Bald River Falls Among Other Stuff

Friday, 7:30 a.m., Temp 60 give or take, donned rain liner in summer jacket, put on winter gloves, turned the wind wings inward on Sweet Thang and took off for our usual meeting spot in Seymour.  Today was going to be a fantastic day to ride.  High to get around 81.  No Rain.  Stopped and topped off gas tank, grabbed a breakfast burrito and coffee at Micky D's and shortly afterward up they rode.  Friend Paul and his cousin, once removed, riding a bright green and black HD.  Darryl, Paul's cousin had moved from Indiana to Nashville so they finally hooked up to ride by Darryl spending a few days with Paul.  I was glad they invited me along.

Leaving Seymour heading East to catch the back roads we rode last week.  It is a better ride than taking the main highway plus it skirts the one town we would have to ride through that morning.

Along the back roads you can get a real feel for the mountains.  The fog was laying in the hollows and in some places hid the mountain tops.

You also get a feeling every so often of riding in a tunnel.  In some places the tree growth almost comes together at the top.  We rode one of these roads later in the day, a 1 laner that rarely ever gets to see sunlight.

When we pulled up to US 321 this was the view of the mountain.  Sure glad the fog was high this morning.  It does give some softness to the surroundings.  We made a left turn here and rode for a short ride to catch the Foothills Parkway over to US 129, The Dragon.  Darryl had never ridden across it nor the Cherohala Skyway so that was one of the main events for the day's ride.


Once on the Foothills Parkway we rolled along smoothly, admiring the
scenery.










  
At one of the turnouts, this was the view you had.  That is not a mountain reflecting in a lake, it's fog in the valley and such a beautiful blue Fall sky.










This was looking a little further southward from the previous picture.  Can you tell that I just love these mountains?

At the higher altitudes some of the trees are just starting to turn colors.  Mostly Maple, Sweetgum and some hickory and oaks.  About two more weeks and they should be in their splendor at the upper elevations.  They will change in the lower elevations around the middle of October to the end of the month depending on the coldness of the weather.  Then the tour buses return to the area bringing folks from all over to see the Smoky Mountains in it's splendor.

Red Ninja is ridden by Paul, a spry 76 year old, the green HD is Darryl's who is near 60, and Sweet Thang which is my bike and I'm nearly 72.  Who says that you need a rocking chair at 65, certainly not us.

This is the view from where the bikes were parked.  I know, it's terrible to look at but some of us just have to brace up and do it.

 We finally arrived at US 129 for the ride up the Dragon.  A fair amount of bikes on the road today I guess because it was Friday.  During the summer there are no days without bikes.  The picture to the right is at one of the pull-offs on the Dragon.  It's a lake backed up by a hydro-electric dam.

After a mess of curves, 318 to be exact, in a 11 mile stretch of highway, we finally arrived at Deal's Gap, a motorcycle stopping point for all sorts of things you really don't need, other than gas and food.  I couldn't resist, I purchased to reflective "Dragons" to go on the back of my helmet.  That gray pickup behind the Green HD is pulling a trailer with 4 bikes on it.  These folks, all in their mid to late 20s, were from Toronto, Ontario Canada.  They had a 20 hour drive ahead of them to get back home.  A week's worth of fun to tell everyone back in Canada.  And with the use of GoPro cameras mounted on helmets, handlebars, front forks and who knows where else, they can record their rides and keep them on their smart phones and computers for further viewing.

After Deal's Gap we headed up the mountain to Santeetlah, which is also a lake by that same name, to visit another cousin of Paul's.  The roads in that community are one way except for the southern end which has a two way road for a short distance.  After our visit, which had a beautiful view of the lake, a cup of coffee with some good conversation, we headed down the mountain to ride over to the Cherohala Skyway.  Along the route the flowers shown to the left are plentiful.  They are wildflowers but to me just pretty and remain nameless.

