1298 3/13/06 I like to hike to the lodge during the first day of helicopter re supply flights. The helicopter is hired by the lodge management at a cost of more than $1.00/second of flight time to transport needed non perishable supplies for the coming season and to remove spent items such as empty propane tanks, old mattresses etc. I like to go on the first day because many of the former lodge crew members return to help unload the incoming supplies and to load the outgoing items and I enjoy seeing them again. The helicopter ferries the supplies from an overlook about 3/4 miles from Newfound Gap on the North Carolina side of the mountain range. This is a 1600 mile round trip for me so I watched the weather forecast very carefully and on the Saturday before I was heading to the mountains, the forecast was for a 60% chance or thunderstorms. I think that my son Bill believes that I would get on the road and forget who I was and where I was going so he volunteered to go with me. I enjoyed his company in any case. He even arranged to have two 21 year-old students from a University in France, who are currently attending Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL go with us.

I called Bill and told him that I was canceling the trip because of the 60% rain forecast. We would not only get wet but we would also not get to see any helicopter flights. I checked the weather forecast later in the day and the rain chances had decreased to 10%. I called Bill back and told him that the trip was on again. He was agreeable and he and the two guys from France, Ben and Yoann showed up at about 5:30 a.m. on Sunday March 12, ready to make the drive.

In order to show the two French students more of the southeastern part of the USA. We drove I 95 to Jacksonville, FL and then I 10 to Lake City, FL before hearing north on I 75 through Atlanta, GA. Bill stopped at the Atlanta airport to watch the planes, downtown to see Turner Field and the Olympic sites before taking I 85 to I 975 to Gainesville, GA. We then took US 23/441 to Cherokee, NC where we spent the night at the Best Western. The clerk, Sky, was friendly and gave us lower floor, adjoining rooms. We had the buffet at Big Bobs, where the Frenchmen discovered corn bread muffins. We met at 6:00 a.m. the next morning at Hardee's, just across the street from the motel, and had breakfast.

The temperature was in the 40's and the sky was partially overcast as we drove toward Newfound Gap. We stopped about 3/4 mile short to visit the staging area for the supplies that were to be flown to the lodge over the next several days. We met Alan Householder and Humphrey's on guard duty. Alan still drives the llamas to the lodge each Monday, Wednesday and Friday to bring up perishables and fresh linens and take down trash and dirty linens. Humphrey's has worked at the lodge in years past. It was good seeing these guys again. I took a picture of the morning sky before saying our good byes and heading to the trailhead. We stopped momentarily at Newfound Gap to shoot a picture of Ben and Yoann at the Tennessee/North Carolina border.

Bill's feet were giving him trouble so he elected to stay behind and spend time back at the launch point and to do work on his laptop. Ben, Yoann and I departed the trailhead at about 7:00 a.m. We looked for Cindy Wisnieski from Columbus, OH but she was not there. Later e-mail said that there was flooding in Ohio. Sorry that we missed you Cindy. I took a picture of Ben and Yoann at the Trailhead before we headed out.

I was interested to see what the guys would be interested in and what photographic techniques they would use. Alum Creek interested them very much and Ben took a picture of Yoann standing on rocks, out in the middle of the creek. He also took a picture of Yoann by a decaying tree burl, at the end of a footlog. Yoann photographed Ben on a footlog from Styx Branch. He also took a shot of Ben from Ground level, crossing a footlog. If I got down that low, I probably couldn't get back up.

I hiked through Arch Rock while Ben and Yoann continued to take pictures below. I caught them as they emerged from the cavity of Arch Rock. Please realize that among Bill, Ben, Yoann and me, we took more than 500 pictures. I plan to use about 10% of them in this write-up. We continued our climb past the big washout of 1993 before taking a break on the nice piece of granite beyond the washout. Yoann took a black and white picture of Ben and me as we rested. The picture shows his thoughts in photography. I prefer taking all pictures in color and later changing them to black and white on the computer.

We paused briefly at Inspiration Point where Ben and Yoann walked around admiring the views. Yoann took a picture of Ben before we left the point. Yoann and Ben took pictures of the Eye of the Needle, I had not intended to take one but Yoann asked me to because my camera had a 10X optical Zoom lens and theirs only had 3 X. Yoann picked a nice stump to sit on below the Alum Cave Bluffs. Ben took a picture of him and I did the same. The climb through the bluff area was demanding as usual. Ben captured a nice picture as we passed through.

