Mt. Leconte

Hooray for Spring Break! Even though Spencer spent most of the week studying for midterms next week, it was still so nice to have him home more...and he managed to take one whole day off so that we could go on a great hike!

Spencer, Claire, and I, along with Spencer's classmate Jeremy, made the trek up to the third highest peak in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Wednesday. Here are Jeremy, Spencer, and Claire setting out on the trails Wednesday morning.


It was quite cold when we started! Jeremy helped take care of Claire to make sure she was warm and cozy!


This is my favorite nature shot of the day. I love to see flowing water! It reminds me of when Jesus told the Samaritan woman that He had living water, that once she drank it she would never thirst again.



Claire had lots of adventures riding on Daddy's back...

Here I am walking across another bridge...only I am holding onto the rail...and I don't have a baby on my back! If Claire has a sense of adventure, it is probably more from her Daddy than from me!!!



More adventures...Claire was really funny because every time Spencer would start to climb or hang or do something kind of crazy, she would begin to say, "Mama...Mama...Mama..."



Alum Cave Bluff...


Just hangin' out...

Can we say, "Cheese"?





This was a really neat part of the trail where you could see straight out over the mountains...


Though it started out pretty cold that morning, things warmed up quickly as we hiked up the trail. But the closer we got to the top, the colder it became again. Here are some of the first icicles that we saw along the trail. Eventually the trail would turn to complete ice.


Near the top of Mt. Leconte are some cabins and a lodge for people who want to stay overnight during the warmer seasons. We stopped here to eat some lunch before continuing to the peak.


Here is Claire enjoying a sandwich...

And some oranges...


After lunch we made the short hike to the peak itself. It was breathtaking.









As I said earlier, the closer we got to the top, the more ice covered the trail. The stretch from where we ate lunch to the peak was almost completely covered. We found that it was much easier hiking UP this portion than DOWN it! So Spencer decided to take a different approach on the way down...

Claire did so great on the hike. She soaked it in and enjoyed being outside for over six hours. When she got tired, she didn't complain...she just went to sleep! Here she is, sacked out on Spencer's back. An eleven mile hike will do that to a girl :)


In other news, Claire had her checkup yesterday. At 16 months, she is 32 inches long and weighs 22 lbs 8 oz. We are so thankful for our fun, sweet, nature-loving, energetic, healthy little girl!