Birthday Wishes – HER//Excursions (herexcursions.com) One of my birthday wishes was to hike. While Ashville has plenty of hiking trails, I opted to go further afield to the Great Smoky National Park. I have hiked Alum Cave trail to Mt. LeConte before and I loved it. I chose to hike it again because it fit my criteria for a long, challenging hike, beautiful scenery and feeling relatively safe because it’s heavily trafficked.
Alum Cave Trail to Mt. LeConte
I followed directions from my maps App and arrived at the parking lot at 8AM. At least half of the spaces were taken already. The trailhead starts right at the edge of the parking lot.
It was an awesome hike. All 11.5 miles/18.5km (per my Garmin watch) of it. The hike from the trailhead to Alum Cave is 2.5 miles. It’s another 2.7 miles to the Mount LeConte cabins, then a little more to the Cliff Tops. But realize these are hard fought miles. The trail is considered hard (and it is!). It consists of rocks (a lot slick with runoff), stairs (many, many), and very steep climbs. Thankfully, there are a lot of wire handrails set up to assist with stability or pulling along. There is a short but potentially scary spot where the trail hugs the mountainside with a sheer drop off on the other side. But it’s doable.
The hike was replete with bubbling brooks and streams, lush vegetation and killer views (weather-permitting of course). It threatened rain the entire way up and part of the way back. Luckily, I was spared. Still, it was quite misty for at least 2/3 of the hike. While cooler, it was still quite humid.
I advise an early morning start. Not only is there better chance to find parking, but insects are less active, and the weather is more pleasant. Bring plenty of water! But plan to make a day of it, set your own pace and enjoy one of the best trails in the Park.
