Wolf Creek Falls, TN

Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017.  Cool morning to start, mild day to finish.  I donned my winter riding gear, mounted Red Bug, pushed out of the garage early for a full day of riding.  Today biker friend Paul and I are riding some backroads up to Wolf Creek Falls, TN.  This will be about 20 miles of mountain gravel road, the kind that makes you rather stiff and tight.  In other words, it will bring out the adventure part of you with sometimes asking for the Lord and sometimes calling for your mother.  But otherwise a great ride.

As I left the house to meet up with Paul the sky was saying that it might rain all the while the weather report was zero rain.  Always stay prepared.

My old school house pic.  Sorry for the darkness.  When riding I point and shoot, no time to do all of that focusing and shutter speed setting stuff.

By the time we got to Kodak, TN the sky had cleared up, Old Glory was fluttering in the breeze and we were on our way.

We were heading up toward Dandridge, TN and this was crossing the end of Douglas Lake.

As you can see, there hasn't been sufficient rainfall to make up the lake's capacity from this summer when they drained it to work on the dam.  Lake belongs to TVA.

Country roads going up and over another hill.

A long straight stretch, by TN standards, along the river.

Crossing another finger of Douglas Lake.

Heading for the mountains, ride, brother, ride.

Big puffy clouds looking white some time and dark other.

A scenic crossing of the river.

Looking into the sun makes it appear that it is late afternoon, but it isn't, it's still early morning.

The rapids on the French Broad River.

Breakfast stop, Slab Cafe out in the middle of nowhere.

Ham and cheese omelet with toast and coffee, $5.41 plus tip.  Coffee is $0.50 a cup with refills.

Another shot of the river with some mountains in the background.

 Winter garden full of greens.  A little fat back (salt pork) and some cornbread is all it takes for a meal.

We were on our way to our destination after breakfast.  Nice sweeping curves with the sun warming the cool mountain air.

Just a few low rolls in the highway which is running alongside the mountain.

Some real nice farms up here.  They grow a lot of tomatoes and corn.

Then we got to the turn off for the falls.  We'll run about 16 total miles of gravel today in and out the same way.

Up the mountain side watching for bad spots in the road and trying to stay off the dry leaves along side.  They are slippery.

We wind and twist up toward our destination.  Some of these roads don't show up very well on Google Maps.  Some don't show up at all.

The cross roads.  We know we won't be going forward on the road in front and it appears no one has been there for some time.  It's either right or left.

While Paul is trying to figure out which way I started hearing some voices.  Then I told Paul that some hikers were coming toward us.  It was two middle aged ladies hiking up the trail on a five day hike.  Now this is bear country and I didn't see a weapon strapped to either of them.  We chatted a bit and they were on their way.  Us, also, to the left.

We arrived at the junction of the road to the falls.  Paul suggested parking and hiking the 1/3 mile to the falls.

And about 50 yards or so we came upon this to cross.  Paul said that it was higher this time than the last, meaning the amount of water.  He said that he crossed it on some stones.  I looked all around and there were no stones in sight.

There was a broken rotten log, not the one pictured here, that crossed it but it was covered with algae and other logs which didn't appear to be very safe to cross without slipping off into the cold water.

Paul decided he was going to try to tip toe across.  Yeah, only one person I know that can walk on water and Paul was not that person.  He got his feet wet.  I decided that as cold as it was, I wasn't going to get my feet wet and then ride over 3 hours in the cold with cold wet feet.

So I turned around and walked back to the bikes parked around that bend in the road.  And I didn't get my feet wet.  Of course I didn't get to see the falls but Paul said he could barely see it.  Not much water coming over the falls this time of year.

I took the time to drink some water and eat a snack while waiting on Paul to return.  Our pact is that if you wander off and get hurt such that you can't crawl back to the bikes, you're on your own until help arrives.  And that depends on who's making the call.

He eventually returned and off we rode back the same route as that which we got there on.

In one bend of the road a nice view of the mountains came into view.

Later a better viewing spot became available.

And when you speak of views, how can anyone not appreciate a view like this.  I am amazed every time I look at views like this or sunsets almost anywhere, etc.  It was indeed a good day to ride and a good ride we took.  Our destination was Wolf Creek Falls, TN.  However to get there, you have to cross the mountains on a gravel road into NC and then back into TN.  Up high near the top of the mountain chain.

Door to door miles this ride was 149 miles.  Not many miles but it took us all day to do it.  On these roads you ride carefully as phone reception is weak at best.  And waiting to flag down another vehicle might be some days, not hours.  Teases your sensitivities and rattles your nerves but totally awesome.

So until the next Valkyrie Adventure I hope you will take a moment to reflect on how you're enjoying your life and maybe making some adjustments to get more out of it.