Brasstown Bald Mtn., GA's Highest Elevation

Thursday morning, 6:50 a.m., temp. 67*, August 11, 2015.  Garage door opens, Sweet Thang (with her new rear tire) is pushed out, door comes down and a roar is heard, deep throaty in the cool morning air.  It's going to be a good day to ride.  Top out temp in upper 80s but going up in altitude it won't matter until we come back down.

Pointing the camera East the sun is starting to come up over the horizon, its reflection off the clouds gives them a pinkish color against a blue sky.  But I'm going in the opposite direction but more southernly.

Just a few miles south on US411 is a small sawmill that plays a very important role in a major business of the United States and the world.  Those logs seen here will soon be quarter sawn into boards that will eventually become barrels for the whiskey and wine industry.  And one distiller, Jack Daniels, uses them only one time then they are sold to other distillers as far away as Scotland.

The valley is soft and quiet this early in the morning.  Traffic is minimal, and the landscape is maximum.  Heading to Vonore (pronounced Von - ore) to meet up with three other riders for a day of rolling fun.

The meet-up place, Hardee's in Vonore, TN.  Gassed up next door and after a biscuit and coffee, ready for the road.  The meet-up was for 8:15 but I'm almost an hour north of here, as is one of the other riders who lives in Sevierville.  In fact, let's have one of those handmade biscuits with a slice of country ham in it.

When the other rider's showed up we gabbed a bit and TerrE, our leader for the ride, pulled out heading south for a ways on US411 and then to our usual back roads.  Today's back roads were good, well marked and a smooth surface.

Just a few miles after departure we passed over the fringes of the Little Tennessee River by Tellico Village.  Some really nice houses and boat houses along the lake area.

Looming way off in the distance in the direction we're headed is our destination of the day.  We will be going to Brasstown Bald Mountain located Northeast of Blairsville, GA.  It is the highest point in elevation in GA at a little over 4000 ft. above sea level.  Lots of rolling countryside on our route today.

Large red barn stands out against the blue sky.  Mountains in the background doesn't hurt the picture either.  Mountains are misty today because of the high temperatures lately.  Thus their name, Smoky Mtns.

A nice field of soy beans but a better field of mountains in the back drop.

Ah, the aroma of a dairy barn and across the road a herd of young Holstein cows.










We had numerous signs today to keep us on the straight and narrow and more narrow than straight.

 Signs indicating leaping deer, which we did not see, but we did see flying hawks and walking turkeys but there were no signs for them.  We had curves to the left and curves to the right.

 And if that wasn't enough we had curves left and right and some that should have been signed with a cork screw along with narrow bridge and narrow road.  All in the excitement of riding the back roads.  And this doesn't include the signs about blind driveways and blind hills.

 In fact, if you look in the distance on the right there is one of those squiggly signs.  No road stays straight for very long.

 Across the Hiwassee River is the community of Reliance.  The Hiwassee has a lot of fishers and boaters during the summer months and fishers during the Fall and Spring.

And this brings us to our first rest stop of the day, parked near the Hiwassee River by the community store at Reliance, TN.  From left to right is Sweet Thang parked, Kevin on a new Kawasaki Versys, a sport touring bike, burnt orange in color.  Really nice.  After Kevin is TerrE on Silver, a HD, and Alvin on another HD.  Graying on the head but youth in the heart.

Reliance, TN, gas, groceries, Post Office, Hardware, food, drink and chatter.  All in one building.

Just a short way from the store is this old house.  It is raised on blocks as I'm sure the Hiwassee River leaves its normal banks and moves under the house every once in a while.  The building seems to be a combination of things and is most unusual.

Just past the house in an open filed was a Gray Heron and a gaggle of geese.  Looked to be a stand-off in play.  Notice they are all looking in the same direction, heron at geese, geese at heron.

From Reliance we ride to US64, ride along the Ocoee River and then through the SW corner of NC before turning south into GA.

