Five Things I Love About Being a Hiking Guide

With summer hiking season in full swing it seems like I'm hardly ever indoors anymore!  If I'm not out on the trails for work you can usually find me out in a state park or national forest with my dog and NoKey.  I recently had a client ask me what it's like to have your passion and your job be the exact same thing and if I found it hard to find a balance between the two.  For me the balance isn't tough because I do my guiding in the Smokies and I do my hiking for pleasure outside of the national park.  There are a few reasons for this - heavy traffic near the Smokies, the fact that no dogs are allowed on trails, and the fact that the trails I hike for work are usually incredibly popular day hikes are some of them.  For me though, being a guide feels like a natural thing and it feels like it is truly where I need to be in life right now.  I feel incredibly fortunate to be doing what I do for a living.  For today's Friday Five post, I'm going to tell you the five things I love about being a guide.  

1) Teaching 

It might sound cheesy, but there is something really incredibly satisfying about teaching someone how to find what they're looking to learn out in the woods.  Whether it's taking a one-hour  nature walk and showing someone they can chew on a particular leaf or taking someone out for a customized backpacking trip and seeing them become more confident with their gear, the fact that I've taught someone a lesson they will remember is incredibly satisfying. 

2) InTroducing People to Nature

Sometimes I'm guiding a nature walk for a hotel or resort.  While these nature walks aren't strenuous or even long, by taking these groups out on a gentle walk away from the hustle and bustle of gateway towns around the park I'm showing them something they've possibly never experienced in life - and something they may never experience again.  We often get people from flatter places in the midwest or from large cities like Chicago or New York who don't make it out to the woods often.  Showing to people how much beauty you can find just beyond the concrete jungle can be such a rewarding experience. 

3) The unpredictability

It's pretty fair to say the outdoor industry is incredibly unpredictable.  Over the winter several of my hikes had to be canceled altogether due to weather-related road closures.  Sometimes my high ridgeline day hikes have to be rescheduled or even moved to a low elevation route due to thunderstorms.  Living in the mountains of East Tennessee will definitely keep you on your toes weather-wise!  Some days I'll only be scheduled for a short 2.5-hour walk only to be working an additional 8 or 9 hours due to unscheduled hiker shuttles or last-minute getaway hikes.  The unpredictable nature of my job always keeps me on my toes!

4) The Unexpected

Like the weather isn't the only thing that can throw curveballs at me out in the woods!  Sometimes it can be difficult to predict how our clients will react outdoors as well.  Even though we are filling out waivers and doing health questionnaires the physical ability of our group on a hike can keep us on our toes.  I had a scheduled hike up a difficult mountain where the first two miles were faster than usual and the clients were laughing and having fun.  The next two miles up, while not any more difficult, quickly fell apart and turned into me having to decide to make the call to turn around.  It took me 11 hours to hike approximately 7.5 hours on that trip and we never did make it to the top.  The clients, however, were still happy with the hiking and the interpretation I provided during the walk so it at least helps you feel better about making a difficult call. 

5) The People

There is something incredibly satisfying about introducing yourself to a group of people you're going to see over the next several hours and knowing that you're going to be able to show them things they've never experienced before.  Even though my job relies heavily on being able to do interpretation on the things around me, I often get to know my hiking clients on a more personal level, especially on a longer day hike or an overnight trip of any length.  Getting to learn things about people on such a personal level and connect with someone on a trip is the single greatest thing about my job.  Building a close report during such a short period of time really can't be done in any other setting.  

These are just a few of the things I really love about being a hiking guide.  When I first got into guiding I had no idea what to expect but now I can honestly say that I have found where I need to be right now.  

Is your passion your career?  What is it you love about what you do?  Would you be able to work at a job that closely mirrors the hobbies you have?  

I'm linking up with Courtney, Cynthia and Mar and some of the other folks who link up with us – and please don’t forget to link to your hosts if you are participating!

Hiking Mt. LeConte - A Tuesday Adventure

If you've ever been to the Smokies chances are you've heard of Mt. LeConte.  The big mountain with three peaks looms over the towns of Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg and is visible as you drive towards your vacation destination as soon as you hit the 407 exit.  While this mountain in the park isn't the tallest (it's the third tallest, after Clingman's Dome and Mt. Guyot), it's definitely the most famous!  In fact, when the writers of the song Rocky Top, the University of Tennessee's fight song, got together to write the song they were sitting in Gatlinburg looking at Mt. LeConte!  If you're wanting to hike up one of the five different trails going up Mt. LeConte, chances are you'll choose Alum Cave Trail.  This trail is the shortest route, although not necessarily the easiest route, up to the summit.  I recently hiked up the Alum Cave Trail and down the Rainbow Falls Trail on the opposite side of the mountain for a guided hike.  Here's a recap of the new and improved Alum Cave Trail. 

