Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015. This ride will leave Seymour, TN, take the backroads down to Walland and jump on the Foothills Parkway to take us South to Calderwood Lake and U.S. 129, to ride The Dragon. MickyDs seems to be the general meet-up place these days. The morning is crispy cold, about 34 when we left out but warming up to the upper 50s during the day. Friend Paul and I pulled out about 9:30 this morning with enough layers of clothing to ensure we would be warm starting and could shed as it warmed up.
After a few miles on U.S. 411 we hooked a left and started our travels on the backroads, not that U.S. 411 is a super highway for it's not. It is a narrow two lane highway with ditches on the sides and has a number of curves along its path. Another turn puts us along the side of The University of Tenn.'s Agriculture testing area. Quite a large farm of rich delta like soil.
They grow corn, soybeans, hay and other agriculture products testing out various seeds and growth patterns. Across the road from the farm the road parallels a small river where in summer months you can usually find vehicles parked in pull off spots so the people can fish, picnic or swim. Nothing fancy, just a creek.
When we get to U.S. 321 at Walland, we make a left onto it and ride for a short distance to the turn off for the Foothills Parkway. The sun was doing its thing this morning backed up by a big blue sky and high thin clouds. I noticed a number of contrails which looked like small white stripes against the blue of the sky. Somebody going somewhere.
The Foothills Pkwy. is two lanes with a 45 m.p.h. speed limit. This morning there were practically zero vehicles. Just us two old guys going South and we met one car heading North.
It has it's share of curves but the road surface and curve construction let you pretty much hang out all the length of the parkway at 45 m.p.h. There are a number of turnouts so people can stop, look at the valleys below, take pictures, rest breaks and the numerous other things vacationers do. For us, it was the scenic shortcut to get to The Dragon.
At the end of the Foothills and Jct. of U.S. 129 is Calderwood Lake, backed up to serve as a water supply for Calderwood Dam, another TVA hydro-electric generating facility. This is a very big lake and during the summer has numerous skiers, boating enthusiasts, and fishers. Some just launch their pontoon boats and loll around for a few days.
There wasn't much wind this morning and it showed with the smooth reflection in the lake waters. Hardly a ripple today which is unusual as it seems wind is always around in these valleys. The mountains are like the buildings of a city, air moves when you don't think it would be moving.
As we ride along the lake the smooth flat highway starts to make more curves and then you know you are now on the Tail of the Dragon, or as we call it, The Dragon. There are 318 curves in 11 miles starting in TN and ending in NC at Deal's Gap, NC. It is considered one of the top ten motorcycle roads in the world and No. 1 in the U.S.
On weekends and during the summer it is very busy. They have just recently limited trucks with trailers to be no more than 30' in length. NC did this a couple of years ago. It is two way traffic and long vehicles cannot stay totally in their lane in some of the curves thus causing a few deaths over the years. It annually claims about 4 lives. Mainly due to speed and/or riders not use to mountain riding. Friend Paul is in the pic.
We made a successful ride across the Dragon. Met one car which is a first for me. But then, it is winter and it was during the work week. We turned off at Deal's Gap and headed toward Fontana Village. On our way we ran along another river for a while making a detour or two to look at other things along the route.
There are some very pretty homes in this area, some for full timers, some for rentals and some are just summer homes. This was a very nice log home with a beautiful view.
A few more miles and a bunch more curves was bringing us closer to Fontana Village, a predominantly summer vacationing spot on Fontana Lake backed up for Fontana Dam, yet another TVA hydro-electric water source. A number of people live here full time but you have to make sure you are well supplied during the winter due to snow and icing conditions. And Walmart isn't just around the corner.
This is Brookfield Station, one of our side trips and downstream from Fontana. There is a water tank at the top of the mountain where they pump water up and then let it flow down to operate the plant.
One of the boat ramps at Fontana Lake. There were several large houseboats anchored out in the lake. They were to large to tie up to the dock.
Another view of an inlet or cove on the lake. You can see the lake is down quite a bit and will get even lower until the spring rains and thaw elevate the water level. Then they have to generate full potential and even open some floodgates from time to time.
These two little houses were just too cute to pass up taking a picture. I don't know what they're used for, maybe just for what I was doing, taking a picture. Little doll houses.
I'm just glad I didn't have to split all of the rails that made up this fence. It was at least a quarter mile long and ran around the property on all sides. It would help out with firewood if times got really hard.
If you leave it long enough, Mother Nature will take it back, one vine at a time. It was once a small house. Now it is barely visible due to the growth.
Rest stop. Time for a pit stop and a warm-up with a cup of coffee. Maybe even a snack. When we ride we don't usually take long lunch breaks as that reduces the miles you want to travel within a certain time frame.
These small rural stores have about anything you need from fish bait to sandwich bread. Notice two gas pumps, high test and regular, 100% gasoline, no ethanol added.
A short side trip brought us to this mock-up of a water driven mill. However, this was for looks only as the slush box that would bring the water starts in the middle of the yard and is nowhere near supplying water. The only water is the little stream that runs between the highway and the mill.
Winter doesn't have much color other than blue sky and gray bark trees except for the occasional evergreen tree. Standing behind that rail fence kind of makes them stand out.
Another fifteen miles or so brought us onto the Cherokee Indian Reservation and the town of Cherokee, NC. A lot of memories built up here over the years, especially when the boys were young. Headdresses, bow and arrows, leather moccasins. Just about every trip there for several years.
Just as you enter the Smoky Mountain National Park from the East you will notice behind the Oconaluftee Visitor Center a farm, complete with house, out buildings, barn, garden, etc. During the summer months several volunteers dress up in the clothing of that time period and do chores including growing vegetables in the garden. A free tour paid for by your tax money and well worth it.
On the way across the mountain you could see quite a bit of this white stuff along the roadway, on the shady side of the mountain and even some very long icicles clinging to the boulders. There was very little of it on the West side as it had already melted. The temperature changed also from the visitor center to the top of the mountain. In fact, neither Paul nor I removed any of our clothing during the ride. It just never got that warm.
It was another great riding day, even with the coolness of the morning start. The scenery was great, the lack of vehicles made it easier to ride without having to watch for crazy drivers and beside that, we saw some new stuff not seen by us before. House to house mileage today was 214. Time spent, not applicable. Just another good day in the saddle. So for you worker-bees, do it safe, do it right, and go home to your loved ones at the end of your day or night.
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