Further along the Skyway you pass elevation signs, this one being at Hooper Bald.  Bald to a mountain is the same as bald to humans except for the mountains it means no trees.  It does have grass.  As you climb in elevation you also note that it becomes cooler.  It was a little further up the road before we arrived at the highest point on the Skyway.

We also noted the clouds were becoming heavier and darker.  But the weatherman said no rain today and he should know.  But he has also been wrong before.








A few miles before we came to the end of the Skyway we turned off at Turkey Creek, followed the River Road a few miles down a narrow winding road not as wide as my driveway and came to the Bald River Falls.
There was a lot of water running over the falls which was odd since it has not rained a lot lately.  






This picture really doesn't do the falls justice.  It is perhaps one of the prettiest falls in Tennessee and I will make a return visit in the Spring to see if it has more water flowing.

I had the opportunity to take a picture for a family visiting from out of state.  The falls makes a great backdrop for a family photo.




As we came to the end of the Skyway we have decided, at our last stop, to pull into a gas stop which is very friendly to motorcyclists as they make a lot of their income from bikers.  I believe the owners are South Korean and don't appear to smile very much.  We gassed up, grabbed a cup of coffee, stretched our legs, made a pit stop, and off toward Seymour we went.  Of course it was the more scenic route, not the fastest route.


We ran TN 360 back to Vonore, TN where we jumped on US 411.  Not to far up the road we pulled over so that Paul could call his wife and let her know ABOUT what time to expect him and Darryl.  At that point I bid them farewell, told them how much I enjoyed the day and boogied for Seymour, arriving about 5:30 p.m.

Rode a few new roads, rode a few old ones, rode with a new friend and an old one, saw a beautiful waterfall and enjoyed a great day in the U.S.A.  No place like it.  All in all, 186 miles of fun and enjoyment.

So, until the next Valkyrie Adventure, have some fun, be careful and enjoy life.
                                                                                

A New Friend, Potter's Falls, Lilly Bluff and The General Store

Thursday morning was another crisp pre-Fall day.  A ride had been planned earlier and the meeting place was a convenience store at the corner of Chapman Hwy. and Boyds Creek Rd. for 7:30 a.m.  Dressed appropriately for the weather (in layers as it was going to warm up later) I met rider friend Paul and we headed South to Vonore, TN to meet up with Marc, a rider Paul knew who lives close to Chattanooga.  We rode some back roads that had back roads and then hit the main highway, US 411 for a short run to McDonald's in Vonore.  Marc was already there.  Paul and I grabbed a quick breakfast and coffee, gulped it down while talking with Marc and then mounted up for the day's ride.

Heading East out of Seymour, the rosy pink in the morning sky just improved the ride another 10%.  Mountains in background are hazy from morning mist and natural effects that give them their name, Smoky Mountains.

Not too far down the road the sun started poking itself from behind the mountains and high fluffy white clouds.  Another good sign for a good riding day.

 On our way South toward Vonore, the sky seemed to clear faster and early today.  However, you can certainly feel Autumn in the air, low humidity, cool and fresh with an earthy smell.  The trees are getting dull and in places some of them have leaves changing from green to yellow.

This particular highway ran through some rolling hills and farm land.  Still lots of tree growth enabling you to see very much except in places where they had been removed.  Sweet Thang's pipes had that deep mellow sound this morning.  She lets off that low rumble when you accelerate.  Love that girl.

 The three of us are running well through some of the straighter areas of highway.  Later this straightness would change considerably to "hanging in the curves, turning and burning" as they say.  By the way, the highway width changes also and not for being wider.

 One of the many beautiful old churches in East TN.  Beside it is another one of those areas that need to be fenced in as people are just dying to get in there.  I know, old joke but it's still funny to me.  Of course, I'm getting closer to that place than I really want to and it's not because of riding a motorcycle.

 Notice the difference in the road width?  My driveway is wider than this road and vehicles travel up and down it every day from school buses to farm tractors and yes, even a few bikes.

