Sunday: Down the Mountain
We rise early to get some otherworldly photos of pink sun streaking through fog-swept mountains, and hit the dining hall for pancakes, eggs, grits, Canadian bacon, and biscuits.
After ordering boxed lunches ($9 per box), we start walking down the six-and-a-half-mile Rainbow Falls Trail. We stop to eat on the boulders below the namesake falls, which drop steeply from a rock ledge, creating a magical veil of water. On sunny afternoons, the mist from the 80-foot-high falls produces — you guessed it! — a shimmering rainbow. Some years Mount LeConte receives as much as eight feet of rain, so there is always plenty of mist.
"Ready for the last stretch?" French asks when we're done eating. He grins and hoists Heidi onto his shoulders. My husband, always happiest in the great outdoors, leaps down the trail into a forest of old-growth trees, lush mosses, and giant glacial boulders.
By the time we reach the parking lot where we left our car the previous day, we've been hiking for almost six hours (the descent is quicker for toddler-free families). We're all ready for warm showers and civilization again.
Heidi and I float in our hotel's pool for a while, but none of us is quite ready to let the mountain go, so we head over to the Gatlinburg Sky Lift ($12 for adults, $9 for kids ages 3 to 11; 865-436-4307; gatlinburgskylift.com), a ski lift ride that gives us a panoramic view of Mount LeConte. In the pinkish glow of the setting sun, the mountain rises imposingly over the town. "We just hiked that," I remind Heidi. "Last night, we stood at the very, very top."
Want to Go?
LeConte Lodge is open from late March to late November. Nightly rates for a four-person cabin, plus meals, start at $116 per adult and $85 per child ages 4 to 12. Cabins fill up quickly; the lodge will begin taking reservations for 2011 on October 1, 2010. For more information, call 865-429-5704 or visit lecontelodge.com.
Where to Stay in Gatlinburg
The Bearskin Lodge on the River is located right on the banks of the Pigeon River and offers spacious suites and an outdoor heated pool (doubles from $70; 840 River Road; 865-430-4330; thebearskinlodge.com).
