Coalfield and The Devil's Triangle

Monday, September 28, 2015, 7 a.m.  Don the riding equipment, push out of the garage and fire her up, it's barely daylight and time to ride.  Meeting Paul and Jim (fellow from WI who now resides in FL) for a good ride.  It's a rather warm high 60s start off, humid, and rain on its way.  Meet up point, Weigel's at corner of Boyds Crk. Hwy. and U.S. 441(Chapman Hwy.) for 8 a.m.  I wanted to get there a little earlier so I could scoff up a egg/ham/cheese yeast biscuit and a cup of coffee, decaf stuff.

I had gassed up the afternoon before so all I needed this morning was to take care of myself.  About 7:30 Jim rode up on his Red Goldwing Trike, gassed up and parked next to me.  He then left to grab a bite before take off.

His 2014 model bike already has 37,000 miles on it so he hasn't let it stay parked very long.  He hauls it in a trailer with his wife's trike back and forth from FL to WI.  Says he can't stand those cold winters so he makes it down to FL in late September or early October.




Just before 8 a.m. Paul rode up on his scooter, The White Rat.  He said he felt safer riding it on a potentially wet day than his bike.  And it definitely looked as if we were going to get damp today.

This was a look at the gloomy sky in the direction we were heading.  That dead looking field there is full of soy beans ready for harvesting.  And a week's rain is also predicted.  Won't be good for these beans as they need to be dry to harvest.

For my FB friends, I will be sending you some of the Kudzu on the left and some of that yellow stuff on the fence row on the right for Christmas presents.  You ask why?


Well, the Kudzu will drive you crazy trying to keep it from taking over your estate and that yellow stuff is Golden Rod and will drive your sinuses crazy every day.  And there are fields, I repeat, fields of Golden Rod here this year.

Farther down the road the sky's appearance did not get any better.  In fact, it kept getting darker and the clouds seemed to be getting closer to the ground.  Nah, don't stop yet to put on a rain suit.  Tough it out as it's not raining, yet.

I know it's difficult to see but just right of center and near the trees are two well fed horses.  This area we were riding had a number of horse farms.  Beautiful animals.  Seems to be a lot of Pinto horses in this area of TN.

This was one of the straighter pieces of highway we rode today.  You can notice a bit of color especially in the leaves of the Dogwood trees turning red.  The hardwood tree's leaves are starting to get that yellow/green look.

And let's not forget the leaves that are falling.  On this one lane road when you meet another vehicle you have to remember that wet leaves are to a motorcycle tire as is a banana peel to a shoe sole.  Both are slippery.

Nice rolling hills through the area.  We went South of Seymour and then turned Westward heading over toward Oak Ridge, TN.

Remember, we never travel all the distance on the same highway nor do we always go in the same direction.  A quick turn here and you're on a totally different road, some marked and some not.  And very few have pull-offs.  In fact, very few have a shoulder.

We rode by Melton Dam and Lock which is just Northeast of Oak Ridge.  Oak Ridge is where the Manhattan Project (Atomic Bomb) was made.  This dam is a TVA generating plant as well as a lock for boats.

An ominous sky if I ever saw one.  But beautiful in its on way.

Another turn later shows a light area sort of in our direction but that will change with the next road change.
The point is to go from one place to another taking as many different routes as you can with rarely ever traveling on the same road twice.  That about sums up Paul's riding plans.  It's like giving a kid a crayon and telling it to draw on the wall in every way imaginable.

We have ridden over this area several times but only recently found out we were just feet from a water fall.  Here Jim stands near the edge of the water just above the top of the falls.

Here are the falls which look like a giant sinkhole.  The water drop is about 30 ft., give or take a foot.  Looking at the rock you can see it is in layers which means shale.  There were several large slabs that have one end that has fallen into the pool at the bottom of the falls.

After the falls we continue on westward to go through Coalfield, Petros (where Brushy Mtn. State Prison is located), Fork Mountain, Briceville, Fraterville and Rocky Top.  This is one leg of the Devil's Triangle.  It also goes through a coal region which is now mainly idle as the mining operation has shut down.  Rocky Top is the new name for the town known as Lake City.  Hwy. 116 is a great curvy mountain/valley road.

The highway and scenery are forever changing as you ride the miles.

 

Huge rock walls on one side and next you are running along a stream on the other side.





