Visiting The Cherokee

Ground Hog Day, 2-2-16.  Temp. at 10 a.m. was 56* with a high today of 74 (actually broke the record and got to 75).  Donned in my winter gear excluding the heated gloves, I pushed Little Hoss (Honda NC700X) out of the garage to meet up with rider friend Paul at the Exxon Sta. up Boyds Creek Hwy.  When I arrived thee he was at the edge of the parking area and I waved him on and this is what he did.  We were starting late today due to fog and wet road conditions.  But you just can't wait forever so we hit the road figuring it would clear up as we headed for Pigeon Forge.

Boyds Creek Hwy. heading toward TN 66 and Pigeon Forge.






My FB post yesterday started out something like "what does 2 old crazy men do when there's fog, wet roads, rock on the roadway, snow on the road sides and sheets of ice hanging onto the rock face of the mountains?".  Take a ride.  Well, in the upcoming photos you will see what I meant by that statement.  Excluding the 2 crazy old men, of course.

The Parkway, TN Route 66 into Sevierville to meet up with US 441.

This photo is dedicated to Christie, Celeste and Shane.  Seems they can't make a trip to TN without stopping here.  I think Shane refers to it as "Trekking Through The Mall" hike.

And this photo is dedicated to Celeste, Hatfields and McCoys.

Traffic flowed pretty good this morning through Pigeon Forge and then we ran the Spur to the Gatlinburg By-Pass to miss the traffic there.  Since the roads are damp and this road is frequently patrolled by the NPS police, we took it easy.  Up the mountain then down the mountain, off to Sugarland Visitor Center.

A great view of the mountains.  There's a couple of turn-outs that gives you a great view of the mountains.

The mountains nicely silhouetted.

With the recent rain the streams were flowing rather well today.

And several miles past the Visitor Center, we started seeing snow and felt the temperature drop about 15 degrees.

And the snow was getting more and more from the snow storm we had.  Of course here it stays a lot longer than in the valley due to the temps of the higher elevations.

Then there was ice.  These are a little bit more than your normal icicle. They were many feet tall.

And the snow just kept getting more plentiful.  This highway through the Park is often closed during the winter due to snow and ice.

One of several tunnels you will go through heading to the top, Newfound Gap.

 And if the wet roads and them having rock strewn over the pavement (the Park doesn't allow salt), we start hitting fog again.

But this time it's much heavier than what we had starting out.

And it, like the snow, keeps getting thicker.  Glad I put on that long sleeved shirt.  It felt warm beneath my riding jacket.  Just ahead is my friend Paul.  We were down to 20mph.

Those two blips on the left is an on-coming car with their headlights on.  A little later we met a white car coming at us without headlights on.  Now that will make you tighten up on the seat.

This fuzzy look is fog hanging over the snow.

Then we descend down to the valley below near Cherokee and all's well.

This is next to the Oconauluftee Visitor center on the North Carolina side of the mountain.  You can't see them in the picture but there's a small flock of turkeys grazing the meadow.

Leaving the National Park heading into Cherokee, NC.  Visiting the Res.

We stopped at a Burger King and grabbed a $2 coupon meal.  Then on to Harrah's Casino to make a small donation to the Tribe.  On the way back to Seymour these two turkeys were getting ready to cross the highway.

A few miles going back up the mountain we started back into the snow zone again.

These old mountains just get prettier by the day.  Clouds casting dark shadows over them in places as if to hide their secrets.

A nice row of icicles with a snow base looking forward and rearward.

The wind was pretty stiff up high going over but coming back it was to your back part of the time.  Really big gusts kept you alert.

All in all, it was a great day to ride.  By the time we got back to Pigeon Forge we had arrived at the 75 degree part of the day.  We finished our ride, stopping by Paul's house to adjust my chain.  Not the right tools so I headed to the house. Today's ride wasn't very long, only 135 miles door to door, but very scenic.  Another enjoyable day in the saddle.



So until the next adventure ride, which will be tomorrow, stay safe, stay somewhat sane, and enjoy your life.  It will be the only one here on earth.