We woke up at LeConte Lodge in time to get dressed and freshen up before the breakfast bell rang at 8, when we found our seats again in the dining room and filled up on pancakes, scrambled eggs, ham, grits, and biscuits with honey and apple butter. After breakfast, we packed up our things and said good-bye to our new friends. The five of us then lingered for another hour in the great room, playing board games until 10 a.m., when the llamas arrived with their loads of supplies.
(About eight llamas, along with their wrangler, make the trip up the mountain and back on the Trillium Gap trail, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The wrangler told us that he gets up at 2:30 a.m. on those days to ready the llamas and their loads. They start up the trail at 6 and get to the lodge by 10, usually. They stay for a couple of hours before turning around and heading back down the mountain. His testimonial kind of deflated the sense of accomplishment I felt for completing my one-and-only trip up the mountain yesterday. I can’t imagine what kind of fantastic shape that dude must be in.)
After greeting the llamas and snapping a few photos of them, we started our trek back down the mountain. Keith figured that it would take us only an hour or two to get back to the car, given that we had gravity on our side this time. But it still took us closer to three hours, as we took our time navigating the steep and slippery slopes.
Once we got back to our car, we returned to our campsite and broke down the shelter and the tent -- which, despite the broken pole, has valiantly remained upright for three nights. We then headed into the little town of Cherokee for dinner and showers (it’s been three days of horseback riding and sweaty hikes, after all) at the Comfort Suites -- but not before stopping off at the Oconaluftee Visitors Center to induct the three newest Great Smoky Mountain Junior Rangers.
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