Hairpin turns are plentiful as you can see in the left picture Jim entering a turn and now he's below me as I start to go into the same turn.

This is a portion of a shut down coal operation.  Now weeds are growing up where coal mining activity once was.  The communities around such facilities become devastated as they rely on the job for existence.  The area quickly becomes a welfare area as there are no other good jobs to be had.

No noise except the birds and the wind.  No movement except the brush and trees in the wind.  No money except what is expended through welfare, and a bleak future for it is miles to the next town and then there's not much there either.  An ever changing industry in an ever changing society.



 

Yes, Fall is coming for there is color
changes to the leaves in places.  And it won't be long before the artist's paint pallet will be covered with a plethora of colors to choose from.

Here you can see the layered rock formations like growth rings on a tree stump.

What it looks like when it
is not raining and what it
looks like when it is raining.

This is a good time of the year to ride as you can sense the feel in the change of the weather, see some changing in the tree leaves, and knowing that soon you'll be putting on extra clothing to make the same run.

There were about a dozen horses in this pasture but only three near the road, two Pintos and one Palomino.

Red red dirt atop these granite and limestone mountains.  Someone needed some dirt so they just scooped it from the bluff.  You could see the teeth marks from the back or trackhoe.

The Little Chapel in The Woodlands.












A pretty farm house with a nice distance from the highway.

A nice blue sky in this area of our trip with some rolling hills along the sides of the roadway.  In many areas they just carve a road out of the side of a mountain/hill leaving some of the houses well below the roadway.  Hate to think about someone losing control and running off the road.





Some sit right below the side of the roadway.  This one is far enough away that it would probably not get damaged.  Some would have a vehicle in the living or bedroom.









The color of this house reminds me of a Dreamcycle, Pinkish Orange ice cream on a stick.  Maybe they are University of TN fans.

Once it was but not it's not.  It would take more than a "little" fixing up to make this a dwelling again.

And we won't even have to get into the subject of fixing up the barn, it's way to far gone.

Two small showers, ugly black clouds, white puffy clouds, blue sky, sunshine, we had almost all of it today.  No sleet, snow or icing nor did we have cold temperatures.  But regardless of the weather, the chance to ride was just too much to turn down.  And what's it doing today?  Raining, all day long.  And probably tomorrow also.

Good friends, a good route and rather decent weather made for a nice day on the wheels.  Hope to make another ride with Jim before he departs for the Sunshine State.  Maybe Thursday.  Paul is already planning the trip.

Door to door for me was 206 miles.  Not bad and was back at the house before 3:00 p.m.  Then ran a couple of errands and was completed by 4:30.  Not a bad day if I do say so.


Until the next Valkyrie Adventure, take a few minutes to mull over how fortunate you are and then thank the Lord for giving you what you have.  Not everyone is as fortunate.  Drive/ride safe, my friends.

Back Roads From Seymour To Townsend To Sugarlands

Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015, was such a beautiful day, cool morning but warming up to low 80s in the afternoon.  I had planned to mow the lawn but due to the lack of rain, the ground is partially brown and the grass very crisp.  The only thing needed was to mulch the leaves and clip the seed pods on the crabgrass.  No rain, no water, no grass growing.  So, since I'm delaying cutting the lawn, what should I do with the afternoon.  Answer.  Ride.  And that I did.

I left the house about 1:45 p.m. after putting on my mesh jacket, helmet and gloves, putting the GoPro camera on it's pedestal and hanging my other camera around my neck.  All is well with my part of the world.  I thought.

Rode the three miles down Boyds Creek Hwy. to its intersection with Chapman Hwy. pulling in at the Weigle's convenience store/gas pumps.  Topped out Sweet Thang, reset the odometer (no gas gauge so you have to learn how many miles per gallon you get at certain speeds), turned on the GoPro and headed towards Sevierville for a few miles until I turned off onto Wye Road.

I took a picture of Bluff Mountain shortly after I hit Chapman Hwy.  Then started taking a few pictures along Wye Rd.  It's a nice two laner and for the first few miles is pretty straight.  Later I continued on to intersect a few other roads, make a few turns here and there an finally came to the Univ. of TN Ag Center.  Made a left turn and ran along the edge of the farm on the left and the river on the right.  Low water in the river this time of year.  Eventually came into Walland area and made another turn continuing to follow the river.  Lots of homes (cabins/huts/summer places) along this route.  Still taking several pictures.  Video was just rolling along.