The TN River along with numerous lakes make naming waterways a bit difficult.  However, this is one that is a finger off the TN River and a lake.  Notice the reflection in the smooth water and the funny shaped clouds.

 A few more curvy roads, that's Paul in front and Marc in the middle, and since Paul and I had CB radios I played tail drag today to keep Marc on the straight and narrow.  And these are the easy ones to ride.

 The curvy roads like this can make you tighten up a bit on the bike seat as a lot of them not only make sharp curves but can do so going down hill or up hill making it even more exciting, especially if you've not prepared for hitting it.  Like being in the right gear with the motor still revved up.

 And finally we came to our group's first destination and first rest stop since McDonald's, which was about 1 1/2 hours later.

Our first destination was Potter's Falls, a very scenic area with multiple waterfalls.  A short hike takes you from the small parking area along the highway down to the lower falls.

People had definitely been doing some littering along the pathway to the lower falls but this litter made me guess somebody had to get away from there in a hurry or, Big Foot came out of the woods and scared them.

 A picture of Potter's Falls.

 In the summer this place will have numerous visitors that play around in the water and swim in the pools at the bottom of the falls.

Marc and Paul pondering how those big boulders got where they are.  Notice the one in the upper right is being held up by a smaller one beneath it.  Who knows, may have been aliens.

 After Potter's Falls we headed for Lilly Bluff Overlook where two rivers join up.  Centuries ago a canyon was formed and then got wider after the two rivers joined up.  On the way we passed another one of those places that needs a fence erected.

 Some of the roads would fool you as they could have some small crushed stones on them which are the same color as the rock in the asphalt.  Makes you not trust the road just on the basis that it is the same color.  Loose material can put you down hard if your bike slips on it.

 We arrived at Lilly Bluff after a bit and I noticed the conifer trees, that's pine trees to most of you, all had very small pine cones.  Years ago my Grandmother would have had us gather them up so she could make Christmas decorations out of them.

Lilly Bluff Overlook.  The growth shades the meeting up of the two rivers but take my word for it, there is a river to the middle right of this picture.










We later stopped and grabbed a burger in Wartburg, TN.  It's another small town but has some nice places and a small Visitor's Center run by the National Park showing all the materials and uses for the rivers in the area.  After lunch we hopped back on the bikes and headed for Harriman, TN to stop by the General Store there.

On the way out of Wartburg we ran by Nemo.  This small town was washed away by the flooding river around 1929, losing lives and a couple of miles that were waterdriven.  All that is left is the old iron bridge.  A new bridge was built some years ago and the iron girder bridge is only used for scenic purposes, no vehicles allowed.




This is the Nemo Bridge spanning the river.

After the Nemo Bridge our next stop was at the Rocky Top General Store in Harriman, TN.  This is one of those stores that has every thing you can imagine.  Including a couple of old codgers visiting and getting a bag of free fresh popcorn. 

 Before we were allowed in the Law had friend Paul displayed across the hood of their cruiser to check him out before allowing him to enter the store.

 This is just one shot of the store's inside display area.  There's rooms of stuff in this place.  One area was new gardening implements.  There I found a first for me, an onion hoe.  It is a gooseneck hoe but the blade is only 2" long and is used to scrape the dirt away from the bulb of an onion.  We just used a regular gooseneck hoe, but apparently some people had a special hoe for that purpose.  By the way, scraping the dirt away makes the onion bulb grow larger.

 After the General Store we went in separate directions, Marc back to Evansville, TN and Paul and I back to Seymour.  It was starting to get later in the day so we hooked it up on I-40 Eastbound and down, hello Seymour.

 Approx. 230 miles door to door for me.  A great day for riding and then I found this at the end of the day.  While talking to another friend I looked back at the garage and saw some white stuff on my rear tire.  It wasn't there that morning as I check my tires.  But during the ride I removed some rubber and was now down to cord in several areas.  One friend said for me to run on roads where I only turned right so I could stretch more mileage out of the tire.  So I ordered another one and it will be in Sept. 22.  Hopefully mounted Sept. 23 as this coming week is going to be another good biking weather week.

