Doing The Dragon and The Cherohala Sky With Country Roads Group Riders

Saturday, September 24, 2016.  Alarm was about to go off at 6:00 a.m.  So I shut it off and started my day.  I had to get dressed, feed the dog and take him outside (an every morning thing), get the newspaper and get my riding clothes on.  It was in the mid 60s so my rainliner beneath my summer jacket would go along with my riding overpants.  Would be using heavier gloves this early and switch to summer gloves later in the day.  I had a 7:00 a.m. breakfast meeting at a restaurant about 15 minutes away.  I had already informed the meeting persons that I would be leaving promptly at 8 because I was meeting up with Dangerous Deacon Dan and his group at the Marathon Sta. in Walland, TN for a 9 a.m. departure.  I was a good 40 minutes away and needed time to top off my gas tank before leaving.  Promptly at 8 I departed the meeting, mounted Mr. Red Bug and scorched the highway to Walland, taking the back roads.

Outside of the Restaurant at 8 a.m.  Sun is up, no fog, time to ride.

Scenes along one of the back roads to the Walland meeting place.  Nothing like an early morning sun shining on a farm setting.

Remnants of yesteryear, an old farm house of times gone past.

Riding through the tunnel of trees.

Aha, the meeting place.  Filled up and sipping a cup of coffee before the ride starts.  Dangerous Deacon Dan getting off his shiny new 2017 HD.

Some of the other riders.  I knew some and had the chance to meet several that I did not know.  Just a bunch that likes to ride.

At 9:05 we headed out on US 321 to catch the Foothills Parkway over to US 129.

Zipping along the Foothills Parkway.

A view behind me at those following along.

As you round one of the turns this is the awesome terrible picture you have to look at if you make yourself glance over to the left.

At this point we are running along US129 heading for the Tail of The Dragon.

No pics on the Dragon, need both hands on the bars to keep it steady in the switchbacks.  Later, after a short stop at Deals Gap we headed out for our lunch stop at Lynn's Restaurant in Robbinsville, NC. 

Sunshine flickering through the trees, shadows cast upon the pavement, whining sounds of the tires on the road surface, wind whistling past my helmet, all the sounds heard when riding motorized two wheels.

One of our little short breaks along the way.

Back on the road and away we go.

 I believe this was at the end of the Brookside Dam.  The lake feeds a hydro plant.

We took a turn off the main road to go down to the picnic and camping area along the lake.

Looking out over the small lake surrounded by mountains and veiled in quietness, except for the MC noise.  A great place for a quiet few days or weekend.  Bring all you need for the closest grocery is miles away.

Due to the lack of rain most of the streams have been reduced to a few pools of water and a trickle or two.  Lots of rocky bottoms.

Back on the highway again cruising those nice elongated curves.  We did most of our traveling in or around 45 mph.

Dan Harvey, aka, Dangerous Deacon Dan, is the old wagon master of the group.  There was a mixture of bikes; HDs, Honda, Suzuki, Triumph, Indian etc., and a mixture of ages to go along with the bikes.  We stopped for a short time as we were running ahead of schedule for our alloted eating reservations.

Beauty is said to be in the eye of the beholder.  This beauty will be reflected in the eye of anyone looking at it.

A little closer look at the mountains without the frontal brush.

Then later we crossed the end of the lake.  The water was green, not dark emerald and not blue but somewhere in between.

A few homes along the lake's shore.

And on we rode, 9 bikes with 9 riders all headed in the same direction.  Imagine that.

Coming into the town of Robbinsville, NC.  Small little mountain town trying to hang on like a lot of other places.

Parked in front of Lynn's for our lunch break.  And she was smart, she put us in the far left of the dining area.

After lunch we were off and running again headed for the Cherohala Skyway.

It's that time of year when you see a lot of Fall produce stands along the roads.

On the Cherohala, a nice scenic drive that takes you up to approx. 5500 ft. elevation.

Looking across a few high hills at the mountains, cloud covering or could be smoke signals from some of the locals.

I wish I would have had time to stop and take a close-up of the trike you see parked in this turn-out.  It was something resembling the Beverly Hillbillies.  Whatever it was, its riders were having a nice day to show it off.

You can see some leaf color as we climb to the top of the Cherohala.  Fall is in the air.

