Thu, Jul 8 2010 - Weeknight Len Foote Hike Inn Adventure, at Discounted Rate! (View Original Event Details)
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Courtney Harjung also took lots of nice shots and can email some to you on request (CHarjung@hotmail.com).
At midday on Thursday July 8 our general carpooling group joined our direct-to-the-park AOC friends at the State Park Visitor Center where we checked in with the Park rangers for the hike. Our hike began early Thu afternoon at the trailhead by the top of the Falls and after an unforgettable stay at the Inn our we were back at the cars at about noon on Friday. Despite the warmer than average midsummer temperatures we had plenty of shade and numerous scenic vistas en route to the Inn via the 5-mile Len Foote trail and back out Friday via the slightly longer Appalachian Trail "approach trail" route. Our special group-discounted trip fee included the usual comfortable double-occupancy accommodations, hot showers, dinner and breakfast, and use of the Inn's many other amenities.
After checking in at the Inn about 4:00 Thursday afternoon we enjoyed some complimentary refreshments and food, then relaxed in and around the spacious "Sunrise Room" with its wide assortment of board games, cards, books, etc. Angela and others had fun with a rowdy game of Scrabble featuring more than its share very dubious? words! Others put jigsaw puzzles together, read, chatted, and relaxed in the comfortable Adirondack chairs on porch overlooking the mountains. At 5:00 most of us met the manager in the lobby and took part in his interesting tour of the award-winning "green" Inn, including the obligatory visit to the "vermiculture room" below the dining hall where food scraps and shredded paper are fed to thousands of red wiggler worms whose "castings" make valuable compost in the organic garden.
At 6:00 our ravenous crowd gathered in the dining hall even before the dinner bell rang—the delicious dinner featured roast pork tenderloin and homemade cobbler. Recognition is always given afterward to those table groups who "weigh in" with the fewest ounces of leftovers. The Hike-Inn chefs now have added a rousing musical celebration to their tongue-in-cheek "award ceremony," complete with wacky chanting and banjo/drum accompaniment!
After dinner we delighted in more games and conversation in the Sunrise room. About a half hour before dark most of the guests joined "Friend of the Hike Inn and volunteer" Charlie there for an informal "Astronomy and Stargazing" tutorial session followed by nice views of Venus, the Big Dipper, Polaris and other bright celestial objects from the big open flower garden near the Dining Hall. Charlie and a few other "night owls" stayed up late enough to have nice naked-eye views of the Milky Way, Jupiter, and the 2.5-million-light-years-distant Andromeda Galaxy.
By around 6:30 Friday morning most of us were "up & at-em" in time to observe and photograph the beautiful sunrise (and waning crescent moon) viewable from the Stonehenge-like "Starbase," whose east-facing cave and pointer stones are aligned with the rising sun on the spring/fall equinoxes and summer/winter solstices. Before breakfast several of us also took the time to explore the Inn's special self-guiding Nature Trail which loops around the Inn.
After a hearty breakfast we said goodby to the Hike Inn staff and to the ten or so non-AOC guests who had become our newest friends. We then gathered at the Inn entranceway for a couple of parting shots. By about 9:30 were happily on our way up the final mile of the Len Foote trail at which "Mile-6" endpoint it tees into the AT Approach Trail. Taking a southerly turn there we found ourselves easily back in the top-o-the-Falls parking lot by 12:00 noon. Before heading home we enjoyed some final socializing and pigging out on ice-cold watermelon (from Charlie's cooler) and took a few more photos atop the Falls. Bobby Marie, Courtney & Tom Harjung, and a few others stopped in the parking lot about halfway down the mountain and took a short spur hike to perhaps the best view of the Falls near the midsection of its steep "stairway." While there they kindly took part in a "good samaritan" act, assisting an elderly lady who had been injured from a steep tumble off the trail.
This trip combined an unforgettable wilderness adventure with the fun of being part of a friendly group of like-minded hikers. Thanks to my good friend Bobby Marie for co-leading it with me and for patiently hiking "sweep" —also to my friends at the Hike Inn for a superb job hosting us. We hope to offer it again next summer! –Charlie
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