Circumnavigating Douglas Lake

Friday, Nov. 13, 2015, 40 degrees, blue sky, 7:30 a.m.  A good day to ride.  All bundled up in winter riding gear including heated gloves, Sweet Thang roared to life with a deep throaty sound in the crisp morning air.  Ahh, she sounds tough but sweet.  Always did like those raspy voiced women, something that seems right, like Susan Plachette, Debra Winger, etc.  Meet up time 8:45 or so at Pilot's on the corner of Boyds Creek Hwy. and TN 66.

This rather large body of water is known as Douglas Lake which is the source for TVA's Douglas Dam Electric Generation Station.  It is made up of several rivers and streams and is a fisherman's paradise.  In fact, last year they held a Bass Pro fishing tournament and on one day, launched 1500 boats all going for the giant prize.  Our feat today was to ride around the lake on roads staying as near to the lake as we could.

This was taken just about 8 miles from my house on the way to the meet-up place.  It's difficult to see but just at the edge of the shadows is the Island View School dating back to the early 1900s.  I think I have photographed this building in every season several times over the years.  Unfortunately it is in disrepair.  Age and the environment is taking its toll on the structure.

Approximately 16 miles from my house is the jct. where we meet up sometimes.  I got there early enough this morning to make sure I had a bite to eat and drink a whole cup of coffee before Paul arrived.  And I did.  In fact, I was on the side of the lot at the point I took the picture waiting for him for 20 minutes.

Paul filled up his CB500 Honda and we hit Rte. 66 (TN) and then made a quick left turn onto Alder Branch Rd.  Lake Douglas, here we come.

The photography is not too good early in the morning when you're facing the sun but hopefully you can get glimpses of our route.  This particular route takes us through some nice curvy roads over some nice hilly countryside and by some large cattle farms and dairies.

One of the few really straight stretches of this road.  Not clearly seen is a building that looks more like a church spire that is used as a gazebo.

A turn here, a turn there and some more curves taking us closer to the lake.











My power shot.  Transmission power lines with the sun in the background.  Lots of power, one harnessed, the other controlled by a higher power.








  
We arrive at a point in the lake and we will travel to a lot of points as you can see in the first picture of the map.  The lake is being drained or pulled down so TVA can inspect the lower portions of the dam.  They do this every few years and it doesn't make the home owners very happy when this is done.

The green is where the water usually is and then you see where the water actually is.  Makes your lake front property not so lake front for a while.

In fact, farther on in this writing you will see some floating docks that are no longer floating.

We pulled into one of the many day picnic areas to get a view of the lake and the mountains in the background.

Then back on another road trying to stay as close to the lake as we can.  A lot of trips took us down one way roads.  One way in and one way out.  And some should not have been called roads.

The sun was getting up toward the 10:00 a.m. position, maybe a little later, and looked so big against the blue sky and high clouds.  These are the only clouds we saw today, all in the East.

Crossing one of the rivers that helps to make up the Douglas Lake.

A little farther along we get near the lake again, this time on TN 139 which will take us into Dandridge, TN.

But before we get to Dandridge we take another turn off and actually ride out onto the dry lake bottom.

Riding into Dandridge gives you a nice view of a very old town.  It's buildings are somewhat like those found in VA and Maryland from the late 1700s.

Outside of Dandridge we're back on some very nice back roads where every once in  while you see a few trees that still have leaves.  I would estimate that about 2/3 of the leaves have fallen and after the wind all day by another week they will all be down.

Paul, my biker friend, likes the winter without the leaves so that he can see things that you just ride or drive by during the spring and summer that you can't see because of the leaves.

It is difficult to see but this house already has Christmas window decorations in place.  I've passed here since last Christmas so i know they didn't leave them up like some places I've been by.  Beautiful old home also.

This little red roofed church is hard to miss.  It is very old and just draws your eyes to the styling and he red roof.  I would say the roof is not nearly as old as the structure since it was metal.

Another overlook point and a bridge below that we will eventually cross to continue our trek.

Riding these roads will take us through some low mountainous areas, some valleys and some small hollows.  It will also take us through parts of Sevier, Jefferson, Green and Cocke Counties. 

We traveled a number of 1 1/2 lane roads today.  At one time it was down to one lane and with the leaves along the roadway, it made you really nervous when you met another vehicle.