With the clouds that patch of blue was the brightest of the day.  I guess because of all the white around it.  And some more coloring of leaves.

That sign that you can almost not see indicates that we are at the 4,000 ft. elevation level.

Although the clouds look like there may be rain, there was no rain forecast for today.  Looks like the weatherman may have missed his mark.

Steadily climb to the top and then steadily drop to the bottom and in between some nice curves and a couple of sleepers.  The first part of the Cherohala was freshly paved so it was a really smooth ride.

Whatever this weed is it is in abundance along this route.  Some type of wildflower/brush/week/growth.

If you look right at the lower center you will see a tall pole sticking up with a brace pointing to the left.  Across the highway there is another one just like it with the brace pointing toward the other one.  The story goes that these were put up in several places so that the flying squirrels could cross the road.  Apparently when they built the highway years ago the flying squirrels would not cross it.

A little dark but some more trees starting to change into their Fall dress.

Looking across the valley at the mountains on the other side.

Finally we start dropping lower and lower with the curves longer and flatter.

You can see the rough rock the road was carved away from and from this angle it looks like you will ride into the mouth of a tunnel, but no tunnels on this highway.

A slow easy flowing stream as we leave Tellico Plains, the end of the Cherohala Skyway.  Now we're taking TN 360 around to Vonore to catch US411 to Maryville and on to Seymour.

Lots of Kudzu.  This looked so smooth that it appears to have been groomed.

Another old relic of times gone by.  Age and weeds have almost taken its toll on the structure.

We have a few hills but this area is much flatter as it heads to a large lake, a state park and the small town of Vonore, TN.

In just a mile or two the group will disband in different directions.  Dan heads to Smoky Mountain HD so they can use his new bike for a showing, some head South, some West and I head North to Seymour.  It was a very good day to ride with excellent weather and a great bunch of guys to ride with.  Door to door for me was 194 miles.  Time to get off the riding clothes and do some relaxing.  Maybe even read the paper from this morning.  So until the next Adventure Story, behave yourself but have fun.

Loop Ride to Muddy Pond, TN and Back

Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016, pushed Mr. Red Bug out of the garage at 7:30 a.m. to top off gas tank and meet biker friend Robert at McDs for an 8:00 a.m. departure for Muddy Pond.  Muddy Pond is a settlement Northwest of Crossville, TN and/or Northeast of Monterey, TN.  These areas are located on the Plateau between Knoxville and Nashville, TN.  Muddy Pond is well known for its Sorghum Molasses and homebaked goods during the months of September and October.

Our route would take us from Seymour, TN down US411 to Maryville, right onto US321 over to Lenoir City where we would turn off onto US70 into Sparta, TN.  There we would catch TN111 North to I-40 and East to exit 300 and North to Monterey, TN where we could then catch TN164 up to Muddy Pond Road which would take us right to the sorghum molasses making now going on.  From Muddy Pond we would stay on the road by that name which would eventually turn into Campground Road until we got to TN 62 which we would run back to Oak Ridge and on Eastward to catch I-140 to TN333 to US129 to TN168 to US441 back to Seymour.  Just a big stretch loop ride with ease.

For a change the sun was up and no visible sign of fog on the highway or the land.  And the sun was to my back at the onset of this trip which was nice.  The air was cool so my jacket liner and heavier gloves felt very comfortable up to about noon.  Then we removed the liner and went to summer gloves.

I just love this old barn and they repainted it earlier this year.  It once was a fair size dairy.  This is on US411 Just a few miles south of Seymour.

Then we hit US321 West out of Maryville.  A good wide open road with some pretty scenery along the way.

Here the road crosses fingers of the TN River near Lenoir City, TN.

The sun is making its presence known as it climbs toward the noon hour.  Makes the water shimmer.

In the far distance you can see the new bridge under construction.  Long crossing, long time in construction.

Past Lenoir City a short distance we catch US70 West.  This is a great MC road.  Up and down hills, lots of curves when climbing the Plateau and lots of places to purchase landscape or building stone.

Just enjoying one of the sweeper curves.  We are heading to Kingston, TN.

In downtown Kingston is the county seat and courthouse of Roane County.  A beautiful old colonial style building.

Also in Kingston is a very large TVA Power Generating Plant.

