'They tell me it is beautiful up here'

Stephen and Beth Winkler (showing her LSU pride)

 Beth Winkler arrived at LeConte Lodge on Sunday afternoon, September 6, to applause from hikers she had met on the trail.

 "They tell me it is beautiful up here," she had joked to one of the them along the way.

Beth's T-shirt says it all

 Most of us enjoy the panoramic views while climbing Le Conte, but Beth is not so fortunate. She describes herself as visually impaired. "I can see—just not well at all," she said. She has a rare condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa Inversa, which has blinded her right eye, diminished what she can see in her left eye, and eliminated the depth perception that is so crucial for hiking on a mountainside. Her vision can fluctuate day-by-day, and the bright sunshine on the mountain caused what she called "a bad eye day." For all practical purposes, she was hiking blind.

 Her husband Stephen said that she had set a goal of climbing Mount Le Conte before she loses her sight.
 She researched the trails and thought that the Trillium Gap Trail might be easier. "But the more I read about Alum Cave, the more I wanted to go up. And to be honest, I did not want it to be easy. I wanted it to be something I earned."
 Coming from her home in Louisiana, there was no way she could prepare for the rigors of a 10-mile round trip that climbs nearly 3,000 feet. The longest hike she had done was about 4 miles. So her family started at dawn and took their time. "It was a difficult strenuous hike," she said. "I could not have done it without the support of my husband and two sons. They would describe the terrain and tell me where to step." It took over 14 hours. That meant the last mile down was after sunset.

'The ledge at the top was terrifying'

 The Alum Cave Trail involves single-log footbridges as well as exposed ledges near the top. "The bridges didn't bother me," Beth said. "The ledge at the top was terrifying. I was not sure if I could do it. But my family told me that I could and gave me the support I needed to make it across. It is also scarier on the way down for some reason."
 I am aware of three other nearly blind hikers who have climbed Le Conte. Rev. Rufus Morgan hiked the Rainbow Falls Trail on his 93rd birthday in 1983, and in 1969 a South Carolina hiker known as "Cousin Joe" did it. Both of them hiked with a hand on the shoulder of their guides. More recently, a woman named Lisa Berry climbed the mountain guided by her husband Ken.