So comes the end to another Valkyrie Adventure.  All rode safe, had a good time, saw some old and new things, and most of all, had fun.  Until the next ride, be safe and enjoy life.

The Dragon, Joyce Kilmer and Cherohala Ride

I worked really hard yesterday at son's house burning limbs and trees that had fallen during storms.  Being around a fire all day that was hot enough to fry your hot dog, scorch your buns, melt your marshmellows and drizzle your Smores was not what I call a great relaxing day.  The best part was sitting in the shade as once the pile was ignited I had to stay there until it died out or I put it out.  The race was on.

This pile was approx. 5' high, 8' wide and 15' long consisting of small twigs, limbs and tree trunks cut into 18" lengths about 18" in diameter.  Oh, and as an assist to the 3 qts. of charcoal starter fluid I used, I threw in an old fir Christmas tree.  Boy, did that ever more kick the flames into high gear.  Started ignition at 8:35 a.m.

This was my Fire Watch Station, folding chair, waterhose energized, bottle of water, banana for breakfast, and a snack bar.  Later had two slices of leftover pizza for lunch.  Started spraying water on remainder of material at 4:30 p.m.  All out by 4:50.  Left for the house, some additional water, a hot bath and dinner.


I had already arranged to meet my riding buddy, Paul, at MickyDs at 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10, for a ride.  Since I had fueled up my bike the night before, I popped out of bed at 6:45 a.m., donned my riding gear, fed the dog, retrieved the paper and backed Sweet Thang out of the garage at 7:20.  Oops. Slight snag, the garage door won't close with the remote.  Ran back into the house, grabbed a new battery from the frig and tried it again.  No dice.  Tried the button by the door and it wouldn't make the door go down unless you held the button.  Drats, time's awasting.  Lowered the door by the button, went out the front door and back onto the bike.  Will worry about getting back in later.

So I pulled out of the subdivision and headed up Boyds Creek Hwy. to MDs.  About half way between my house and Chapman Hwy. is a miracle of thought all rolled into a wad.  You see, they put a primary, an elementary, a Jr. High, and a High School all in the same locale, two on each side of a two lane hwy. with two very short turn lanes, one in each direction.  Dumb doesn't really describe the situation.  It takes 4 Deputy Sheriffs twice daily to direct the traffic jamb created by this magnificent decision.

Rolled into MDs lot, parked right behind biker buddy.  We both were early intentionally, so we could get breakfast before the ride started.  And low and behold, another bike was there, friend Alvin, and he was going with us also.  Great fellow.  Rides a Harley.  Paul rides a Burgman 400 Scooter and me on the Valkyrie.  Then he says we will be meeting up with Randy at the BP Station in Walland, about a 30 minute ride away.  And that we did and since we were early there I got my second cup of coffee.

 I forgot to mention that it was rather foggy this morning when we left Seymour and was still a little foggy when we arrived at Walland.  Most of the fog was above the roadway so didn't interfere with riding.  This picture is the bridge to no where but was once the bridge crossing the river on the old road.

 If you look real hard you can see the outline of the mountain in the fog.  This was looking West from where we were parked.

By now Randy had arrived and all 4 bikes were lined up.  Randy rides a Suzuki 650 VStrom, a really neat bike and showroom clean.

Just a short way up US 321, which would take you into the Smoky Mtn. Nat. Park, we turned off onto the Foothills parkway which is a beautiful ride over the mountain and will put us onto US 129, The Dragon, at Chillhowee Lake.  This lake is due to a hydro-electric dam owned by TVA, one of many in TN and NC.  The speed limit on the Foothills is 45 mph, great surface and beautiful scenery.  It was a cool ride today.