Got to US 321, made a left turn and headed for Townsend.  Population here is very low except during the summer vacation time and Fall color season.  Not much traffic today.  I stopped the video portion, rode on through Townsend and past River Stone Restaurant where I contemplated stopping for a bowl of peach cobbler with Vanilla ice cream.  But I was a good boy and didn't.

Just past the River Stone you start to enter the Smoky Mtn. Nat. Park.  I turned the video on again, took a couple of still pictures to continue my ride along the Little Pigeon River Road along the edge of the Park to the Sugarlands Visitor Center.  Thought that would be part of a series of videos of the Park.  Slow easy turns, nice foliage and such.

My intentions was to do these two shootings and then do one from Townsend to Cades Cove, do the loop around the Cove, and then do one from Sugarlands to Cherokee.  And they are still good intentions.

I followed a couple of bikers and at the Sugarlands Visitor Center pulled in to refresh myself and have a bottle of water.  I shut off the cameras, stuffed them into a saddlebag and headed out for the center.  After meeting some folks from my hometown in MS, I got the still camera and headed out for Gatlinburg and the house.  Entering Gatlinburg I decided to turn the camera on and take a picture or two but the lens didn't come out.  I quickly glanced at the screen and it said CARD FULL.  I said this can't be as I haven't shot that many pictures today.

Traffic wasn't too bad through Pigeon Forge so it didn't take long to make it across "touristville" to Sevierville and then on to the house via Chapman Hwy.  After arriving at the house, I proceeded to download the pictures and realized, I didn't have any.  But I did have a lot of videos.  It seems that when I turned the camera on to check to make sure the disc was empty, I didn't move the little lever far enough which left it on the video setting.  Unfortunately the first picture was okay but then the rest were pictures of my gas tank, leg, crotch, etc., until it shut itself off.  This occurred several times until the card filled up.

And when I downloaded the videos from my GoPro camera, I opened one up to view it and it was upside down.  Then I checked the others and they were also.  What the heck?  Then I checked the setting on the camera.  You see, you can mount the camera upright and the pictures come out upright.  You can mount the camera upside down but flip the pictures so they come out right.  I had the camera mounted upright but the setting had the picture as if the camera was mounted upside down.  Now ain't that a pickle.

So, I get on the computer, call up GoPro.com, get a telephone number and talk to a technician about what I can do to correct the videos.  He tells me to go to their site and download photolab where I can then upload the videos to their program and then the program will flip them over and I can then download them back to my computer.  Sounded easy enough.

I went to the site, and then found that my Lynux software was not compatible with their software.  It had to be Microsoft or Mac.  I dug through the box of electronic wires and found a long lead that had a USB on one end and the other fit my camera.  Issue nearly solved.  I thought.  But nooooo.  When I called up their program the Microsoft had to be 7 or higher.  The desk top my son gave me to play games on is older than Microsoft 7 so it won't work.  Now I'm back to zero.  Have some good videos if you want to hold your screen upside down.

I have resolved myself to forget about flipping the videos but rather on the next pretty day, which won't be until late next week due to expected rain, make the same ride again, this time leaving earlier and stopping to get the cobbler with ice cream and finish riding through to Sugarlands.  This time making sure the cameras are in the right mode to have pictures in the correct viewing position.

The ride was very nice and I did enjoy getting out a bit.  Ride was 80 miles total, met some nice folks, and enjoyed the afternoon.  Not great, but still good.  So when you think everything is right, check it one more time just to make sure.  But it does give me an excuse to ride some more.

Sweet Thang rolled over to the 100,000 mile mark on the way back from Louisiana.  So now I have a new bike with only 560 miles on her.  Well, she's not really new, just starting to accumulate another 100K again.  Love that Phat Girl.  She's a honey.

Until another Valkyrie Adventure comes along, have a great time enjoying life.  It only comes by once.

Ride to Canton, NC, The Long Way

Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, 67 degrees at 7:00 a.m., no rain forcasted, high to be 92.  A good day to ride.  Pushed Sweet Thang out of the garage at 7:00 a.m. and fired her up.  Had rain liner on beneath mesh riding jacket along with light winter gloves.  Meeting biker friend Paul at Exxon and then we would ride over to Sevierville McD's to meet up with two other riders, Alvin and Bob.  Never met Bob before today, nice guy, rides a Spyder.  Alvin a HD guy.  Paul on his White Rat scooter and me.  What  a group.

