Life in the llama lane: #250 for Larry Russell

Larry Russell and Clifford have a combined total of more than 1,000 climbs

 Since I started tracking the most relentless climbers of Mount Le Conte, I've always wanted to include the llamas. So I was glad to find a post on the Lodge blog that estimated that Clifford Cliff Tops made close to 800 trips up the mountain before he retired in November 2017. "We are all so very proud of his accomplishments," the Lodge blogger wrote in 2017. "Years of grazing and sweet treats are in his future, and well deserved."

 Cliff began working for the Lodge in 2002, about the same time that Alan Householder became the llama wrangler. Alan has more than 1,200 trips up the mountain since 1980. He alternates trips with his wife Chrissy, who also has over 100 ascents.
 "Cliff was my favorite," said Larry Russell. Llamas seem to like Larry, too, and if they could count, they might be impressed to know that he just made his 250th trip up the mountain on July 12, hiking along with Householder and the llamas up the Trillium Gap trail. It was also Larry's 12th summit hike of 2020, tying him with Phillip Clarkson on the yearly leaderboard. 
 Larry was 68 in 2012 when he first made it to LeConte Lodge, and in eight years, his lifetime total has surpassed the legendary Gracie McNicol, who started hiking at age 62 and made her 244th and final trip to the Lodge on her 92nd birthday in 1983.

 Many of Le Conte's most famous hikers have logged most of their miles in their golden years. Ed Wright started climbing regularly at age 61 and retired at 83 with #1,310, including 1,222 after he turned 65. Paul Dinwiddie counted #42 on his 65th birthday but then made 708 more trips to finish with #750 at age 78. Margaret Stevenson first climbed Le Conte at age 48 and finished with #718 at 84. 
 It's worth noting that the year Wright turned 66 (in 1991), he set the Le Conte one-year record with 230 climbs. If Larry wants to aim for an age-group record, Wright made 957 climbs past his 68th birthday, and Dinwiddie 617.
 The llama trains have been supplying Le Conte Lodge since 1986, when they replaced the pack horses that were wearing out the trails. Cliff hauled an average of 50 pounds each way, so he toted about 40 tons of eggs, laundry, and other supplies up and down the Trillium Gap Trail. 

Anderson Noe made his first climb with
 grandfathers Ronnie Holbert #64 and Rich Noe

We're counting on you. This website is a personal project that I began in 2012, and it is not officially associated with LeConte Lodge. The Lodge staff have been quite helpful, but they are busy and it is not their job to send me updates. Instead, I count on hikers like you to keep this honor roll up-to-date. If you climb Mount Le Conte, please send snapshots of recent pages from the Lodge logbook to LeConteLog@gmail.com. I try to update on a daily basis. 
 The honor roll is still a work in progress, and we look forward to adding new names. If you know someone we have overlooked, please let me know.
 Much of my older information comes from the the journals of Ed Wright (who climbed Le Conte 1,310 times from 1982 to 2008, including 230 times in 1991, 132 times after heart surgery in 1999, and 43 times after double knee replacement in 2001). I also have researched the journals of Paul Dinwiddie and Margaret Stevenson, as well as Gracie McNicol's book. I've also gleaned information from old logbooks, social media posts, news media, and other sources. 

 The Le Conte Log operates on an honor system. I will use the total you report unless I have a reason to question it. I prefer exact numbers, but I also welcome good-faith estimates, since some hikers don't keep detailed records.

—Tom Layton, LeConteLog@gmail.com

⬅Do you see the honor roll over here? If you are reading this on a mobile device, you are probably missing the left-hand column of our page. Switch to full-screen mode ("View Web Version" on the iPhone) to see the honor roll, milestone dates, and our list of those who have completed the Tour de Le Conte.

