We drove to the trail head of Rainbow Falls. We found the main parking lot full so we drove further down Cherokee Orchard Road to get to the spillover lot. We wore a fresh set of clothes for our last night in the Smokies. We walked to the trail head, did our business in the port-o-potty waiting there, and pushed up the trail. We flew through the trail and stopped if we saw something interesting. Nutty Cowboy and Lucky Foot pushed up Rainbow Falls faster than I would have liked. I wanted to enjoy a slow trek up Mount Le Conte. In retrospect, it was a good decision.
The trail felt congested compared to the trails in the southwest side of the park. For the most part, everyone was friendly. A girl headed back down the trail said we looked ‘official’ with our gear. Her comment gave me good vibes. I’m official! Along the way stopped at a few of the many small waterfalls that crossed the trail. At the waterfall immediately below Rainbow Falls, I found another salamander relaxing on a rock. I gave the salamander his fifteen minutes of fame. The diffused light reflected off his wet back and the dark shiny green moss garnished the rock made him look very interesting.
We reached Rainbow Falls and had lunch. There was a family climbing up the boulders. We wanted to scramble up the rocks but we didn’t want an injury to ruin our trip. It became very busy while we ate lunch. A squirrel hopped around begging for food from everyone. He circled Nutty Cowboy a few times waiting for a hand out. Everyone around us thought it was cute. We also met a nice older couple who climbed up to see the falls that we talked to for a short bit. The cloudy day prevented any rainbows that day. The falls were pretty but disappointing. We thought the falls would be much higher and the volume of water much larger.
We moved on. The flora changed as we climbed higher. It changed again and kept us busy admiring the beauty around us. There were plants that we did not see in lower elevations like the catawba rhododendron and the spruce-fir forests near the summit. The weather changed rapidly after we left Rainbow Falls for the Mount Le Conte shelter. The clouds engulfed us. We walked in the clouds for the rest of the day.
It began to drizzle and then the rains came. Rainbow Falls Trail turned into a rocky and muddy stream. There’s something special about walking in the clouds. It was a peaceful climb up to the Le Conte Shelter. It felt like we were walking through a peaceful dream.
The Le Conte Lodge seemed like a ghost town. The gray wood buildings blended into clouds. We heard faint chatter and laughter. Ghosts! The guest cabins were past the lodge office and the dining room was towards the botom of the lodge grounds. 
The voices became louder when we reached the office. We read a plaque that outlined a brief history of the lodge and the surrounding area. Two men in rocking chairs asked us if we headed to the shelter. We told them we were. They replied that they were going to stay in the shelter but the lodge had a few cancellations so they splurged and each of them dropped $120.00 for a warm cabin. I had a warm sleeping bag so I’ll be fine. Besides, $120.00 can buy a lot of gear.
We finally reach the Le Conte Shelter. It looked beautiful in the clouds. People were already at the shelter. They prepared their food and greeted us. We pulled out our sleeping gear and hung our backpacks. As soon as we began to cook, the wind kicked up, the rain poured in. The last person at the shelter, Jennifer, arrived. The temperature dropped. It looked awesome. The last guest at the shelter just made it before the weather became worse. 
The stormed amazed me while we stood in the cloud. As it poured, I saw the cloud shift, sweep in, and pass by within feet of me. The whipping wind became visible.
The stormed finally calmed. Everyone started to crawl into their sleeping bags because it was so cold and there wasn’t much to do. Lucky Foot and I decided to explore a bit and walked around. We reached clifftops and we were surrounded by grey. We looked over the cliffs and saw nothing but grey. It appeared to be an endless abyss that someone can jump into and never hit the ground.
Back at the shelter, we found someone still awake. He also thought that it was too early to go to bed so he sat quietly hoping to see a bear walk by. We conversed with him. I listened. He has been hiking in this park for over twenty years. His wife thinks he’s too old to do these short trips. I say it keeps us young. He was full of knowledge about the trails and a couple short tales like how the only way he convinced his wife to hike with him was a stay at the lodge and the tradition of trying to make Mount Le Conte taller than Clingman’s Dome.
We went to the lodge to avoid the pit disgusting pit at the shelter. The lodge has a set of toilets that they leave open for hikers. It definitely was cleaner and smelled better than the shelter toilet. Lost Foot and I lucked out. One of the guests forgot to lock the guest toilets. I appreciated a clean flushable toilet after digging cat holes all week. We walked over to the office to look at the thermometer at the lodge. The temperature dropped to 46 degrees Farenheit.
We walked back to the shelter and bumped into Jennifer heading to the lodge. A couple she met on Alum Cave Trail had an extra warm bed. I wouldn’t have passed that offer up either. My sleeping bag was just as nice.