A Cold Ride to Blue Heron Mine, KY

Crazy?  Possibly.  But not completely, yet.  Wednesday morning, Feb. 11, 2015.  Put on layers of clothing, helmet and gloves, all at room temp of 70*.  Walked out into the garage, hooked up the gloves (heated), opened the garage door and pushed Sweet Thang out onto the drive way.  Time: 8:20 a.m.  Temperature: 26*.  Crazy check again, nope, not yet but getting closer.  I rode down to corner of Boyds Creek Hwy. and Chapman Hwy. (U.S. 441) to Wiegel's, a convenience store/gas station and filled gas tank.  Eased over next door to MickyDs to await biker friend Paul who would be riding the White Rat scooter today as the Ninja got sick yesterday.

Just as I was about half way through a cup of coffee in Paul walks.  He wasn't going to eat so I quickly finished my cup of coffee, we discussed his weather predictions or lack of, and mounted our trusty steeds.  Our destination today was just over the Kentucky/Tennessee line to a place called Blue Heron Mine.  It is actually located within the Big South Fork National Park which is much larger than I originally thought.  It starts up in Kentucky and extends down into TN with the Cumberland River running through part of it.

The route today looked sort of like this shown but include a bunch of wriggles at the very end on our way back.  We ran I-275 and I-75 up to the point of Pioneer, TN where we made a left, after a warm up break, onto TN 63.  The cashier couldn't believe we were riding motorcycles.  I grabbed a coffee and answered questions from a younger truck driver about the area and the GoPro Camrea. 

Knoxville skyline as we were zipping through on the James White Freeway by-pass to catch I-75.  Beautiful day, just a tad cold.








Once we were on I-75 we just cruised along for about another 2 hours until we got off at Pioneer, TN.

I love I-75 after you leave Knoxville.  It is just a very pretty interstate highway with nice long rolling hills and mountains in the distance.  You eventually get into the mountains but they're still great to ride through the cuts and see what's in the distance.

Like picture postcards.  You round a curve and see this big hill in the skyline.  Looks rather drab now but in the spring, summer and fall it will have a lot of color.

At Pioneer, TN we took route 63.  We could see the silvery look along the way but once you turned onto 63 you knew it was cold.  That hot cup of coffee cooled down really quick on this leg of our trip.  That light stuff in the distance is fog ice, or where the clouds settled down over the mountain and into the valley freezing the moisture to the vegetation and rocks.  The sides of the roadway were the same color.

You can see a small sample of this right in the center of the picture to the right between the mountains is a white cloud of mist.

We get to see a lot of stuff along the way, like this working diesel locomotive that was probably going to the large wood products mill we had just passed to pick up a few cars of lumber.

 The mill in this picture had a large supply of log yet to be sawn into lumber.

Just past the mill was a large area of stacked lumber ready for shipment.











Across from the stacked lumber was a very large area of logs waiting to go to the mill.  I'm sure they like to keep a large stockpile due to the ever changing weather that would keep the loggers out of the woods.







Later we were on some small back roads which do not show up on your "most traveled roads for tourists" maps.







However, along a lot of these back roads you see some very pretty buildings like this church.  Unusual but then we're in Kentucky.








By now it had warmed up to above freezing.  I didn't think my thermometer on my bike would ever get off 30*.  Light gray look to the pavement is salt brine residue.  A short time later and we entered the Big South Fork River National Park.

On the highway into our destination we pulled over to look at this natural arch.  My friend Paul told me to get on top and he'd take a picture.  So I did.  After I got down he said, "Did you see that crack in the middle?"  By then I was off the rock and sure enough, there's a fine hairline crack started on the highway side of the rock.  And he was my friend.

Next we rode to the parking lot of an overlook area.  Then you had to walk down and up about 600' to the overlook.  Beautiful as it overlooks Big South Fork Cumberland River.

After the walk back to the bikes from the overlook we rode a short distance to the Barthell Mine.  Roaring Paunch Creek runs alongside the rail line.

The Stearns Coal and Timber Co. was a big outfit back in the early 1900s to 1961.  They had approx. 2500 people working for them.  The town of Stearns developed due to the mining and timber operations.

This was the Motor House, just one of the buildings on site.  It was closed to tourists but since the gate was open
Paul and I extended the privilege of
riding into the facility.  We got an opportunity to learn about the place from one of the maintenance people that take care of it during the off season.

