Time for a food break at the Bluffs. Only two other people were there when we arrived. This is often one of the busiest areas in the park during warmer weather, but I prefer to hike the trail during winter on days when mist is drifting across the slopes. Not sure, but it looks like Chris (at right with back to camera, is doing some sort of pagan cave dance...

After leaving the Bluffs behind, the trail makes a steep climb up to a flat connecting ridge that leads over to the slopes of LeConte. This was shot below the point where the trail cuts sharply to the right as it emerges on the ridgeline above Huggins Hell.

This stretch is a lot of fun if you're heading down the mountain late in the evening and there's a thick coating of ice on the rocks. The cables are a lifeline at times like that.

One more look at the valley below Alum Cave. The mist is blowing away from the mountainside, allowing us brief glimpses of the sun. This is the view down into the Trout Branch watershed that drains the steep mountainsides below Alum Cave.

This is the point where the trail tops out before hitting the flat connecting ridge to LeConte. On this day, the summit was still solidly socked in with dark clouds, not giving us a view of the rest of the climb. Even though the majority of hikers turn back at the Bluffs, the wear that is evident here illustrates how popular the Alum Cave Bluffs trail is. It was the first hike that I did in the Great Smokies, about 4 decades ago. Despite the (sometimes) heavy traffic, it's still one of my favorites. I can honestly say that I've never had a bad hike on this trail after doing it dozens of times.

I can't be sure, but I imagine that Gretch is telling them that, "We go thattaway!" Paul is probably telling them that it's all downhill from here...

OK, the plan here was to get a closeup of the group hiking by as reflected in a drop of water. I got ahead of the others, found a great drop and got focused in - and just as they walked up, I bumped the limb that the drop was on and the image vanished. I was unable to get another into focus in time to get another chance. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

A good day in good country.