Another gorgeous morning.  I just love those early morning colors especially when there's a bit of mist hanging in the air.

At 7:22 Old Sol cleared the tree tops and let it be known that today was going to be hot hot hot.

 We stopped in Sevierville and picked up the other two riders.  I was trying to turn my GoPro on but punched the wrong button and upset the apple cart.  I didn't want to take the time to fiddle with it and delay every one so I shut it down and hit the road.  Riding is better anyway.  This picture to the right is leaving Pigeon Forge heading toward Gatlinburg.  Big metal sphere is a new attraction but no name yet.

Then we hit the Spur, that's the piece of US411 that goes between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg but crosses the corner of the Great Smoky Mtn. Nat. Park.  Love this strip.

Didn't go through Gatlinburg, too slow, so we took the by-pass and I caught sight of this tree, first one I've seen so far fully turning in color.

Riding through the National Park we came across some more trees changing color.  I just love the Fall with the multi-colors all around you.  Not to mention the cool mornings and days.

Farther toward the top of the mountain we came to one of several tunnels on this route.  Summer is okay but in winter you have to be more careful as sometimes dripping water forms at the entrance on the highway in the form of ice.

Just cutting it through the mountains.  No traffic to speak of this early and we made one of the fastest trips over the mountain that I've ever made.

Who just cannot love this view.  If you don't, please do me a favor and don't mention it.  It could raise my hackles a tad.  The mist was hanging in the valleys way off in the distance.

Beauty at its best, created by a higher power to be enjoyed by all.

Soon we were cresting the top of the mountain and riding down the NC side toward Cherokee, NC.

Looking at the mountains on the NC side.  As the sun was rising higher it made taking some of the pictures too light, too much exposure.  But still pretty.

Near the HQ of the Park on the NC side the clouds were hanging heavy in the mountain valleys.  This is near the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway.









The entrance to the BRP is on the left.    










 

Just past the entrance to the BRP was this interesting site, a small flock of vultures gathering alongside of the road.  I'm wondering if this is some sort of omen we should consider before riding on.  Then that decision left for we figured it was for some tourister that wasn't paying attention.

Those clouds or morning mist in the mountains just make the area look so serene.

This was one of my favorite shots of the day.  Looks like they are smoking. Or maybe steam from hot springs.

Then onward at the edge of the Park and next town would be Cherokee,NC.











Didn't want to pass up the sweet aroma of the kudzu growing along the edge of the road, on the trees, across paths, over fences, climbing the power lines, etc.  Looks like T-Rex on the right.

Entering Cherokee, NC from TN.  Now for all of the Native American names, posters, businesses, etc.  I love the big bears stationed around the town, all painted different colors with symbols of the various clans.  And the names of business and streets bear both Cherokee and English language.

We by-passed the main part of the town and headed south on US 19 to meet up with US441 in a few miles.  In between we also ran a couple of back roads and along the river.

NC grows a lot of Christmas Trees.  I found this planting around a nice pond in front of a house to be a semi-circle of Christmas Trees.  That bird in the photo was a hawk.  I guess it was looking for breakfast or returning to its roost after breakfast.

Nice secluded place along one of the back roads.

I wouldn't suggest touching any fence in rural areas of TN or NC.  Most of them look harmless but if touched will make you soil clean clothes.  They are electrified to keep farm animals in.  And to keep people out.

We grabbed a bit of US441 with was nice and wide.  More mountains looming off in the distance.

Then we turned onto one of our back roads again.  We either crossed this stream a dozen times or there's a dozen streams in this area.  I was later informed it was the same stream, we just made multiple crossing.  Not very deep here but running clean and fast.

In places it was pretty wide.  Nice for tubing or floating on a kayak.  I would like to try it on a pirogue.  Now all those not from LA will have to ask what a "pirogue" is.

Back on a wide road again continuing to go eastward.

Now they talk about Montana as being the Big Sky Country, but tell me, what's wrong with this sky.  Looks big enough for me and I've been to Montana.

Doing a little survey work along our route.  I didn't stop to see if there were any questions he wanted to ask, I just kept riding and he just kept surveying.

