Ruffner Falls and Muddy Pond Sorghum Mill

Wednesday, October 13, 2015.  Temp in low 50s, light fog above ground in low places.  Today is going to be a great day to play.  At the entrance of my subdivision waiting for fellow biker friend Paul, you can see at 7:45 a.m. that it is much clearer than it has been in the past few days.  Of course I was leaving about a half hour earlier also.

Paul came riding up and I signaled him to keep on and I would fall in behind him (turned out to be 4 cars behind him).  We were going to meet friend Ken at Taco Bell, corner of Boyds Creek Hwy. and Chapman Hwy.  Today's emphasis would be to back road it most of the day from Seymour to Monterey, TN and Muddy Pond General Store and Sorghum Mill.  This is located about half way between Knoxville and Nashville.

The early morning fog was burning off quickly in the cool air and as the sun got higher more blue began showing up in the clouds.  Ah, what a great day this was going to be.

Everything just smelled fresh this morning.  Maybe it is because of the cooler air, or maybe it's from the morning dew.  Whatever, it just had a good clean smell and with the recent rains the grass is back green again.

You can see the Smoky Mountains way off in the distance, a nice farm and barn in front of them and a nice pasture between the farm and the highway.  Not long ago it was being cut for hay.

Paul was leading the ride, Ken in the middle and I was pulling drag for the first part of the day.  Later Ken and I changed positions.  Those lights were Ken's bright yellow Goldwing.

A few back roads later and then the Pellissippi Parkway (a.k.a., I-140) which was now the fast way to cross the lower portion of Knoxville and get us to a turn-off on Hwy. 62 toward Oakridge, TN, home of the Manhattan Project of World War II.

Nice long straight-away on the highway and not too much traffic.











 

But then we took a little side trip to show Ken Ruffner Falls.  Since the rains the volume of water going over the falls was about twice what it was a week ago.  Those two dogs on top of the falls are standing in the water and are actually a lot closer to the edge of the falls than this picture indicates.  One was a tan mixed Pit and the other a black and white Heinz 57.




The falls ran over the rocks and down another drop to eventually run across the highway  farther down the road.  The lower falls was not as big as the above picture.  But you wouldn't want to jump off the ledge either.

 

After the falls we hit the road again.  Still heading West toward the Plateau.  The Plateau is an area between Knoxville and Nashville which protects Knoxville from some pretty bad weather.  With roads like this we can make good time.







Nice long sweeping curves that allow you to line up and just hang in there all the way around it.  Surface was damp in some places as it had rained the night before.  Some places showed a shower early this morning as the road and roadside was still pretty wet.

Climbing toward the Plateau provided some very wooded roads.  Leaf color in this area has not changed very much.

Reaching the Plateau one of the first things you notice that there aren't any mountains, they are East and West of you.  In between are large farms, cattle and horse ranches and beautiful country.

This shows you a very elongated "S" curve.  And having continuous curves lets you travel at a steady clip without having to do a lot of maneuving.

Very nice hay field this year, next year it may be some other crop.

A tree with part of its leaves turning sort of sticks out among those that haven't turn at all.

I can hear it now, "Honey, will you go check the mail".  It's over a quarter mile from the house to the mail box.  I'd have to have a 4-wheeler, dirt bike or a horse.  And if it was raining, I'd check it the next day.

This is only part of the headstones in the cemetery by the church.  As I say, they need to fence this place off as people are just dying to get in there.  I know, bad humor.








We arrived at the Muddy Pond General Store after a breakfast stop an hour or so earlier.  Paul on the left and Ken on the right.  But we were going down to the sorghum mill and come back to the store afterward.









Sweet Thang in the foreground was running exceptionally sweet today.  I think it's the cool air and those six carbs. just sucking it in.










This was an old steam boiler that was once used at the mill.  I guess they wore this one out.  The boiler being used now is just like it.  It is fired with wood, slabs from first cutting of a log to make lumber.  Of course it will burn new wood or old wood, as long as it will ignite.

"Ole Dobbin" was used to show the tourists how the sorghum had the juice squeezed from it.  They now use a steam driven mill to do this job.

