I don’t generally write about stays at lodges but Leconte isn’t your typical kind of lodge.  It’s rustic and primitive and so much more.  If you haven’t stayed there and you’re one who likes the outdoors then I strongly urge you to give it a whirl.  It is truly a one of a kind experience.  It’s almost like being transported back in time to what the lodges may have been back in the day.  Whether it’s the community bathroom in the center of the compound; the tiny candle-lit rustic cabins or the ringing of the dinner bell just like they did in the cowboy movies.

 

 

 

 

I was overdue to visit the lodge since I hadn’t been there since 2013 and since the first time I visited it I vowed to myself to visit there at least once a year.  But with so many places to hike it’s easy to lose track or run out of vacation time or just plain run out of time in general.  So, I signed up early in the lottery system to get a night at Leconte Lodge but I didn’t get picked so I called them about every day to make sure I got a night booked.  And I managed to get a Friday night booked in June I believe which was okay but I was going for the elusive Saturday night which is in my opinion the most coveted night there.  With total persistence I finally managed to score a Saturday night on March 28 and that made my day.  Although I’ve been to Leconte Lodge a few times I’ve only actually stayed there once and it was in one of the 3-room lodges which was really cool but I wanted one of the stand alone cabins and I finally scored one, and on a Saturday night to boot!

 

 

 

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My next step was to determine which trail to take to the lodge because that is half the fun of the whole experience.  So there are five possible trails that one can take to get to Leconte Lodge and I wanted to take one I haven’t hiked before.  I’ve hiked up and down Alum Cave Trail a few times and I’ve hiked down The Boulevard Trail so I wanted to broaden my trail horizons.  The first thing I did was  ask a friend of mine who has logged many miles in the Smoky Mountains and has been up to Mt. Leconte many times.  He suggested that I take Rainbow Falls Trail this time around so I decided that was going to be the trail I take.

 

My nephew and I began around 10:30am on Saturday, March 28  and arrived at the Mt. Leconte Lodge at around 1:50pm.  We weren’t moving at light speed and stopped many times to take pictures and enjoy the surroundings.  I want to take all five trails before I’m done and after doing Rainbow Falls I crossed it off my list.  It was a good challenge with a little ice starting around mile 2.5 and quite a bit of snow starting at mile 4.6 and continuously getting deeper as we climbed up the mountain.  We were fully expecting the snow and ice because they received about 7 inches of snow on the mountain on Friday, March 27.

 

The views from the Rainbow Falls Trail are quite spectacular although it’s winter so we have no leaves or greenery to deal look through.  I’m thinking the views on the Alum Cave Trail might be more spectacular because of the lack of trees in some areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The beautiful trail heading to the Leconte Shelter was full of snow and tempting but we opted not to follow it the .2 miles from the lodge and instead headed back down Rainbow Falls Trail so we could get an early start for our 5+ hour drive home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ahhh, all of that snow….

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trip Summary: 

Rainbow Falls Trail turned out to be a good hike but it’s definitely not my favorite at this point.  My opinion of it this time is there was a lot of ice because the trail has a lot of exposed rock so not the best trail for winter hiking without a traction device.  To me, there were a few clear places where we had great views but not as good as Alum Cave in my opinion.  The actual Rainbow Falls is incredible though and well worth the hike on any given day.  I think the Boulevard is my favorite with Alum Cave following a close second.  I have only hiked down the Boulevard Trail once so I really want to hike it up and down but the bad thing is that it’s so long at over 8 miles.  So if you do an out and back in a day it makes for a pretty long day.  In this case I didn’t take the Boulevard because the road was still closed to get to Newfound Gap and I didn’t want to wait.  Roaring Fork was also closed so that ruled out Trillium Gap Trail right there and my friend suggested not to take Bullhead because of the combination of rock and ice.

Mt. Leconte Lodge – always incredible from the lodge to the people to the food!  Everything about it is outstanding.  My favorite part of it is sitting in the dining room with everyone who has paid their dues from start to finish.  It starts with trying to get a reservation which is no small feat and is actually very difficult.  Once you get that reservation you have to hike up that mountain and when there is anywhere from 2 to 7 inches of snow in addition to ice you definitely earn your seat at that dinner table.

You meet people from all walks of life at the dinner table and the ambience is outstanding.  On this trip I met a couple from South Carolina; a couple of park rangers and a father and son from Georgia at our table.  You talk about the trail you took on this trip;  the trails you took in the past and the trails you want to take in the future.  You compare the difficulties of each trail and plan your next outing.

Then you have the warm and delicious food which is outstanding!  Anyone who backpacks or hikes up mountains or even back into the middle of nowhere can appreciate a hot meal alone.  But to have a hot delicious meal really puts it over the top.  For dinner we cream of broccoli, mashed potatoes, green beans, peach halves, stewed apples, corn bread and the best thing of all, the pot roast.  Breakfast was great too with the pancakes, scrambles eggs and ham to get us the fuel so we could hike safely down the mountain.

Needless to say, I will be going back to Mt. Leconte Lodge just as soon as I can get in and get a reservation which could be awhile, unfortunately.