Circumnavigating the Smoky Mountain National Park

 Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2014, 8:10 a.m., temps of 57*, air cool with a feel of dampness.  Destination today, ride around the Smoky Mountain National Park without going into the Park.  Meet up place, Hardee's on South side of Maryville, TN.  A tad bit foggy which later changed to really foggy.  I was meeting up with some other bikers to make the trip.  TerrE was the leader of this ride.

This is the route we took today.

Scene as I pulled out of the subdivision, looking North.

I turned right out of the subdivision heading South to Chapman Hwy.  Fog was a bit thicker in this direction.

Took a quick glance at the golf course and if they had an early Tee Time, I hope they had homing devices on the golf ball so they could find it for the second hit.

Two miles South you come to the dreaded school zone.  Four schools, two on each side of the highway every school day.  Really backs up traffic.

Deputy Sheriff, one of four, that helps to move the traffic along.  Just keep waving me on for a few more feet.












Just South of Seymour the fog got a lot thicker.  And some of the on-coming drivers were not using their heads or headlights.

Grabbed a quick breakfast sandwich and a cup of coffee, chatted with some of the riders that I have ridden with before, then headed out for the ride.  We hit US 129 not very far from Maryville and shortly was stopped due to road construction.  We were headed to "The Dragon" and on to Robbinsville, NC.  So, in the words of a biker, we slayed The Dragon in the morning and on the way back we killed "The Snake" (better known as The Rattler") which is NC 209.

As you can see, the fog lifted as the sun was coming out and all was right with the world, or at least our little piece of it.

Riding along the lake on U.S. 129 heading for The Dragon.

By now "Ole Sol" was shining brightly giving lots of lumination where the mountains didn't block it off.

The smoothness of the water gave some good silhouettes.

As we neared the dam you see the water gushing forth.  They were draining the lake down to check and do some repairs to the dam.  This is another TVA operation.

 Back side of the dam makes a huge lake stretching for several miles.

 East end of the Chilhowe Lake.













This is not pre-Halloween dressing for the tourists.  It's heavy gauge wire mesh to keep boulders from falling onto the highway.  Of course it won't keep the side of the mountain from falling onto the road, just the smaller stuff.






First stop of the day was Deal's Gap, the NC end of The Dragon.

A look at the metal dragon across the highway from Deal's Gap Store.  Between the two places you can purchase almost anything Dragon related from ear rings to T-shirts, key chains, etc.  They take full advantage of the tourism business.  Even to renting GoPro cameras for out of towners to use filming their ride over The Dragon.

On towards Robbinsville, NC we started getting back into some fog but it was high and did not mar the visibility factor.

A short while later we went from dank and fog to bright sunshine and high fog clouds in the mountains.

 Stretched out in the curve.  There were 8 people and 7 bikes on todays ride.  One couple was riding double.

Just another nice mountain view with a little fog hanging on side of the mountain above the valley.

How about this driveway on an icy winter day.  Need a lookout at the bottom for when you start down, you're going all the way to the highway.

Headed toward Bryson City, NC.

 Leaves are in the stage of changing.  Fall colors are so pretty to me.  Mother Nature sure has a way to show off.

A beautiful blue sky into Bryson City.  The steam train rides are in full run mode from now until about mid-Nov.

Clouds up high and some down low with the mountains in the middle.

Changing colors.  It appears that the colors are changing faster on the NC side of the mountain.

Our second stop for the day was to enjoy some lunch at The Filling Sta. restaurant and deli in Bryson City, NC.  In other words, a biker gang is taking a food break.

 After lunch we took off again heading toward Cherokee, NC but not through the town itself.  We ran the by-pass to miss the traffic and to save some riding time.  We then pointed the front wheel toward Maggie Valley and on to Lake Junaluska, NC where we would run NC 209, The Snake, on to Hot Springs, NC.

Crossing the river into the town of Hot Springs, NC.  Hot Springs is a spa town and a stopping off point for a ton of bikers each year.

 One of the houses along the river.

 Coming into Hot Springs.

From Hot Springs, NC we headed onward up the Snake this time heading toward Newport, TN.

Some more Fall colors along the route.

Lots of curves on this ride but there's also some very good sweeping curves to let you lay into and go.  By this time it was starting to get warmer so some clothing had to be shed.

 Lots of nice large farms down in the valleys.

Fire bush has felt the cool air already as the leave turn green in the winter when it starts getting cold temps.

 A once thriving business is no longer a business, just an antique building to remind one of what was but is no more.

 Rag weed anyone.  Just a few acres of the stuff.  Plays heck with your allergies.

Smoke signals.  Maybe the Cherokees are irritated with the government or us white eyes traveling through their reservation.

 About half way the Snake is a good place to tank up, grab a water or some soda pop and even some food.  We didn't stop this trip but maybe next time.

 Just one of many out buildings and barns in the area.











A huge barn at the back of this farm.

With the blue sky and soft temps it was difficult to turn the wheel toward the house but that we did.  Arriving in Newport we started splitting up each heading in the direction of their home.  I ran US 411 back to Sevierville and on to Seymour.  Total miles today, 232.  A great day spent with fellow biking friends looking as some grand scenery.  Next week it will be even more colorful.


So until the next Valkyrie Adventure I wish all a time of reflection and a time to be thankful.  Stay safe my friends.