When we first stepped on trail I was definitely impressed at all the hard work the crews have put in on this trail.  Alum Cave Trail is in the process of being rebuilt and is wide enough for the large crowds it attracts now!  The first 1.2 miles up to Arch Rock were pretty uneventful and the new staircase inside is easy to  navigate and looks amazing (sorry I didn't get a photo of this one). From here we had a little more climbing before stopping at Inspiration Point - a heath bald with views of the natural arches over on Little Duckbill and the Eye of the Needle.  At this point, we're still climbing what is known as Peregrine Peak, named for the bird that is also nesting here over on Little Duckbill and at the Eye.  There is an incredibly hefty fine for going off trail to that area and disturbing the birds.  After our break, we climbed up to the namesake of this trail - the Alum Cave Bluff.  This sandy "cave" is a microclimate here in the Smokies and is actually considered a desert! It's hard to believe in a park with temperate rainforest you can still have a desert.  The "cave" also has a big of a sulfuric smell, like that of spent matches.  This soil is full of oxalates and contains minerals that can be found nowhere else on earth. 

A dry streamed where once a flash flood roared down this mountain. 

After continuing uphill from the Alum Cave Bluff the crowds began to thin a bit.  We mostly saw college students climbing up or down the mountain now being that it's spring break time for most colleges along the east coast.  We continued to climb, now being aided with steel cables in places to help hikers along in winter, and finally reached a flatter spot in the trail.  The forest type has now changed from old growth to boreal - meaning most of the forest is evergreen spruce trees and fir trees.  The sun shining made it smell like we were hiking on a mountain of Christmas trees and we had finally reached our destination for the day - the summit of Mt. LeConte.  We took a break up top and watched the seasonal workers scurrying around stocking the cabins and the office for the upcoming season.  The lodge isn't open year-round and is just now getting ready to open for the season.  

A view of the AT from the Alum Cave Trail.

When we were ready to head downhill we took the Rainbow Falls Trail down to Cherokee Orchard.  This trail has been one of my favorite routes up or down this mountain for a long time due to the easier grade and the views into the valley and Gatlinburg.  It was fun getting a glimpse of town, knowing it was so busy down there and we were realtively alone on this part of the mountain.  Rainbow Falls Trail doesn't see the crowds you'll get on the Alum Cave Trail and, until we hiked down to the falls, we didn't see any other people.  On the way down we found a patch of teaberry that actually still had their berries.  It's always fun eating wild red berries that taste like peppermint instead of fruit. We took our final break at Rainbow Falls and saw relatively few people there, but that may have been due to the fact that it was getting late in the day.  

So many creatures living on one rock - rhododendron, moss, spray paint lichen, and crepe myrtle! 

About half a mile down from the falls we spotted people illegally camping in a patch of rocks next to LeConte Stream.  Given that this mountain has seen a wildfire from this type of activity only a few years ago, we did let the campers know they weren't supposed to be camping there and certainly weren't supposed to be building a fire inside a hollowed out log in a rock pile!  The Smokies have strict rules as to where you can and cannot camp due to it being the most visited national park in the country.  Our park has been loved to death in generations past and the rule helps protect the park and keep it from becoming a giant, scarred wasteland of former campsites and garbage.  After this encounter however, we had an uneventful walk down LeConte Creek to the vehicles we had in the parking lot.  

I love hiking Mt. LeConte and it's especially fun when you can hike up one side and down another.  To do the hike we did you'll need to have two vehicles or use a local shuttle service to help you get from your car to your starting point.  Here is a map of the direction we hiked the trail. 

We started on Alum Cave Trail (the bottom) and hiked to Rainbow Falls Trailhead (the top).

Have you ever hiked up Mt. LeConte or stayed in the lodge at the top? The historic lodge dates back to 1925 - before the Smokies even became a national park!  I'd love to hear about which trails you hiked up or down and what you thought of the them.  Leave me a comment below or find me on Facebook or Twitter to get the conversation started.