Bald River Falls Ride, 4-16-2020

Thursday, April 16, 2020. Temps in high 40s at 10:00 a.m. when I pushed Sweet Thang out of the garage for a day in the sun and saddle.  I rode up to meet my Old, and I do mean Old, riding buddy, Paul for a good day of fun in the sun and knees in the breeze.  Our meet-up would be Weigle's at the corner of Chapman Hwy. and Boyds Creek Hwy.  Ride start was to be 11 a.m.

I needed to gas up so I left early to get there, gas up and grab a cup of coffee before he got there.  I slept in a bit this morning so had to hustle to get winter riding gear on, layers of clothes.  Feel sort of like an onion, put all that stuff on and as it gets warmer start peeling it off a layer at a time.

My view of the morning from the driveway at the house.

 Meet-up place getting ready to go in and get my coffee.

Heading down US 411 towards Maryville.  Most of our ride today was on lesser roadways.

UT Ag Center

 Golf course near Maryville.  I can't remember if it was Four, Fore or Five.  They were playing anyway.

Spring has definitely sprung even though the temperatures sometimes makes you think Winter is still around.  Looking at this green pasture and the trees lets you know that Spring is here.

I just love old barns.  And some in this area are quite large as they once had many dairies.  Very few these days.

A look down one of the county roads we traveled today.  Lanes are barely 8' wide.

And their not all straight either.

Tellico Lake, and pretty brown from all of the rain run off.

After about an hour and a half we pulled into a Hardee's in Vonore, TN.

That's when I noticed the writing on Paul's windshield.  I had not heard that he was selling his scooter but then I finished reading.  Seems a friend wrote that on it.  The same friend that gave him a sticker that reads Property Protected By Scooter Trash.  And I had to walk behind several pickups to get to the drive up window to order our burgers.  Paul of course got that picture.

We left Vonore and headed back in a southerly direction for our destination.

This took us back close to Tellico Village and an up-scale residential area, 1%ers Paul calls them.  High dollar neighborhood.

Lots of Dogwoods blooming as well as a lot of other flowering shrubs.  Very pretty on such a beautiful day.

Several of the roads had nice sweeper curves and since it had been a while since Sweet Thang had been on the road I kind of let her throttle up a bit.  Cold air gives her a deeper sound.

Nice farmland in this area.  And some areas already to have first cutting of hay done.

That dead stuff along the road hillside is Kudzu.  It hasn't come alive yet but just give it a few more weeks and away it goes.  

We came out to Cherohala Skyway from Hwy. 360.  This takes you along the river for a ways before we change direction again.  Water is clear and fast.  

Kayaking waters.

We turned off of the Cherohala to head to Bald River Falls, our destination of the day.

This river is also good for kayaking but you had better not be a novice.

Finally we arrived at Bald River Falls.

It is such a pretty sight and the sound of the rushing water.

A nice view from almost any angle.

Quite a few people out looking at it today along with a couple of kayakers.  Brave souls I suppose.  A lot of rocks to bang your head against.

After a bit we turned around to ride out, heading for home.

These next two pics show why you need to be a good kayaker.  That's about a 4' drop and fast too.

This is the area where one kayaker got into a bit of trouble but finally made it away safely.

A good reason to wear a helmet when kayaking.

And then we just ride back to the main highway.

Dogwood certainly stands out in the forest.  Won't be long before it will just be a green leaf tree.

Nice sweeper curve with a nice view.

And so the road goes, taking us back to our homes.  Just like this old barn was to the cows and horses, two old bikers make their way back to the feed trough.

A bit tired as I haven't ridden that much due to the Covid-19 issues.  But it was a good tired.  Waiting for the All Clear signal when we can go more places.

For me it was a 188 mile day.  Felt much better attitude wise as I am not a stay at home type of guy.  Too much RED in my actions.  So this was a very good day.  Probably a good day for Wendy since I wasn't at the house bugging her all day.

So until the next Valkyrie Adventure, stay safe, stay healthy and stay focused on those things that matter.  Remember to tell someone that you love them.  Life is short and not enough time spend arguing about things.  Just get together and do them.