New route, record pace for the Tour de Le Conte

Ash Walsh after 51.2 miles

 Congratulations to ultra-marathoner Ash Walsh for pioneering a new route for the Tour de Le Conte that eliminates the shuttle between the Alum Cave trailhead and Newfound Gap.
 Starting at Newfound Gap at 5:02 a.m. on Friday, June 26, Ash went up the Boulevard, down and back up Alum Cave, down Bullhead, up Rainbow, down Trillium, and then returned to Trillium Gap to descend the Brushy Mountain trail. She finished at 7:32 p.m., completing 51.2 miles in 14:30:26. Even considering the extra mileage on Alum and Trillium, that's the fastest known time for a female and among the 10 fastest times by the 28 completers we have on record. Her route had a cumulative elevation gain of 10,705 feet.
 Ash said she has been running the trails of the Smokies for several years and calls Le Conte "my favorite mountain." A few years ago, she decided it would be "so fun to tackle all the trails on Le Conte in one day. I had no idea quite a few had already done it. I should have known!" She is the second to complete the Tour this year and the sixth female to accomplish all six trails in 24 hours.
 The way the six trails on Le Conte are laid out, most hikers who attempt the Tour use a car to get from Alum to Newfound Gap. In 2019, Nathaniel Klumb did it in reverse and rode a bike down from the gap to the Alum trailhead, which he said took just one turn of the pedal.
 Ash studied the possibilities and realized she could avoid the shuttle if she did Alum both ways. Her route still covered all the trails to the roadside trailheads and included three trips past the Lodge, which we count as a summit hike. The Tour does not have written rules, but by tradition, hikers are not expected to go to High Top on every ascent.
 Ash is 33, lives in Georgia with her husband and two children, and has completed nine 100-mile footraces. 
 She hasn't kept count of her LeConte climbs but estimates more than 30. "Being able to enjoy this mountain is truly a gift, and I thanked God for it the entire day. I really enjoyed Bullhead, as I had not visited the trail since the fires. Wow, what a change! But clear evidence that beauty can grow from the ashes."

Ash's route: Started at Newfound Gap, up the AT and Boulevard, down and up Alum, down Bullhead, up Rainbow, down Trillium to Cherokee Orchard, back up to Trillium Gap, and down Brushy Mountain.

Linton Kerr #33-34-35: All 6 trails in 1 long day

Linton Kerr with Melanie Salas as they reached the Lodge for the second time. 

 Congratulations to Linton Kerr of Kingsport, Tennessee, for completing the Tour de Le Conte on Saturday, June 13. 

Actual mileage was 48.5, subtracting
 the shuttle from Alum to Newfound  Gap

 Starting at 4:40 a.m. in Cherokee Orchard, he went up Rainbow and down Trillium in 4:48, up Bullhead and down Alum (two laps complete in 10:06), shuttled to Newfound Gap, and went up the Boulevard and down Brushy Mountain, finishing at 9:26 p.m. in Greenbrier.  He covered 48.5 miles in 16:46:27, sustaining a pace near 3 mph. He went out of his way to tag High Top on each climb and also went by Myrtle Point and Cliff Top, which made his route a little longer than others. Beyond the finish-line gate, he had to hike two more miles, because the Porters Creek road is closed because of a washout. 
 He now has 35 lifetime climbs of Mount Le Conte. With two exceptions, he's been to the mountaintop every year since 1994.  
 Linton had high praise for Melanie Salas, who ran 37 miles with him before stopping because of the heat. "I could not have completed this without the support of a wonderful friend," he said. "I am so proud of what this lady accomplished in her first day ever on Le Conte."
 Linton is the first Tour completer reported in 2020 and the 27th since it was first accomplished in 1993. We have a list of completers in the sidebar of this page. Mobile viewers will need to switch to fullscreen mode to see the sidebar.  

64 years ago: 'Junebug' snow on Mount Le Conte

* In the reference to Crossville, remember that in 1956, Alaska was not yet a state.

 LeConte Lodge posts weather records in the office that date back to 1978. The latest snow on those charts is flurries on June 1, 1983. While researching old-time hikers, I found this reference to snow on June 2, 1956, in the Knoxville-News Sentinel. This clipping was in a year-end wrap-up of wacky news.

Spring snow is not uncommon. May 9 was the seventh time since 1978 that Le Conte Lodge has had snow on the ground on Mothers Day weekend. The biggest snow ever in North Carolina was May 5-9, 1992: close to 50 inches on Mount Pisgah and 30 on Mount Mitchell. The same storm left 3 inches on Le Conte, 28 years ago on May 9. Le Conte also got 5 inches of snow on May 6, 2016.
 On June 15, 2020, the temperature dipped to 34 and the Lodge received close to an inch of hail. 

➤Here is a link for weather at 2,010 meters (6,593 feet) atop Mount Le Conte. 

Fastest known time for the mile-high climb

Luke Bollschweiler's track on his mile-high challenge

 
 Are you up for a one-mile vertical climb? Mount Le Conte stands ready to test you. At 6,593 feet, High Top stands more than 5,280 feet above the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River in downtown Gatlinburg.

