top of page
Apr 4, 20241 min read
Month after month after month
Only three hikers have reported ascents of Mount Le Conte in 100 consecutive months. Paul Dinwiddie was the first with 155 consecutive...
Feb 15, 20241 min read
Fast start for the centennial year
More than a month before LeConte Lodge opens for its 100th season, hiker Melissa Coatney has marked her own centennial. On Valentines...
Dec 17, 20232 min read
115! A Year for the Ages
Larry and his son Kelly Russell celebrate his milestone 100th hike of the season Winter weather and the seasonal closing of LeConte Lodge...
Oct 19, 20231 min read
Catching up on the Tour de Le Conte
Technical challenges have prevented updates on our list of Tour de Le Conte completions, but little has stopped the hikers who seek to...
Oct 15, 20231 min read
Bob Turney makes 100th climb at 76
Congratulations to Bob Turney, 76, of Lenoir City, Teen., for his 100th climb of Mount Le Conte, including 10 this year and more than 50...
Oct 11, 20231 min read
The vertical mile
Congratulations to Heidi Marsh and Brian Solomon for climbing a vertical mile on Sept. 30. Starting at the riverside near the Aquarium,...
Sep 10, 20232 min read
Tour times four
North Carolinian Scott Anderson hiked 60 miles on September 9 to complete the Tour de Le Conte for the second time this year and the...
Aug 6, 20231 min read
Milestones by the hundreds
Bill Yeadon (in bandana) with family and friends. Congratulations to Bill Yeadon for achieving his goal of 100 hikes by age 75. Bill...
Apr 22, 20232 min read
Ed Jones joins the 500 club
Congratulations to Dr. Ed Jones on his 500th climb of Mount Le Conte. Jones, a physician for the Veterans Administration, is just the...
Nov 3, 20221 min read
20 in 2022 gets Sandy into the Centennial Club
As LeConte Lodge marked the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, a hiker named Sandy left her own mark on the mountain. Sandy Martin...
Oct 14, 20221 min read
Vertical milestones: The youngest and eldest
The vertical mile has become something of a parade this year, with 24 hikers climbing Mount Le Conte from the riverside in Gatlinburg....
Oct 8, 20221 min read
An upside-down Tour
How do you start a mountain-climbing challenge at the top of the mountain? That’s a riddle that was solved Oct. 4 by Lane DeCost of...
Aug 18, 20221 min read
A long, fast Tour
Sam Runyan (right) marks his second Tour de Le Conte with his training partner, Anthony Groft. The Greenbrier trailhead has been closed...
May 23, 20221 min read
Climbing past 90: It’s a parade!
After Rev. Rufus Morgan celebrated his 93rd birthday on Mount Le Conte in 1978, the lodge went a long time without another 90-year-old...
May 18, 20221 min read
Life Begins at #50!
The miles once came easily for Howard Yates, who section-hiked the Appalachian Trail, has completed all the Smoky Mountain trails...
May 5, 20221 min read
Going the extra mile, vertically and chronologically
Five friends of retirement age completed the Vertical Mile Challenge on May 3, hiking from the riverfront at the River Terraces Hotel and...
Apr 15, 20221 min read
Following the path
Hannah Thompson, Lauren Keeton, Kathryn Placer, Joy Blair When Lauren Keeton and Kathryn Placer watched their husbands complete the Tour...
Apr 12, 20221 min read
Tom Atwell joins the #100 Club
Congratulations to Tom Atwell, who signed in April 7 with his 100th hike up Mount Le Conte. His wife Susie Atwell logged #34. Tom is the...
Jan 3, 20221 min read
2021 in the books
Congratulations to Tim Massey and Philip “P-Nut” Clarkson or becoming the 89th and 90th hikers to record 100 climbs of Mount Le Conte....
Dec 25, 20211 min read
A mile high Christmas
Jordan Lacy with his team near the finish line in Gatlinburg: Lexi Rohrbach, Jules Osburn, Kristi Gentry, Caitlin Lacy, Tara Graham, and...
bottom of page