Conquering the Tour de Le Conte

Five trails done, one to go: Massey (left) and Clarkson

For the past two years, Phillip “P-Nut” Clarkson and Timothy Massey have been wearing out the trails on Mount Le Conte. On Saturday, May 8, 2021, these Tennesseans did them all at once, covering 43.49 miles in 13:58:10 to complete the Tour de Le Conte.

Clarkson, from Maryville, the winter caretaker for Le Conte Lodge, has climbed the mountain 38 times in the past two years and 87 times in his lifetime. Massey, from Tallassee, has made 32 climbs in the last two years and 84 in his life. They are fast approaching the 100 threshold, which has been accomplished 92 times on our Honor Roll.

Starting before dawn, they went up Rainbow, down Trillium, up Bullhead, down Alum, up Boulevard, and down Brushy Mountain. Here is a video of their Tour. Their trip coincided with the reopening of the Porters Creek trailhead, which had been closed for road repairs. They are the first to report a Tour completion this year, after we had 11 in 2020.

The previous Saturday, Clarkson and Massey teamed up for the Vertical Mile Challenge, making a 23.4-mile round trip from downtown Gatlinburg to the Le Conte summit.

Congratulations also to Luke Bollschweiler of Maryville, who was on the trail at the same time Saturday and recaptured the Fastest Known Time for the Vertical Mile with 3:10:45 for 20.9 miles, shaving over 19 minutes off the previous record. Until last November, Luke held the fastest time for the Tour de Le Conte, but then brothers Elias and Anthony Groft who completed a 47-mile route in 8:03.

Tim and P-Nut started on Rainbow Falls (the middle route from the upper left) and finished on Porters Creek (the trail to the upper right).