Through the Park to Franklin and Murphy, NC Loop Ride

Saturday, October 31, 2015, 7:15 a.m., mid-40s, dark outside.  Time to go meet Country Roads riding group at the Sugarlands Visitor Center for 8:45 a.m.  So I'll ride over to Pigeon Forge, gas up, get a biscuit and a coffee and then run the Gatlinburg By-pass over to the Park.  That will put me at Sugarlands for 8:30 or earlier.  A good plan, I thought.

This is at 7:30 a.m. coming into Sevierville, TN from the West on US 441/411.  The sun is just cracking the horizon.

By 8:00 a.m. the sky's red.  This pic doesn't do it justice.  Shot from the Pilot Convenience Store where I gassed up.

Did a little closer shot and you can see the sky has more red in its color.  How does that go, "Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning."  In that case, the day will definitely do some changing.

After the coffee and biscuit I headed on the Spur to the by-pass turn off.

The leaves are still colorful but more browner than a few days ago.  And some trees have already dropped their leaves.

I arrived at Sugarlands and wondered which way they were going to come in.  You can follow the Little River Rd. from Townsend or take the by-pass as I did.  Since they were West of the Park I optioned it would be the Little River side of the visitor center.  So I'm sitting there looking at this sign and checking to see if I can see bikes coming or hear as Dan, the leader, rides a Harley.

Finally at 9:55 a.m. I surmised they must have come via the By-pass and if so, I would not see them.  Dan is pretty punctual and this was already 10 min. past the meet up time.  I then decided to go on and see if I could catch them crossing the mountain or at the edge of Cherokee, NC.

I did get behind a few leaf watchers, one which would not pull over and let others pass him until half way up the mountain.  From that point on I kind of twisted the throttle in an effort to catch up with the group.

It was crisp this morning and you could definitely feel it when you ran in the shady side of the mountain.  Trees still look great.  I have noticed this year that there are few really red leafed trees.  Lots of gold, yellow and brown.

From this area you can see the mountain crest ahead but the view changes constantly as the road turns.  Maybe the mountain has legs and is moving just to make me think otherwise.

Traffic, after I passed the first set of leaf watchers, was very mild to really thin.  That was to my advantage and I took it.

Just cruising through the Park following the leaf watchers.  In a week or two they will mostly be gone and then the Thanksgiving visitors come into town followed by the Christmas bunch.  Jan. through March is about the only slow time around here.

One of several tunnels you go through crossing the mountains from TN to NC or NC to TN.

And they do have several corkscrew turns as well.

The river, usually flowing with water, is rather dry at this time.  However, rain is expected for several days starting with tonight and it will be up and running again, sometimes rather wildly.

Just a terrible sight across the hinterland, all bumpy and lumpy.  But I guess it has to happen somewhere so it might as well be here.

This was shot on the NC side of the mountain still in the Park.

I made it through Cherokee after riding past the Hardee's looking for the gang.  Even called Dan several times but no returns.  They were having some sort of foot race in Cherokee and several of the roads were blocked by Police cars. 

I stayed on US 441 heading south from Cherokee toward the town of Franklin, NC.  As you can see, the clouds seem to be building.  Red sky warning is in effect.

You can crank it up through this area with its wide lanes and multi-lane roads.  Franklin wasn't too far away.

Road, River, Mountains.  Gray sky and colored leaves.  Mother Nature and man seems to get along in this area.

Not a good pic but riding by I grabbed for the camera hanging around my neck and managed to capture most of the turkeys feeding in the wide grassy area.  That's those black dots in the left corner.  Earlier I saw a single turkey in the Park.  This one didn't want to do a foot race like the one last week.  Then later came across a cluster of about 3 doz.  This is the second large group for the day.

Nice sweeper curves.  I'd run US 441 to Franklin where I would then get onto US 64 heading westward to Cleveland but decided to make a change after a few drops of water near Murphy.

An elongated "S" curve running through the mountains.

Curves to the right and curves to the left.  Color every where.