 We will ride along the lake for a ways and then it becomes just a river finally disappearing when we start hitting the curves of The Dragon.  Switchbacks, continuously for 11 miles, total of 318 curves ending at Deal's Gap on the NC side of the mountain.  Riders come from all over the world to ride this piece of asphalt considered to be one of the Top Ten Motorcycle Rodes in the World.  And one or two die each year.

You don't have time to take pictures while riding The Dragon, or at least I don't, as you're concentrating on successfully making the next curve.  The picture to the right is taken from the Foothills Parkway.

I just love the hazy morning pictures.  There wasn't room to stop so we missed some great shots of the fog laying in the valley's of the mountains this morning.

We pulled over at Deal's Gap to take a break and yes, they made me buy another shirt with Dragon information on it.  But it is for winter riding so I guess it's okay.



If you want to see some good action shots along The Dragon you can do so by searching for photographers on the dragon such as 129Slayer.com, etc.  If you look at this site for the date of Sept. 10, 2014 you might even recognize me and Sweet Thang rounding a curve in a fairly good lean position.  We were polishing her tire's sidewalls.

Alvin, Paul (The Ride Master) and Randy standing on an observation platform overlooking Santeetla Lake.  It is a small lake compared to others in the area and is very scenic.  There's also a hydro-electric station here.  The community of Santeetla runs along one side of the lake and has one way roads.  Some very beautiful homes here but it is about 25 miles to the closest town which is Robbinsville, NC.

From Santeetla we hit the Joyce Kilmer Hwy. and rode to the parking area.  There's miles of trails in this virgin forest where it stays damp and cool even on hot summer days.  It is a great place to picnic or just find a spot and enjoy the babbling stream that flows near the parking lot.

 There's a 1.8 mile loop trail that will take you back into the area where the big trees are located.  You really have to watch your footing as the dampness and cool temperatures make the boards on bridges and pathways slick.

Looking Westward from the bridge at the stream.  I tried to get Paul to walk the tree in the upper portion of the picture, the tree that's crossing the stream.  He declined.  Can't imagine why, it looked strong enough to hold him.  It did have a little moss growing on top so the footing may have been a little tricky.  I would sure liked to have gotten a picture of him on it.

The sound of rushing water rumbling through the rocks has a very calming effect.  Much like breakers rolling onto a beach.  I guess the brain analyzes it similar to the ear as white noise.  Kind of drowns out all the other stuff rumbling around in your head,







From the Joyce Kilmer Forest we headed for the Cherohala Skyway.  For some reason Paul was in a frisky mood as we kind of ripped through the curves, over the hills stopping only once to take a picture or two.  It was rather cool up on top above 4,000 ft. elevation.  And the storm clouds were forming bolder and bolder.  It was like, maybe we are going to get wet if we fool around too long.

The weather patterns in this part of the country are mind boggling.  It may look like a storm and then nothing happens.  Then again, it may not look like a storm and it rains.  Meteorologists have a heck of a time trying to figure what's going to happen.

A scenic view from atop the Cherohala Skyway looking Westward.

As a biker friend says, "This is the money shot".  Sweet Thang parked with a magnificent view behind her.  Now who wouldn't like this view.  Wait, don't tell me for if you didn't, I'd have to hurt you.

  
Down the Cherohala and finally into Tellico Plains, TN for a stop at Hardee's and then some petrol.

A converted old farm house is now a nice little family style restaurant.  We ate there once and it is good with a pleasant staff waiting on you.  After our lunch break we headed on some back roads from Tellico Plains to Seymour, skirting all the other towns.  We rode back roads that had back roads eventually coming back to Seymour just in time to catch the school traffic at the end of the day. 



It was fun riding today.  We ran from foggy and cool to a bit chilly back to plain hot by the time we returned to our starting destination.  Total mileage door to door, 197.  Total amount of fun, Priceless.

Your assignment this coming weekend is to check your maps, run through the internet, and find some places you haven't been to or it's been years since that has some historical value AND that is entertaining.  It is amazing the number of people I run into that know so little about their backyard.  Whatever you do, watch out for motorcyclists, be safe and have fun.