We rode two major curvy roads today.  I can't remember the number of one of them, the first one we rode, but the second one was the curviest I've ever been on for the distance we traveled.  It was NC 215.  Great surface and marked.  Put a lot of sidewall wear on the tires today.

One of the few straight stretches.  The river is on the right behind those trees.

And even on back roads they have construction zones.  Here it looked as if they were re-sloping the mountain side to prevent rock falls.

Just hanging out on a sweeper.  Those birds on the left by the bushes are guineas.  They do a lot of chattering, are very good a hiding their nests but you never hear of anyone eating them like chicken.

Wolf Creek area, lots of roadwork on this side to shore up the dam that's holding water on the other side.  If it ever lets go, whooosh and all is gone below.

 Nice shot into the morning sun at a set of elongated S curves.

Now it's more back to normal.  Hills and valleys, crossing mountains, and riding through valleys again to come to more hills.  But it's fun.

We passed by a small community and this construction along the side of the highway is the beginnings of a solar farm.  All of these frames will contain solar panels.  There's enough clouds in the sky today to prevent 100% generation.

From a distance you can make out a cemetery scattered along that hill.  Another place that needs fencing.  People just die to get in there.  I know, corny.

And speaking of fencing, here's a typical Appalachian split rail fence.  Looks pretty but wouldn't slow down a dump truck very much.

And besides split rail fences we have here some bonafide state issued guard rails that have probably been scraped a time or two.  Just zinging along and hanging out in the curves.  Any time the knees are in the breeze it's a good ride.

We pulled of NC 215 onto the Blue Ride Parkway to take a rest break.  Here's the view looking eastward.

Here's the view looking southward.  The east view is much better.  Paul with his White Rat in front, Bob and his silver Spyder and wearing his red cap is Alvin on a silver HD.  That picture really worked on my lens.

Another view from the stretch break area.

We were pulled into Courthouse Valley Overlook, El. 5365 ft. above sea level.

Three of the four bikes on today's ride.

It was getting close to lunch time and we reached our destination of Canton, NC.  You could smell it a long way off coming from our direction.  Right down town is a large pulp mill.

We stopped at Ingle's Food Store to eat at their deli.  Good fried chicken with two sides for $6.  And Paul can't pass up his Apple Fritters.  Two friends not seen in two years were meeting us there.  They had just completed a 3 month large loop ride on a motorcycle.  A great experience.  After lunch, Alvin and Bob departed for their homes as Bob had some construction work going on there and he didn't want to be gone from it too long.

Paul and I pulled out running some back roads toward I-40.  Alvin asked Paul if their route was going to take them in the direction of that black cloud.  I answered for Paul, yes as he never evades it just runs on through it.

I kept looking at that cloud and just knew that we were going to get wet today.

But a turn here and a turn there and that dark cloud was no where in sight.

But every once in a turn it would show back up again.  Just enough to keep you guessing.

This little road was very nice and very quiet.  It just rambled through the valley around farm buildings and houses and occasionally near a small stream.

But that cloud seemed to be on the same path we were heading.  We'd turn, it would still be there.

That coned peak in the background looked almost as if it was man-made as most of the mountains are rounded on top.  But no, it is truly a natural.

I just can't pass up a picture of an old barn.  Some of them look better than some of the farm houses that were nearby.

Across the highway from that old barn was a pasture with cows that had a white stripe around the middle of their body.  I think they are some breed of Scottish Highland cattle.

Mountains in the distance along with that hovering black cloud.

Some Fall colors peaking out here and there.  Won't be long now.

By this time we had hit I-40 to make a good run back to Newport, TN.  This stretch of interstate crossing from TN to NC runs through the mountain valleys and ever so often through the mountain itself.

Tunnel through the mountain.  And it is a continuous curve tunnel, no straight sections.

Some more scatterings of Fall colors.

This particular stretch of highway is well known for having rock slides.  About every two years or so it will close the Interstate down or at least two lanes of it so that it can be cleared.

Back in Tennessee.

This was a grand day.  Good friends, a new friend among them and some great weather all coming together for a fun time.










All in all, it was 236 miles for me door to door.  Lots of curves, pretty sights and great roads.  Fun times are hard to forget.  And this one won't be forgotten anytime soon.  So until the next Valkyrie Adventure, thank God for what you have, thank your friends for being so, and learn to appreciate what you have.  Look around, some don't even come close to having what you have.  Life is short, use it wisely.