Clouds are darker and color is leaving the trees.

A nice view of the mountains in the background barely distinguishable from the heavy clouds.

Leaves are almost gone but the run down shack remains.  Shame it can't disappear too.

Entering the city of Franklin, NC.  It is a nice little town with lots of history.  And I might say well decorated for the Fall season.

Flea market in operation.  Notice the old Metropolitan auto under the shed.  Lots of stuff, junk/antique/old stuff to look at and/or buy.  Along with an ample supply of boiled peanuts and pumpkins.

Driving through downtown Franklin, NC.  Looks about like my home town in MS or TX panhandle towns.  Typical of the 1920s and 30s.

At Franklin we hit US 64 westward to Hayesville and onward to Murphy.

From full color patches to patches with no leaves at all.  Just match sticks in the air.

Then back to a wall of color on both sides of the road.  Forever changing as you ride along.

I did notice a lot more brownish gold than bright colors.  These leaves will be gone in a short while, especially with the rain moving into the area.

Not mistakes here.  Keep the wheels on the pavement.  A mistake to the right will take you into a solid wall of stone. It looked like a mountain of obsidian but it wasn't.  Hurt it would if you hit it at any speed. 

The sky will open up some and it looks great and a few minutes later it's back dark again.  Sure keeps you guessing.  And every so often a few drops of rain hits the windscreen.  Just enough to make you wonder if you need to pull off and put your rain gear on.

US 64 is a pretty highway.  It runs about 30 miles or so North of the GA/NC/TN state line and along the Ocoee River where a lot of white water rafting is done in the Spring and early Summer.  That is the river where the kayaking was held during the Olympics at Atlanta.

The highway twists and turns along the valleys and sides of the mountains offering beautiful sights this time of year.

Lo, as I ride through the valley of trees I fear only the oncoming drivers that may be looking up instead of looking forward.

Off in the distance you get a good view of the variations in the mountains.  In front is a very nice piece of land used as a pasture.

Apparently the "Pickers" haven't been along this route for I see all kinds of signs on the side of that building next to the trees.  And they appear to be in very good condition.

Out in the middle of nowhere is a solar farm.  To the right of the road is another large grouping of solar cells.  They were not catching much sun rays today.  This was between Murphy, NC and Ducktown, TN.  Ducktown was, at one time, a large copper mining area having 18 mines operating on the same site with smelters.  It is now reclaimed land and has a small interesting museum.

Just a little up the road I'll make a right onto TN 68 which is at Ducktown, TN between Murphy, NC and Cleveland, TN.  I'll run it north to US 411 at Madisonville, TN and then ride US 411 North to Maryville to Seymour to the house.

Trees are still colorful along TN 68. 













This is a great highway with sweeping curves and every so often some that will make you tighten up on the seat.  That dark spot near the trees on the left is a coyote that crossed the road just in front of me.  Sorry the pic isn't clear but it happened so fast I had to reach down, grab the camera and point and shoot.




This is the route I ran today.  It was 260 miles of hills, valleys, mountains and color. A really nice smooth route that allowed you to relax a bit on the bike and run hard enough to clean the carbs out.

All in all, not a bad day even with the few sprinkles every so often.  Put in a good day in the saddle, saw some natural wildlife, some beautiful colors and had a great time.

Just so you'll know why some of the pics aren't framed great or dark or bright, I'm shooting this by holding the camera above the windscreen and just pointing and shooting in the general direction.  Sometimes they come out great, sometimes good and sometimes you don't see them because I deleted those out of focus, turned sideways, etc.  But every once in a while I'll stop and take a picture if there is a place to pull off without having to walk a 1/4 mile back.  And sometimes I miss some good shots because I didn't see them until I got beside it.  Shooting while riding to the side will most always give you a blurred picture.

Until the next Valkyrie Adventure, which may be tomorrow if the rain moves out tonight, keep you senses, maintain your dignity, and keep your sarcasm to yourself.  But enjoy life, it's the only one you'll get on this earth.