West of Kingston we start to head for the mountain plateau and lots of large farms.

A great big blue sky and mountains on the horizon.  Just kick back and let those wheels roll.

Now you know that a place like this is usually found in every town or even some neighborhoods.  This was just part of a scrapmetal/junkyar/trash drop-off area along 70.

The good part of the riding commences, shady roads, twisty curves and the roar of the engine echoing off the tree lined roadway.

This is a large limestone operation with multiple trucks pulling in and out as well as a well stocked sidetrack of rail cars.

And the road just keeps going on and on and on.

Climbing to the top of the Plateau.  Colors on the trees says that Fall is coming soon.

It seems as if there's always a forks in the road and well as the road of life.  Decisions, decisions, decisions.  Do I go left or right.

And then we pull into the shade of a tree to visit one of the best leather shops in the country.  No, we're not in Texas or Wyoming, we're on the Plateau of TN near Muddy Pond.  That red Spyder belongs to friend Robert, the old dude standing to the right side.

My first visit to Muddy Pond and this same store brought up a question.  Why would there be such a well stocked leather store for horses in this part of the country.  Well, the answer is, this borders on the Big South Fork Recreational Area which is just loaded with miles of horse trails, a campground with horse paddocks and people come from all over the country to spend time here riding on the many trails the area has to offer.

Robert used my camera to get a picture of me and the Red Bug.  Not a bad looking guy, I think.

After a tour through the leather shop, and it is a one stop shop.  After getting stuff here all you need is a horse.  You can get a purse, a pistol holster, a rifle scabbard, halter, reigns, saddle, blanket, bedroll ties, etc.  Even a belt to hold your walletless pants up.  Then we headed on down the road to the molasses mill.

On the way there we passed numerous fields of sorghum growing.  Some of it was already cut and some was cut awaiting pick up and hauling to the mill.

Friend Robert in front of the mill where the molasses is made.  In front on a shelf is also various homemade breads and cakes.  No hot fried apple pies here today.  But have no fear, down the road a few miles is another mill and they did have fried apple pies.

Muddy Pond Sorghum Mill.  How much more country can you get.  The smell around here is lip smacking delicious.  They should hand out drool buckets and face wipes just to handle the aroma.

They cook the sorghum juice with steam from this 23 year old specially made woodfired boiler.  Just like on a steam locomotive, just smaller and no wheels.

The steam is piped inside to heat this evaporating syrup pan.  Fresh sorghum juice is put in at the far end of the pan and by the time it gets to the near end it is now ready to eat sorghum molasses.  All you need is a baker of biscuits or a large stack of pancakes.  And some butter and a fork.

In the old days the sorghum was ground by sticking stalks of it between large metal rollers.  The juice was squeezed out, the juice ran into the blue barrel, and the ground up stalks fell out onto the ground on the opposite side of the mill.  A horse or mule supplied the power and several animals was used during the day, alternating between them to allow for resting.  This display is for tourists as the juice is ground in a more modern method today.

After Muddy Pond we headed back toward the house.  This TN 62 would take us most of the way back, going through Wartburg (ever wonder how towns got their names?). Oliver Springs, Oak Ridge and finally Seymour.

There are some very large horse farms in this area on the Plateau and some places are really serene.  No Walmart nearby, no noise from hundreds of vehicles, just the nice and quiet countryside.

An old rundown farm structure.  Looked a lot like a chicken house but then it looked like a stable for horses.  Either way, it was no long in use and had not been for some time.

As mentioned earlier, this area allows for a nice easy ride.

Since the temperature was climbing a shady riding area was pleasing.

Building close to the road is natural in TN, KY and parts of NC.  The mountains kind of squeezes you between it and the road.  But somehow they manage to get the structures needed even if you have to walk a little to get where you want or what you need.

Cruising along enjoying the day, making another curve, climbing another hill, all just flowing as smooth as Muddy Pond molasses.










Finally the mountains near the homestead start appearing which means the end of the ride is coming to a close for today.  We had great weather, a good time and a safe ride.  We had some great smells, some good tastes and another memory cell chuck full of sights.  Door to door for me was 276 miles, each one of them enjoyable.  So until the next adventure, drive safe, have some fun and be ever thankful for what you have.