Luke climbing the Bullhead Trail

 Trail runner Luke Bollschweiler of Maryville, Tennessee, made that climb on Saturday, May 23. Starting on River Road in downtown Gatlinburg, Luke ascended the Sugarlands Trail and Bullhead Trail up to High Top, and then returned via Rainbow Falls Trail, Twin Creeks Trail, Cherokee Orchard Road, and Airport Road. That's 23.1 miles horizontally (plus a mile vertically) in 3:46:54.

 It's not a record he expects to last forever. As he wrote on Facebook: "I'm sure I have a FB friend reading this that could beat my new record—so go for it! I could see someone I know cranking out a 3:35!"

 The challenge was previously completed in 4:33:57 last Dec. 14 by Christopher Hanlon. Chris proposed these rules:

1. Start anywhere on River Road in Gatlinburg north of LeConte Creek. This ensures you start below 1313' MSL and gain a vertical mile to the summit.
2. Dip your hand or foot in the river and start your watch. Run to the summit of Mount Le Conte (High Top at 6,593) and back via any route of your choosing.
3. Stop your watch when you touch the river again at the bottom.

 Another possible route is from Emert's Cove below the covered bridge (el. 1,300) via Greenbrier and Trillium Gap.

 Luke also has the fastest known time for the Tour de Le Conte—running all six trails that lead to the mountaintop last Dec. 27. He estimates he has 20 summit trips to Le Conte. 

 To see other fastest known times for Mount Le Conte, click here and then click on route tabs below the map. 

 The vertical mile: There are a few other places in the Southeast where it is possible to climb a vertical mile.

 ➤Clingman's Dome (6,643 feet) could be approached by three long routes: 20 miles via the Sugarland Mountain Trail from Gatlinburg; or 25 miles via Tremont from the Little River in Townsend* (1,120 feet); or 32 miles via the Appalachian Trail from from the foot of Fontana Dam (1,276 feet). Luke ran most of this route (from the top of the dam to the Dome) in 6:52 on March 30, 2019. That was the first leg of the Smokies Challenge Adventure Run, which follows the Appalachian Trail through the Smokies. He completed the SCAR in 14:28:33 for 71.4 miles. That race is featured in the documentary film Ultraman.

 ➤Mount Guyot (6,621) from the vicinity of Cosby School (1,280). That's about 17 miles one-way.

 ➤Mount Mitchell (6,684) could be climbed from the town of Old Fort, N.C., where the Catawba River falls to 1,400 feet. There are two possible trail routes (via Graphite or Montreat) that would be about 25 miles one-way. Another option is the annual Assault on Mount Mitchell bicycle race, which starts in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and involves cumulative ascents of 11,000 feet (about 5,800 net) over 102.7 miles. 

 ➤Richland Balsam (6,410, the highest point along the Blue Ridge Parkway) via 35 road miles from Lake Jocassee (1,100) in South Carolina.
 ➤Grandfather Mountain (5,946). This would be a real stretch. Grandfather stands 4,746 above Lake James at the mouth of the Linville River. To get a full mile of climbing, you would need to start 78 miles away in Shelby, N.C., where the First Broad River falls to 666 feet. 

 * The lowest point in the national park is Abrams Creek at Lake Chilhowee (normal pool 874 feet). That would be a climb of 5,769 feet to Clingman's Dome, but there is not a practical route to hike it. The Abrams Creek campground is at 1,160 feet. From there, the hike to Clingman's Dome would be 35 miles. 

 The New England alternative would be climbing Mount Washington (6,288) from the town of Gorham, New Hampshire (800 feet), which is 15 miles away. If you run the annual Mount Washington Road Race, you'll be 630 feet short of a vertical mile. 

 In Colorado, the Pikes Peak Marathon climbs 7,800 feet to the 14,115-foot summit.
 Arizona has the Hole-to-Hump Challenge, which involves a 70-mile jaunt from the bottom of the Grand Canyon (Hance Rapids at 2,600 feet) to the top of Humphreys Peak, the state's highest point at 12,633 feet. The total climb is over 10,000 feet. 
 In California, the lowest point in the U.S. (Death Valley at minus-280 feet) and the highest peak in the Lower 48 (Mount Whitney at 14,495 feet) are both in the same county, so some hikers attempt the Lowest to Highest Route, a 135-mile-long, nearly 3-mile-high journey that usually takes almost a week.

