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Showing posts from May, 2022

Rainbow Falls Trail to Mt. LeConte

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May 14, 2022 Left the house in Oak Ridge around 6:30 AM, heading to Maryville to pick up my friend Alan.  Going backroads to Gatlinburg, we headed to the trailhead, arriving at 8:45 ish.  After gearing up, we started hiking at around 9:00  The trail is a steady climb all the way to the top of Mt. LeConte. Rainbow Falls After a short break, we continued the climb under cloudy, threatening skies.  About an hour later, we came across a section of burned-up vegetation from a previous forest fire. After this section, we encountered our first rain drops, the prompted us to stop, put on rain jackets and cover our packs.  Not long afterwards, it started raining, and continued for about an hour.  I love hiking in the rain, especially if the temps are mild.  The atmosphere created a mystical environment, and the trail soon becomes a creek. At around 3 PM we finally reached our destination, the summit of Mt LeConte.  Of course had to get photo taken in front...