Sadly, I’ve just learned that the Great Smoky Mountains has lost a dear friend.
Many of you may have heard about or actually met Ed Wright while hiking to Mt. LeConte. Mr. Wright is famous for being the person to have hiked to the summit of LeConte on 1,310 occasions. Many of those hikes are documented on his website. It appears that his final attempt at reaching the summit occurred on June 20th of this year. He had not been feeling well and made the decision to head back down when he was about two-thirds of the way up the mountain.
I never had the privilege of meeting Mr. Wright, but he was the first person to agree to exchange links with my website shortly after launching it last year. I also had a few email exchanges with him, and found him to be an extremely cheerful and helpful person.
This is the message posted on his website by his family:
Update 11/24/09
Sadly, Ed succumbed to complications of congestive heart failure while sleeping on the evening of 11/23/09. He was 84 years old.
Plans for services are as yet undetermined.
A guestbook has been set up at HeavenCalled.com. Feel free to follow the link and leave your thoughts.
Watch this MtLeconte.com home page for further updates.
Ed's family
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, hiking gear store, and more.
Articles and information on hiking, outdoor adventures and the Great Smoky Mountains. For hiking trail information in the Smokies, please visit HikingintheSmokys.com
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