AT, Boulevard Trail to LeConte, & Alum Cave Bluff Trails (10.4 mi. new trails, 2.9 old)

We met at Food Lion at 8:00; because most of us were going to do the Boulevard Trail (which starts at Newfound Gap on US 441) to LeConte and then return via the Alum Cave Bluffs (ACB)Trail back to US 441 (~4 mi. below the Gap) , logistics were important. Thus I alone rode with Mike Miller; when we got to the ACB trail head we picked up 5 others and another 2 cars also went to the Gap. (Mike returned to the ACB trail head and met up with ~6 others and they proceeded to LeConte.) The rest of us proceeded on the AT from Newfound Gap for a distance of 2.7 (in the first pic you can see US 441 in NC). At this point we hit the Boulevard Trail (a favorite trail of Debbie Way) and after an additional 5.4 miles we reached LeConte. A few sections of the trail still had ice and one had to be cautious.

LeConte was now open for hiking tourists (in my 2 prior trips in Jan. with Joel & Feb. with Jim it was closed). There we met Mike et al. who had taken the shorter ACB trail to LeConte. Because Nancy, Debbie, and I were the first ones from the "Gap" group to reach LeConte via the Blvd. trail; we were ready to leave with Mike as the others began arriving. The ACB trail also had sections of ice; however, wherever there was a drop-off there was a cable attached to the rock wall adjacent to the trail (I definitely held on to this when there was ice on the trail). About 1.5 miles from our terminus is a rather unique tunnel/cave (Nancy, Debbie, & Mike appear in the pic). We covered this 5 miles in ~100 min.; at the trail head Mike took Nancy and Debbie to Newfound Gap to enable them to drive two cars back to the ACB trail head.