A decade of 'I hiked it' T-shirts

Chivonne Smith climbed Le Conte for the 16th time to get this T-shirt
 

 Here are the "I Hiked It!" T-shirts designed by Le Conte Lodge since 2010. I found these images in the bountiful archives of the Lodge blog. Which design is your favorite? Leave a comment below.
 The 2020 design features the Lodge dining hall on the front (with a graphically understated "I Hiked It!" boast) and the trail maps on the back.

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014 front

2014 back

2013

2012

2011

2010

The glorious dawn of the post-quarantine era

Even after a plague, the son always rises (Photo by Up'N'Adam Adventures)

 When the Great Smoky Mountains National Park reopened May 9 following the COVID-19 shutdown, no one was surprised that the first men on the mountaintop were named Adam—Adam Gravett on his 63rd lifetime climb; Adam Williamson, 44th; Adam Ozment, 40th; along with "honorary Adam" Chris Maulden, 59th. They climbed by moonlight to Myrtle Point, defying two inches of crusty snow, to witness the first sunrise after the quarantine. Maulden and Ozment were also there for the first sunrise of 2020. 

Playing it cool: Gravett, Ozment, Williamson

 Ozment and Maulden each have made five sunrise trips to Myrtle Point this year. Ozment wins the tiebreaker for the early bird award, based on this even more auspicious sunrise at Max Patch. 
 Also on opening day, Dr. Ed Jones made his 422nd climb, ranking 15th on our honor roll. On May 10, Timothy Massey logged #60, Philip Clarkson #59, and Melissa Coatney #26. Clarkson, the winter caretaker at the Lodge, is the 2020 leader with 12 climbs. Massey is halfway to his goal of #20for2020. Coatney, now up to #27, is aiming for #100 by the Lodge's 100th anniversary.
 On May 11, the llamas made their first trip since the quarantine.  I'm assuming they were led by Alan Householder, who ranks in our Top 5 with more than 1,200 climbs.
 Le Conte Lodge officially reopened May 18 after an eight-week shutdown. Social distancing has changed the experience―for example, meals are being served in cabins, rather than the traditional family-style dinner and breakfast in the dining room. Here is a description of the changes.

Go viral? Not for monthly climbers

 Anyone who had a streak of consecutive months climbing Mount Le Conte was thwarted in April, when the national park was closed because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

 From my research, the record for consecutive months climbing Le Conte seems to be 160 by Ed Wright, from 1986 to 2000, when he was sidelined by knee replacement surgery. Significantly, Wright didn't even miss a month when he had open-heart surgery in 1999. He made his April hike before surgery and was back on the mountaintop in late May.
 Aside from the streak, Wright had an incentive to hike monthly. "One hike per month is required for maintaining my status with the park's VIP program," he wrote in his book. VIP stands for Volunteers-In-Parks, a  program that uses volunteers to patrol trails and provide other services. The monthly requirement refers to any hike in the park, not necessarily climbing Le Conte.  
 Paul Dinwiddie (750 lifetime climbs) counted 135 consecutive months with his 735th climb on June 1, 1992. Two weeks later, he had surgery for an aneurysm and double kidney bypass. He didn't return to the summit until May 1993.
 Margaret Stevenson (718) rarely climbed Le Conte in winter, so she never had a long streak of months. 
 Dewey Slusher once had a six-year streak with at least one climb per month.
 If you know of similar streaks worth mentioning, tell us: LeConteLog@gmail.com.

In memory of Shirley Henry

 The Le Conte hiking community lost one of our giants on April 20 with the death of Shirley Henry of Maryville, Tennessee.
 Shirley, 84, a native of Greenville, S.C., was one of the Wednesday Hikers who frequently accompanied Margaret Stevenson on her 718 trips up the mountain. The last time she was listed in Ed Wright's hiking journals was in 1998, when she had 173 summit hikes and her husband Clifford "Bo" Henry, had 107. Shirley and Bo were married for 63 years. 
 Shirley is also is remembered for climbing Le Conte seven consecutive days in September of 1991, as she prepared for 100th hike Oct. 5, 1991. 
 As a couple, the Henrys made a total of 280 climbs. Excluding Lodge staff, I think the most climbs by a couple is 416 by Mae and Roger Snyder.

Off-season updates

 During the winter of 2020, we heard updates from Ron Underwood with #431, John Northrup #240, Tim Webb #175, Bonnie Northrup #160-plus, Janice Charleville #102, and Kemp Stonehouse #100-plus.
 From the journals of Paul Dinwiddie, I was able to document #141 for Ernest Luallen, who suffered a fatal heart attack at Arch Rock in 1992. On summitpost.org, I found Steve Prosseda with #101 in 2019.