Jordan Lacy with his team near the finish line in Gatlinburg: Lexi Rohrbach, Jules Osburn, Kristi Gentry, Caitlin Lacy, Tara Graham, and Bill Carlson.
A team of seven hikers from the Tri-State Hiking Events Group took advantage of a non-white Christmas to climb Mount Le Conte from its foot in Gatlinburg and complete the Vertical Mile Challenge.
Jordan and Caitlin Lacy from Plainfield, Indiana, organized the expedition in memory of his father, Sim. Others on the hike were Bill Carlson of Pendleton, Indiana; Kristi Gentry of Greensburg, Kentucky; Tara Graham from Corry, Pennsylvania; Lexi Rohrbah of Cleveland, Ohio; and Julie Osborne of Columbus, Ohio. The weather was unseasonably mild, and the only obstacle was a patch of ice near the top of Rainbow.
They started at creekside Dec. 23 at the Ripley Aquarium in Gatlinburg, hiked up Cherokee Orchard to the Rainbow Falls trail, up to High Top, which is over 5,280 feet above where they started. They descended via Bulhead and completed the 22.4 mile route in 9:23:57.