This is the Ocoee River, the river kayakers in the Olympics held in Atlanta, GA did their bit, trying to make their gates or turns against a strong current.  This picture is the falls just below a Hydro Generating Plant is located and where a lot of rafts enter the river for floats down the Hiwassee.

Above the falls is another matter.  The river is low this time of year and there's hardly enough water for a minnow in some places.  But you get a great look at the bottom of the river and what you could hit if you get careless and fall out of a raft or boat.

Back in the groove we head off into the mountains of SE North Carolina heading for Blairsville, GA

What do you do with an old school bus?  Well, you build a flat rack on top so you can pile rafts on it and use it as a shuttle vehicle for river floaters.  Some even have inner tubes for single floaters, but not in this area of the river.  And if you have lots of money you change the color of the bus to a more psychedelic paint scheme.

Way Down South in Georgia.  Not far to our most important destination.  The other places are just nice to see.

Entering the city of Blairsville, GA.

The most important destination of the day, lunch at Rib, a BBQ restaurant.  Four chow hounds ready for the pulled pork sandwich and kettle chips.  As if we really needed this, but it sure did taste good.

After lunch we mounted our faithful steeds and headed north out of Blairsville for GA's highest point of elevation.

Along the way we passed this interesting set up.  In fact we passed it going in the opposite direction as TerrE's GPS led him astray.  He thought it was a short cut but after several miles it turned into a gravel road going probably to someone's house.




Back on the correct route we headed to the mountain.

There are some nice farms along this route.  Big meadows for grazing and hayfields.

I started noticing the clouds seeming to be building up, like those over this corn field.  A bit darker than they were earlier.

That big hill at the end of the road but still far off is where we're heading.  Once we get near it is climb climb climb to the parking area near the top.

That tower at the top of the mountain is the look out area and on a clear day, even today, you can see NC, SC, TN and of course, GA.  Alvin is walking to the museum/bus stop.  He and I took the shuttle to the top or, you can take the 6/10 mile hike up to the observation area.  Listen to me, take the bus as the trail is very steep.

A view from the observation tower.

Another view from the observation tower.

And yet another view.  As mentioned earlier, it was a rather hazy day.

Alvin, Kevin and TerrE.  Kind of a slouchy here I am kind of pose, but nice guys to ride with.

The Brasstown Bald General Store and central tourist gift shop.

A few drops of rain fell on us just as we were leaving the top of the mountain.  So we rolled those wheels heading back towards our domiciles.

Ran through some very shady and scenic areas with lots of twisties and sweepers.  I certainly got an opportunity to break in that new rear tire.  For the first 100 or so miles you have to take it easy as the tires are coated to help protect them from UV rays.  Makes them slick and can cause the bike to slide out from under you in sharp curves.

It did sprinkle on us just a bit but not enough to worry about.  I did take two more pictures and then put the camera away so it wouldn't get wet.

A typical biker stop off point where gas is high due to its remote location, but the soft drinks and goodies come in handy if you're thirsty and need a snack.

Last picture of the trip as I put it away after this shot.  It was not as bad as it looked as we eventually rode out from beneath that dark cloud.  We rode back into Tellico Plains, TN, took a short stop and then I left to take a faster route back to the house while the other three were going to ride over the Cherohala Skyway, I think.  I just put the hammer down and listened to the whine of the tires on the pavement.

I left this morning at 6:50 a.m. and arrived back at the house at 6:30 p.m.  It was a great ride with good friends.  There was nice scenery, unusual places and friendly people.  The total mileage for today was 326 miles door to door.  Not a bad day if I do say so.

Here there's getting to be a little taste of Fall in the air.  In a few short weeks the trees should start to turn and the air become a bit cooler.  I'm ready for that to happen.  However, Monday school starts and all of the traffic and school zones kick into action.  Had a taste of it today south of Seymour.  So remember, watch out for those big yellow buses and all those crazy teenagers that received their driver's license this summer.  Drive and ride safe.

So until the next Valkyrie Adventure, give a little thanks for what you have and remember that some have a lot less.  For all of those having health problems, Keep saying those prayers.  They do work.