2010 July 20-21

Dad, Ginger, James, Bessie, Joseph (9), Adelle (6), Peter (3), Micah, Sprice, Roger, Ginger Anne (? mo.), and Levi went up and down the Rainbow Falls Trail. Someone spotted a bear in the woods. Peter hiked it mostly by himself with emotional and physical help from all who were available.

2009 July 14-15

Dad, James, Joseph (8), and Adelle (5) go up and down the Alum Cave Trail. Ginger and Levi are in Florence, Italy. I am at home with baby Micah and Peter.

AUGUST 20-21

Dad and Levi go for a second trip :)

2008 July 9-10

Dad, James, Bessie, Joseph (7), Adelle (4), Peter (23 mo.), Sprice, Levi and girlfriend went up and down the Alum Cave Trail. We had to leave our dog in a kennel in Sevierville, TN. We drove straight there from Indiana (where we happened to have seen an SUV roll in the lane right in front of us - SCARY!) to Pigeon Forge the night before the hike. We then head straight to the beach from the hike.

2007 July 5-6

Dad, James, Bessie, Joseph (6), Adelle (3), Peter (11 mo.), Sprice, and Levi went up and down the Alum Cave Trail. It rained on the way down and the kids were miserable. Adelle would never have made it without Sprice and Papa! Levi is the official sherpa since James was carrying Peter and Dad was post heart attack.

2006 April 17-18

Sprice, Ginger, Dad hike when Sprice came off mission and went up and down the Alum Cave Trail
Dad has heart attack and no one goes up in the summer

2004 & 2005

These were off years. No one went up or down. Here's the lowdown of major events during those years:

May 28-June 4 2004 Dad, James, Noah and Levi hike the Knobstone Trail and Girls and Children stay on Ohio River

Levi leaves for mission June 15 2005

2003 July 7-8

Okay, here we get into the grandkids. Abel went up as an infant (Dad remembers him not even being able to hold his head up). Joseph was carried up as a 2 year old. I went up again as a pregnant woman (Adelle was due in October). So at least these people went up:

Dad

Mom

Bessie

James

Joseph

Noah

Mindy

Abel

Linna

Sprice

We all took the Trillium Gap Trail. Levi was at Interlocken again.

2002 July 8-9

(Levi at Interlocken) Dad, Noah and Mindy
(August 1 - 10 Prince Edward Island Vacation)

2001 July 2-3

(Levi at Interlocken) Dad, James ....... (reservations for 7) ??????
(Noah married September 29)

2000 July 3-4

Here's where it starts getting sketchy. Dad, Ginger, Bessie, James,...... (reservations for 7) ?????? James gets wood carving set at Smoky Mt Knife Works and Ginger buys world's greatest knife.
(Bessie and James married April 22)
(June 5 - 10 Dad and Levi on 70 mile Smokies AT trip)

1999 July 5-6

Noah was still on his mission, and I was romping around Austria leaving 2 available spots. So in addition to Mom, Dad, Linna, Sprice and Levi, the cousins went up too, Aubrey and Keri. Dad's memory recalls: "It rained real hard in the wee hours of the morning and the trail was a tough one going down."

1998 July 6-7

We had an open spot this year because Noah was on his mission. I took up a boyfriend. We hiked up on the Trillium Gap Trail and down on the Bull Run Trail.

1997 July 7-8

Mom, Dad, and all the kids went up again together on the Alum Cave Trail. This was right before Noah left on his mission.

1996 July 8-9

All 7 of us went up this year, right before I went off to college. We stayed in 2 cabins. Everyone went up the Alum Cave trail, but the kids went alone down the Boulevard Trail and met up with Mom and Dad at Newfound Gap.

1995 July 3-4

This is the first year the Dean Family, albeit only 4 of the 7, officially went up to the Lodge. The way the reservation process worked at the time saved hikers a specific renewable date every year. Dad managed to snag 4 spots that someone relinquished that year. So Dad took Mom, Noah and I up.

We met Mrs. Brown for the first time. She was LeConte's operator for years and was taking her grandson up that year. Mom also spotted a bear on the way down, which we, of course, backed away from. We went up and down the Boulevard Trail.

1994 July 27

Here is Dad's account: "Dad, Noah, Tim Curling, Sam Woodard, Andrew Opp, Ben Jarvis, Jeff Jarvis and Jay Douglas hiked a 100 mile trip over the Appalachian Trail in the Smoky Mountains and stayed one night at the LeConte lean-to.....terrible weather night....so much rain......really, really cold!"

1965, 1966, 1967

These were the years that we can all look to as the genesis of what has now become a tradition. Dad hiked Mt LeConte as a Boy Scout.

The Starting of This Blog

Adelle prompted this blog by asking today how many times she's been up Mount LeConte. I had to pick my brain to recall the correct answer. And ended up realizing I didn't have to give her a straight answer if I responded by asking her if she meant how many years she herself hiked up or was carried up. She just giggled.

Her question and my response are typical. I can never remember who went up what years or how they got there (baby backpack, wet shoes, blisters, single, married, pregnant, etc.). Thus, I decided I needed some sort of documentation of our yearly adventures in the Smokies. Since I blog about once a year anyway, this blog will suit me perfectly. I've invited my siblings, spouse and parents to contribute as well, seeing as they often take much better photographs than I do and have better memories.

LeConte 2011, here we come!!!!