Yoann took a picture of the parking lot at the trailhead from above Little Duck Hawk Ridge. Ben took a picture of the mountains, pointing towards the Sugarland Visitor's Center above Big Duck Hawk Ridge. We paused for a break at Gracie's Pulpit. I pointed out the four peaks above 6,000' that comprises Mt. LeConte and trail features ahead, such as Grassy Slide and Paul's Face. We saw our first snow at the saddle. I suggested that we not photograph it because there would be much more at higher elevations. We met two backpackers, Ryan Williams and Alex, sophomores from the University of Florida in Gainesville, descending from an overnight in the LeConte Shelter. Ryan is as mathematics Major and Alex is a Chemical Engineering Major.

We stopped at Lu's Pulpit for a short break. I took a picture of Ben and he took one of Yoann and me. I found a nice stump to sit on near West Point View and saw a large Artist's Conch, Ganoderma applanatum, fungus? growing on it. (according to Dr. Michael Vincent at the university of Miami) As we continued our hike below Cliff Top we started encountering a considerable amount of snow and ice on the trail. We just took it easy and the ice and snow did not bother us very much. The snow continued in the shady areas of the trail. Betty Jane's Stairway to Heaven was clear of ice and snow because of the bright sunshine that warmed the area. Yoann had been snapping pictures of the helicopter as it passed us. He also snapped a picture toward Sugarland Mountain. It was a real relief for my weary bones to hit the site of the Old Horse Gate because our climbing was just about over. We had to pick our steps carefully through the Frazer Fir tunnel because of the icy conditions on the trail.

When we arrived at the lodge, there was a great gathering of lodge folks. I remember Marty Cizek, Henry Neel, Tim Line, Chris and Alyson Virden, Dave Scanlon, Missy Whitt, Anne, Tim Webb, Marsh Wilkes from Perry, FL, and many more folks. Henry Neel is back from a tour of duty in Iraq. I asked him if he was ready to volunteer for a second tour. He in effect said "Are you crazy." While I visited, Ben and Yoann walked around the lodge site while the helicopter made a couple of deliveries and pick-ups. I found out that Ben liked to take close-up pictures of himself. He took more but these two will cover the idea. As we were heading down I chatted with Darris Clabo and Mike from the trail maintenance section of the park. Darris is the trail Maintenance foreman. They had junk that needed to be hauled down the mountain. Darris is a great guy and hard worker. Folks that hike the trails owe much to him and his crew. Ben had to take one more close-up of Yoann before we left the mountain.

Going down the mountain was much easier on these old bones than hiking up. I went down essentially non stop except to take a picture of some spring breakers from Indiana below the new old step and having a snack at Gracie's Pulpit. I took a photo from above Little Duck Hawk Ridge before cruising along to the Alum Cave Bluff. I met Matthew and Aaron Jurek from Carmel, IN. Matt is 23 years old and working on his doctorate of Physical Therapy from Indiana University in Indianapolis and Aaron (20) is studying education at the University of Indiana in Bloomington, IN. Fine young men.

I snapped a picture of Ben and Yoann as they passed through the bluff. We didn't even slow down at the bluff. We did take a short break below Arch Rock. Ben caught Yoann and me on my favorite seat at this location. Ben also caught Yoann in a reflective pose along Alum Creek. Bill was waiting for us as we reached the trailhead at about 3:20. He drove us back to the lift off point for the helicopter and supplied a number of pictures of that operation. He caught the helicopter as it arrived. Information on the helicopter can be found at:  http://www.helis.com/60s/h_h3.php and the company at http://www.constructionhelicopter.com/index.htm . He took a number of pictures of the helicopter in action as well as the large stacks of materials that was to be flown to the lodge. While I walked around and looked at the loads, I was pleased to meet a volunteer friend, Barbara Allen. I also met an old friend Bill Clabaugh, former Tennessee State Senator. He was also a park volunteer during my 10 years of service to the park. The cargo nets, used in transporting the materials can be seen in this and other pictures.

We drove back through Asheville, NC and Spartanburg, SC on our way to the Ramada Inn in Walterboro, SC. We stopped at the new Golden Corral in Spartanburg for dinner. Yoann discovered macaroni and cheese. The Ramada gave us pool side lower rooms, of course the pool was not open. After a great night's sleep and a fine hot breakfast we motored on home and arrived at about 1:00 p.m. It was a great trip. The two French students were delightful company. I am sorry that you couldn't make it Cindy.

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I asked Ben and Yoann to write a small summary of their impression of the hike. Here is their input.