Going the Extra Miles

Trent Eidemiller and John Smith climbed Le Conte three times on October 5

The government shutdown didn't halt foot traffic on Mount Le Conte this past weekend.

Trent Eidemiller, 56, and John Smith, 47, climbed the mountain three times on Oct. 5 to complete the Tour de Le Conte. Starting at 4:04 a.m., they climbed Rainbow Falls, descended Boulevard, and shuttled down to the Alum Cave trailhead. Then they climbed Alum, descended Trillium Gap, climbed Bullhead, and descended Brushy Mountain, finishing at 9:36 p.m. at Porter's Creek.

That's 45.1 miles in 8 hours and 32 minutes. Their tour was the first reported this year, and the 113th tour in our records .

On Alum, they would have crossed paths with Larry Russell, who climbed the mountain twice that day. Larry had done this twice previously, in 2014 for his 100th ascent and in 2018 for his 200th. On Sunday, his second climb marked his 500th up Alum.

Larry has led the Le Conte parade the last two years with 115 and 122 ascents. He vowed to slow down this year. But with 50 climbs in 2025, he's keeping pace with Lodge manager John Northrup, 55.

John has climbed Le Conte in 118 consecutive months. The record is 160 months, by Ed Wright. Wright holds the annual record with 230 ascents in 1991 and totaled 1,310 lifetime. Wright made two trips in a day 125 times, including three days that he went back for a third lap.

Among the all-time leaders, Russell ranks 12th with 643 climbs and Northrup is 13th with 616.