High up on the side of a mountainous area we got a grand view of just part of the lake.

A short while later we stopped to take a pic or two and a little stretch break.  Almost a "Million Dollar" picture.

There's just something about old barns that are hard to resist taking pictures of.  Near this barn was a pasture with some well fed horses.



Farther along the route we passed these two old barns.  The one on the right has a weather protected lifting beam for storing feed in the loft.



This soybean field appears to have as many weeds growing as beans.  And with the recent rains and wind they will be on the ground in a short while.









When you're not doing anything else, you can always split wood for firewood.  Apparently the person owning this place sells it or either they keep a very hot house in the winter.

The Lady and her dogs.  Only one is beside her, the other two I have just passed.  No bike chasers but later on two very large healthy Rottweilers took after Paul but he was ahead of them and didn't know about it until I told him later.  When they noticed me I was almost past them so no juicy tender calf meat for them today.  They probably weighed around 80 lbs. each.  A lunge from one of them would have knocked me off the bike.

Mother Nature gets a little confused every once in a while.  Here two trees are just starting to turn and have all of their leaves while the surrounding trees are leafless.

At 11:00 a.m. we pulled into the parking lot of Haye's Hill Restaurant.  Today, Friday, was catfish day, their special.  I forgot how large the fillets were so I ordered the two piece special which came with two sides and hushpuppies.  The fillets were as large as my hand, perfectly cooked and delicious.  So was the coldslaw.  Being stuffed, or a fancier word "sated", we mounted our trusty machines and took off again.  We were only half way the ride.

Shortly after leaving Bybee, TN and the catfish, we were once again near the lake.  As you can see from the first picture of the map, there are many fingers extending from the lake.  Not all have connecting roads.

Make a turn and you're back to the lake again but at a different location.

After riding parallel to the lake for a while we eventually had to make a turn onto a different road to continue our ride.

This was one of those one lane roads I mentioned earlier.  And it was very rough.  Not any tax dollars spent keeping this road surface up.

Kind of like a Daniel Boone story, wherever there's a small flat place in the earth, you find a simple house and a garden or field.

One of the roads that shouldn't be called a road.

And this one wasn't much better either.

If you look closely you can see the floating dock is now on dry land.  Several other areas the dock was now about 100 plus feet from the edge of water.

Oops. Another one of those dead-end roads.  This one ended at private property and those signs were to let you know not to trespass.  Paul doing a U-turn.

Where did all of those leaves go?

Well, they went right down here along and on the roadway.  Makes you tighten up on the seat every once in a while as they are slick when wet and slippery when dry.

Some of the valleys are long and lets you open up a bit but not all of them are straight.

Quite often they may have a stream that winds its way through the valley and the road follows the winding stream.  This particular valley had a nice long straight run in it.

But straight runs don't usually last very long and then you're back to tree lined roads with curves.  Darned old curves, just makes it too enjoyable to have to stop.

We did pass some very nice farms as we went from road to road.  One farm we passed last week had a field of tomatoes.  Today they were black bushes mostly on the ground and plenty of ripe and green fruit wasted.  Apparently their temps got lower than ours and the tomato plants and fruit froze.

Eventually back to the lake and a dock on the dirt.

At this point you can see how high the water normally gets.  Not a good time to sell lake front property.

This was the last nook we rode in on this trip.  We've been here several times as it has a pretty vantage point of the lake and mountains.  A very nice neighborhood.

This shot was taken from the same position, just a different view.

But then all good things seem to come to a close eventually.  Sweet Thang poised to head back to the house and close out the loop around Douglas Lake.  It was a long day with lots of turns and twists but something we can put in the book for future reference.  We have ridden around Douglas Lake, all in one day taking time to take pics.





I left the house at 7:30 a.m. and we pulled away from the meeting place at 8:50.  I returned to the house at 3:30 p.m. after having traveled 146 miles door to door.  Not a bad day at all.  Good ride, good friend, good food and a beautiful day all rolled into one.  How much sweeter can it get.

So until the next Valkyrie Adventure, here's wishing you a time to enjoy life and the wonders of this world.  Take a look in your backyard and check to see if you've seen it all or not.  If you have, try a new place tomorrow.  Ride/drive safe.