Today, November 10, 2014 is the 239th Birthday of the United States Marine Corps. I salute past and present members, Semper Fi. So to celebrate this notorious and glorious day, I met up with a biker friend to do a Cades Cove Loop ride. I left the house at 8 a.m., chilly if I do say so, in lower 30s with frosty roofs. I was bundled well for the ride so no worries. Stopped and had a cup of coffee with "The Elderlies" at Hardee's and then on to the bank. From the bank I took back roads over to U.S. 411 and shortly after hitting it I turned onto some more back roads finally coming out on U.S. 321 at Walland, TN, a small community about half way between Maryville and Townsend.
The air was crisp and so were the colors of the leaves. The weather has had some effect on leaf colors this year but they still are pretty to view.
An old store/house along the backroad traveled this trip. One of those "We have almost anything you don't need" places.
Looking at the Smokies off in the distance, shrouded with fog and the morning haze which is almost always present. Thus the name "The Smokies."
This roadway traverses alongside a small river which makes it rather scenic. At the point of this picture the left side of the roadway is part of the Agricultural Studies Dept. of the Univ. of Tenn. Smokies on the horizon.
By the way, there are no guardrails along most of this route so if you miss a turn in the road you could get your vehicle washed or maybe the word is dunked.
The sky was so blue this morning such that the camera can't really do it justice. I just love those mountains.
This section of the road is nearing the community of Walland.
At this point I left the back roads and traveled U.S. 321 through Walland and into Townsend. Notice the fog hanging onto the edge of the mountains. Most of the fog was due to the river on the left side of the highway.
Leaving Walland for Townsend. The fog and the clouds resemble smoke from a large fire, just white instead of dark.
Entering Townsend. It is a rather busy place during the summer with all the vacationing families but during the winter it is rather quiet. Well, to put it bluntly, it's just downright dead.
It does have several restaurants which serve good old country style meals. The one pictured here has one heck of a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with beer battered fries. And don't even think about needing catsup for those fries.
Shortly past the above restaurant you enter the National Park. The river on the left is the Little Pigeon River which is tubed by hoards of people in the summer. When the rainfall is low during the late summer months you do more dragging than floating.
Then you make a right turn onto the road that takes you exclusively to Cades Cove Campground and Loop Rd.
The leaf color was very pretty this morning with the sun filtering through the trees.
Not far from the Townsend entrance to The Park is a tunnel. Yep, most people just have a compelling drive to honk their horn when they get inside of the tunnel.
After about a 6 mile drive you get to the Cades Cove Loop. Picture on the right is as you enter the loop which is a 12 mile one way drive.
There are several family farms within the Cove but are now totally owned by the National Park Service. They still raise horses here and bale the grass for hay. This is done by a contract farmer.
Even with the morning haze you can still see some color on the mountain side.
The closer you get to the mountains the more color you will see. In a week or so most of the leaves will have dropped from the trees and the only color other than gray will be the green conifer trees.
Scenes around the Cove.
A small stream on the backside of the loop. The splitrail fence is at the Old Mill visitor's center.
Along the road leading out of the loop.
Lingering color, fading fast, enjoying it greatly while it lasts. A good ride with a good friend (loves Community Dark Roast Coffee with Chicory) in a beautiful place on a special day. How much better can it get. After a cup of coffee at the Cades Cove Campground Store, we saddled up and headed back to Pigeon Forge via U.S. 321. At the Parkway, we parted company, each for his own house. I hope your day has been as good as my day. Ride safe.
No comments:
Post a Comment