One of the houses on site.  Some of the houses can be rented during the vacation season.  That green on the roof was not the color of the shingles but moss growing there.  Apparently stays rather damp and cool in this location.

I don't know whether this is the track for the "A" Train, The Last Train From Denver, The 3:10 From Yuma or just the pony train to the mine.

A steam driven train runs the track during tourist season.  It runs from Stearns, KY by this mine, Barthell, to the Blue Heron Mine farther down the line.

Some of the cabins that can be rented.

It was a full mining town with offices for a barber shop, a doctor, a grocery, etc.

The foot bridge crossing the Roaring Paunch Creek.

An old Chevrolet truck, early 30s model.  It is one of two trucks left on site.  The other is an old KB International.









We left the Barthell Mine and rode on down to the Blue Heron.  It was the last mine used, No. 18.  In all there were 18 mines within 29 miles of Stearns, KY all owned by the Stearns Mining and Lumber Co.  None of the mines were mined out.  Each mine had about 50% of the coal mined and they would shut it down and move to another site depending on the cost of mining and the tonnage rate paid for the coal.  The coal sold for $1.00 per ton and the miner received $00.10 per ton for digging it out.  Good pay back in those days.

A depiction of miners working at the Blue Heron Mine.  This mine is along side the Big South Fork Cumberland River.  There is a lot of information that can be read on panels beneath a covered roof building.  During the summer they lead tours like those of the Barthell Mine.





This bridge crosses the Big South Fork Cumberland River where the actual mine was.  They brought the coal over in small cars pulled by mules to a header house where it was dumped into hoppers that filled the gondola cars.  The train then delivered the full cars to their destination.

Entering the main mining area you are looking at the header house where the coal is dumped into awaiting rail cars.

Know what these are?  Answer:  They are called Rail Dogs.  These must be at the end of any railroad track if the tracks come to an end.  They are to prevent the railcars or train from running off the end of the stopped tracks.

This is a photo of a picture of how the area looked in its heyday.

Looking West at the Big South Fork Cumberland River from the river crossing bridge.

Leaving the Blue Heron Mine area is this beautiful multi-colored stone wall chiseled out the mountain to make the roadway.

We rode back and into Stearns, KY, grabbed another back road and headed back toward home.  Just another one of those "don't make a mistake" type roads very common to the Appalachian Mountain Region.

We rode into Williamsburg, KY which is the home of the Cumberland University.  The campus is downtown Williamsburg is is very beautiful.  All of the buildings are red brick with white columns and dormers, etc.  This one had a mural on the side.

Here is another of the large buildings of the campus.  I had been by Williamsburg before but never took the time to actually ride or drive into the town.

Another good small highway toward Jellico, TN where we would catch the same interstate that we rode up on.  Then back to Knoxville.  I left the house at 8:20 a.m. and returned around 5:10 p.m.  I quickly hooked up the hose, washed the salt dust off the bike, wiped it down and put her to bed for the next few days as it will be snowing and very cold.



The Big South Fork National Park is now owned by the U.S. Government.  It was originally owned by the Stearns Mining and Lumber Co. who sold it back to the government when the mining and lumber business shut down.  There are campgrounds, rental cabins, boating, hiking, horseback riding, stables, etc., within this very large parcel of land.  Part of it is in Northern TN, the rest in Southern KY.  Visit it one day, you're paying for it so enjoy what it has to offer.

A chilly, no a cold start, a warm middle and ending with a door to door mileage of 232 miles.  At the end, tired.  But what a day of exploring our country while riding with a friend and having a great time.  Until the next adventure, you behave yourself but have fun in what you do.  Ride/drive safe.










 

Short Ride to Townsend, TN

Due to the weather and some errands, biker friend Paul and I didn't leave until noon for our ride.  We met up at Wendy's for a quick snack and then mounted our faithful steeds for a ride down to Townsend to the Smoky Mountain Heritage Center.  Access to the center was free this week.  It is basically an Appalachian Museum of how things was done in the old days.  Townsend abuts the Smoky Mountain National Park.  During the winter it has only a few residents and a few tourists.  During summer it is full of tourists.  Townsend is in a rather long valley with a river running through it from the Park.

Coming into my area of Seymour where we would take a right turn onto U.S. 411 heading south for a short way and then hit the back roads.  A snake's trail is much straighter than the routes we take.

Shortly after we left U.S. 411 to the left toward the mountains this beautiful home sitting atop a pretty tall hill has a magnificent view of the mountains.  And, I might add, sits on a very nice size property.

