Devil's Race Track

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January 27, 2018 we went climbing at Devils Race Track in Tennessee. This is a really cool area. Fins of rock jut out of the mountain and form the climbing walls. It took us 3 hours to find the wall we wanted to climb. We ended up just hiking to the top of the mountain and looking down from there. In reality, we were across a small stream only 15 minutes from the car. This area was recently in a wild fire, so the landscape looked eerie with the steep slope and burned plants.

Chimney Tops

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November 4, 2017 friends and I went on a "fall colors" hike on the Chimney Tops Trail. This hike is quite short but really steep (some parts are just a staircase). We climbed 1487 feet over 3.3 miles. The hike was really pretty. Many of the trees had changed colors. Unfortunately, the top of the trail was closed due to damage from the wildfires. This was still a fun hike.

Runyon Canyon

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Today, I went for a short run through Runyon Canyon. I started at the top at the Mulholland Drive entrance, ran to the peak, then descended a little bit before turning around back to the parking lot. This ended up being a shorter run than I expected (~ 2 miles) but was still quite challenging because of how steep the trails were and how dry the air was. I had great views of downtown LA, the Hollywood sign, and Griffith Observatory. After the run the sun had set, and I walked around the observatory. They had a cloud chamber for observing particles that I could have watched all day. I was in LA to recruit new graduate students for the Bredesen Center from UCLA and Harvey Mudd.

Alum Cave

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Today my friend and I hiked to Mount LeConte along the Alum Cave trail. This hike was 11.0 miles round trip with 2763 feet of climbing. This was a perfect day to hike. There was light cloud cover so it wasn't too hot, and we had a great view from the top.

At the peak is LeConte Lodge where hikers can reserve a cabin for the night. The cabins are little more than a single room with a porch but they do have a bed with fresh sheets. The lodge also has chocolate chip and no-bake chocolate cookies and lemonade, coffee, and hot chocolate. I had one of each cookie. Kitchen supplies and laundry are carried up and down the mountain by a pack of llamas three days a week along the Trillium Gap trail. They make the 6.5 mile trek in 4 hours.