This elderly gentleman was stuffing the sorghum into the opening so the rollers could catch it and squeeze the juice from it leaving the pulp on the other side.  When I was a kid I helped do this but we were using sugar cane to make syrup.  Here they use sorghum cane.

This is the steam boiler in use now.  They cook the sorghum juice by steam instead of a flame.  This mill operates Tues., Thurs. and Sat. in the months of September and October.

This is what happens when the steam pressure gets too high.  They vent it and it sounds like a deep train whistle.  Without venting the boiler would explode thus wiping out a few spectators, some workers and the sorghum mill.

This is standing at the low end of the evaporator pan where the juice has been cooked and is now ready to be put in containers as Sorghum Molasses.

The sign hanging at the mill.

This was the house next to the General Store.  They baked sourdough bread, sorghum pound cake, made sorghum peanut brittle and sorghum candy.  Inside the General Store they had all kinds of treats and eats including fresh fired apple and peach pies.  The peach pie was very good and right out of the oven.  I told the lady in the store that what they needed was some homemade biscuits and butter to go with that fresh sorghum molasses.

We rode up a short way to a set of buildings that is a horse person's paradise.  Any and every thing leather that you could need for your horse or yourself including grocery items.  Then we were back on the road again heading back towards Seymour, via backroads to Crossville.

Nice crisp day, blue blue sky and a smidgen of leaf color among the trees.

Ride the long and narrow or the wide and crooked.  Either way it's a great day for riding.  This was one of those 1  1/2 lane roads.

Plenty of beef on the hoof, all Black Angus.  Grazing on the new grass that is juicy and tender.

We ran a lot of larger roads today simply because that was the more direct route of travel.  However, never let it be said that Paul couldn't find some narrow unmarked loop roads off to the side every once in a while.

We reached Crossville which is where we would fill our stomachs and our gas tanks before the 115 mile trip to Seymour from here.  Some of the Halloween decorations I have some by are really neat.  They use rolls of hay to make pumpkins and lots of corn stalks and such.  The hay is painted orange with black eyes, nose and mouth.  I guess next they'll stick a neck and head on one side and a tail on the other to make it for Thanksgiving.

After eating and tanking up we head out once again, this time East toward the house.  We ran U.S. 70 most of the way which is a very nice scenic ride.

See Rock City painted on barns are still around.  Rock City is located in Chattanooga and you could start seeing those signs when you entered AL from MS all the way to Rock City itself.  Painted on sides of barns, buildings and even birdhouses.

Sculptured hill side.  Pasture up to the tree line.

Some good roads.

 And some not so good.  All in all, at the end of the day, more roads explored.  Some to be marked "Do Not Use".

We were now near Kingston and skirted the city portion by riding around the lake.

The water reflecting the sky looked so blue today.  In reality it is more of a dark green.

A nice lake view from a higher vantage point.

Back on a narrow loop road to by-pass yet another town and eventually get to our final destination.

A hillside pasture.  Makes you wonder if the cows grazing here really do have legs on one side shorter than the other.

And you could truly say that you're going around the bend on this road.

A serene vista, trees reflecting in the lake water, quiet except for the rumble of your bike engine, and a soft breeze blowing.  Would be a good place to stop for a while and let the troubles of the world pause for a bit.

But as each ride begins, so must each ride end.  We made some turns here and there and grabbed I-140 for a bit and finally wriggled our way back to Seymour.  Paul was going to stop and gas up, I was just riding on to the house.  I will gas up in a day or so in time for our Friday ride up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and back. 

This had been a good day, a good ride and saw some great sights.  Not to mention nibbling our way across part of Eastern Tennessee.  Talked to some almost homefolk from MS, Columbia, a town about 40 miles from where I was born.  Then talked with some people from TX and AL.  Horse riders that haul their horses to a large State Park near the Sorghum Mill so they can do trail rides.  Different strokes for different folks.  Do the thing you like.

Left at 8:00 a.m and got back to the house at 5:00 p.m.  Total mileage today was 245 door to door.  Amount of fun, just a bushel full.  So until the next Valkyrie Adventure, which should be in a day or two, I hope you will enjoy your life, your family and your friends.  And while you're at it, look for something new or different to explore.  Make it a challenge.  But be safe.