Way off in the distance the mountains are topped with clouds.  The temp at this time of day is about 38.  High is 42.  Since it rained some earlier in the morning the roads were still damp in places and you could feel the humidity.  Damp cold, chill to the bone type but we were rather warm in our layers of fabric.

This section of highway was nice.  It had pleasing scenery along the way, rather recent asphalt and it had stripes separating the lanes.  This would change later as we changed routes.

A beautiful, to me, old farm house overlooking the highway.  Of course the tree trimmers has taken a toll on that huge maple tree.  And from the size of the tree and the age of the house, I would say they were there first.

Here's a similar farm house.  From the size of the house makes one wonder how many kids once lived there.  Notice the trimmed tree in front.

As mentioned several times in articles dairy farming was well established in this area of TN.  Still lots of old barns, silos and milking sheds but many are slowly falling apart.

The dark horizon in this picture are the mountains.  The white layer just above the dark are the clouds.  So knowing the area, you can bet the temperature where those clouds are is rather chilly.  Later, on our way back, the clouds had shifted and the tops of the mountains was silver, meaning the moisture from the clouds was freezing on the trees.  I didn't have my camera hanging from my neck on the return trip so I missed that shot.  Drats.

This picture is for my friend Barbara, an artiste in LA.  These are sculptures of cows in a pasture setting.  See how motionless they are?  I believe they are Charolais.

On roads like this I wonder if anyone has entered the barn from this direction.  It's amazing how fast people drive on some of these small roads.

The fence set this picture off as it seems the mountains and the fence are on a converging meeting point.  And, the daunting darkness of the clouds wasn't making me feel really rosy about the remainder of the day.

And the clouds just keep hanging in there.

Then we changed directions again to run parallel to the river.  We are nearing the town of Townsend at this point but on the west side of town.  This road following the river turns into a little community of houses.  Some are lived in year around, some are summer homes and some are rental cabins.

Rocky, craggy stone wall on one side and a cold swift running river on the other.  Run off the road in either direction could spell hurt.

And notice the rocks aren't smooth finished either.  About as nice as running along a barbed wire fence.

This is one of the older homes in the community.  They just park them almost anywhere, on the side of a mountain or overhanging the river.  Wherever they can get a footing to build on.

This is one of the older houses in the area and is need of some TLC.  It is situated between the river and the roadway.  And I would imagine it has seen water in it or really close from time to time.

We came to this intersection, still not in Townsend proper and this old dilapidated old house caught my eye.  There's a small stream flowing in the front, a bridge crossing it to the house and at one time this was probably a very attractive place.  It still has a very nice setting, a small valley all to itself.

The small stream in front of the house.  Not big, but flowing well with crystal clear water, straight out of the mountains.  Not a suitable depth for skinny dipping but definitely cold enough to give your goose bumps goose bumps.

Last picture for today.  Just shortly after this picture was shot Paul started hearing a noise from his bike, a Kawasaki Ninja 500.  We stopped and turned around and discussed the situation.  I had him mount up and ride slowly to see if I could locate where the noise was coming from.  Aha, it's right by his left foot.  So he stopped, got out his tools to take off a plate on the side and found he didn't have the right tools to do the job.

So Sweet Thang to the rescue.  I opened her right saddlebag, pulled out my bag of tools and behold, an 8mm boxend/openend wrench, just what we needed.  Long story and much discussion later, we found the drive sprocket for his chain was sliding off the splined shaft and was grinding metal.  After a while we got the part back to where it should be and decided to try to make it back to Seymour.  If all else fails, we park it at someone's business or house and double-up on my bike to go get a trailer and haul it.

No trailer needed, this time.  We did the Mobil Gas Economy Run, traveling at 35 mph all the way back to Seymour, about 20+ miles.  Took mostly back roads so we wouldn't have to deal with traffic behind us.  Made it to MickyDs, had a cup of coffee and a hot apple pie, food needed for our troubles and the patience used up.

Never made it to the Heritage Center but can do that another day.  Total mileage I did today was about 60 miles.  Stopped by my local convenience store, picked up dinner consisting of a Full House (their homemade chili with a hot tamale stuck in it) and a small banana pudding.  This took care of warming me up, my meat, bread, fruit and dairy products in just two containers.  Not one of the best days of riding but yet another good day.  Until the next adventure, which should be tomorrow, live long, stay safe, and enjoy life.