274th trip. "He is somewhere over 500 trips." 
• #900, May 8, 2012. "We asked him about his first trip to this magical mountain," Chris Virden wrote on the HighOnLeConte blog. "He said he remembered it as if it were yesterday. He hiked up, for the first time ,when he was 30 years old, 1966. He remembers it well because he got to meet Harvey Broome at the lodge. He listened to stories told by Mr. Broome and the then lodge operator Herrick Brown." Broome was a founder of the Wilderness Society and led the movement to form the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. His final LeConte hike was July 4, 1966.
• #911, Aug. 5, 2012. Scanlon lit the lantern opening the 2012 LeConte Games, a spoof on the Olympics. A plaque in his honor was placed in the Lodge, alongside those honoring Ed Wright and Margaret Stevenson. 
• #962, May 1, 2014. Nathan Kirkham wrote on the Lodge blog: "David never has a bad day up here, and is quick with a smile for all the crew and dayhikers he visits.  Without prompting, I noticed David emptying out the collected rainwater from the llama troughs--helping out a certain lodge assistant manager on a very busy morning. David was just happy to make sure the llamas wouldn't have soggy food to eat on their special Thursday trip."
• #963, May 5, 2014. 
• #982, Sept. 30, 2014.