Catoosa Adventure

Tuesday morning, temps in the lower 50s, sky blue, no rain and going to get to about 80 or so.  Biker friend Paul called the night before to see if I wanted to go do some adventure riding.  I said yes so we agreed on a 8:30 a.m. meet up at the Seymour McDonalds.  I got dressed in layers because as it warms you start peeling off layers of clothing.  I left the house just before 8 so I could stop next door at Wiegel's and top off the gas tank.  Then I putted over to McDs and grabbed a cup of coffee, still 20 min. before take off time.  Just as I finished my coffee and started putting my gear back on Paul rode up.  Three minutes later we were on our way. 

We took some of the familiar roads toward Maryville, then a turn here and a turn there to by-pass this and get over to there, sort of route.

This would take us by some great farms, some up-scale housing sites and away from major business places so that we could enjoy this lovely day and scenery.

We would go over by Wurtburg, TN which is southwest of Knoxville to get to our destination where the real adventure would start.

The rivers and lakes we crossed were almost mirror smooth this morning.  On some you could barely see a ripple.

The fresh green grass just fit the pallet of the farm animals too.  And if they needed a sip of water to wash it down, it was right there by them.

This ride would take us over the Plateau which means you climb, climb, climb then flatten out for a bit before you start to drop, drop, drop.

They were making this road even better as they were straightening out some of the sharp curves making it more like sweepers.  Now when they construct a retaining wall here in TN, they don't mean some 3 or 4 ft. block wall, they mean 20 or 30 ft. of heavy construction block.

Slow and easy.  Don't want any speeding fines in this area.  Would lose a lot of gas money by getting a fine.

Love these country roads.  Just have to keep remembering they are two way traffic so can't go crazy, just stay in your lane.

After a bit we came by Potter's Falls.  If you're not looking you will drive past it and miss out on a nice scenic place.  This picture is looking up river from the falls.  I'm standing on a bridge with lots of graffiti on the guard rails.

Here's a couple more pics of the water heading to the falls.

On the down river side of the bridge are the falls.  That ledge seen here drops about 30' or more to a large pool and then runs off down the mountain.  Know what that yellow streak in the middle of the picture is for?

Little Hoss parked near Paul's white rafter (inside joke) across the road from the falls.  A good place to take our first short brake of the day.

Back on the road we are now on the Plateau.  Rolling hills and large farms.  And the weather is jusssst right.

We soon turn in a different direction and pick up a nice road toward our destination.  This was just a long curvy grade up and then a curvy grade down.

The old Nemo Bridge.  Now replaced by a newer concrete bridge.  This area was devastated many years ago when the river flooded.  Now you can just walk across but no vehicles.

Yes, it does mean what it shows.  In this direction, you're turning sharply to the left and going up hill all at the same time.  Later, you're hoping the road turns before the you hit the house.

We're getting closer now.  The road narrows and heads deeper into the woods.  No banjos playing yet.

And now the adventure begins.  Or we thought so but then today starts turkey hunting season, only hunters can enter.  So we ponder a bit.  Talk it over between us and decide, the road to the right has a sign to stay out but the road to the left doesn't.  So I guess that means we can go to the left.  So we did.

And away we go, like any good adventurer would, slow and easy, reading the signs of the road, looking for pot holes and other things that could cause one to have an upset.

We come to a bridge and Paul stops in the middle of it.  Pondering again, I wonder if we should keep going.  Yeah, why not.  All they can do is tell us to get out.

So off we go heading deeper into the woods.  This is the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area.  Mega acres of woodlands, creeks and who know what else.

Paul waiting at the edge of one of several large mud puddles we would cross today.  I told him I'd cross so he could see how deep it was.  My bike has more ground clearance.

We crossed another like this but it was a bit deeper and had deep ruts in it that you could not see.  I went across first, rear end slipped and I almost went down but gassed it quickly enough that I was able to put a foot down on dry ground and not in the muddy water.  Paul was behind me and watching my path.  He decided to take a slightly different direction across the mud hole.  Error.

He hit the rut with his front wheel and layed himself and his bike down in the mud hole.  It was about a foot deep.  His whole left side was wet and muddy along with the same side of his bike, his camera and his left saddle bag and its contents.  

Before all of that happened we met a turkey hunter who told us where we would have to turn and that the road a few years ago had cars that traveled it but that it was rougher than the one we were on.  He also said if we didn't have a special permit it would cost us $200 fine for being on the road anytime in that preserve.  Not good news to hear.  Paul navigating another mud hole with deep ruts.

After a while we hit a good stretch of gravel that was taking us all the way out to highway 299.  Somewhat of a relief because this was the hardest and worst road I have ever biked on.

It was so much smoother than where we had come that it almost felt like we were on an interstate.  Well, not really but you get the idea.

Paul navigating a fallen tree across the road.  Wouldn't want to be riding in here at night.  That tree would be like running into a clothesline.

We finally arrived back to a paved road that would take us to 299.  And what a relief.  I was working so hard on that rough road that I eventually was down to my T-shirt and riding jacket and still sweating.

Now we could crank it up a bit and cool off.  It was near lunch time and I was getting hungry.

We rode into the town of Oakdale.  That red roof building to the left is the Oakdale Methodist Church.  This is a small community, more like a mining town.

From Oakdale we wound around to Harriman and a Hardee's for a much needed Thick Burger.  Two for one.  So we split it.  Use coupons when we can allows for more gasoline.  I took this parting shot of Paul and his now dusty dirty bike and body.  It was a good day, even with the mishap.  Paul strained his shoulder when we were picking up his bike so hope that doesn't cause loss of riding in the future.

It's days like this that go down in the cells of memory to ponder over for years or days to come.  Neither of us is a young buck, his buck is older than my buck.  But we do have some fun.  Now I know this is not everyone's cup of tea and I wouldn't want to do it every day, but I can handle it at least once a week.  Besides, if we're out in the woods somewhere, we're not getting into trouble at the house.

Whatever it is that allows you rejuvenating time, do it.  We all need to refresh our batteries sometimes and we all don't have to do the same thing to get refreshed.  So in the coming day, do something involving fun.  You're never to old to love life.  Until the next adventure, stay safe, be nice.

A Spring Saturday Ride

What do you do when the weather is a bit chilly in the morning but will be in the upper 70s to low 80s in the afternoon?  Well, ride, silly.  I met up with the Country Roads riding group out of Wears Valley led by biker friend Dan.  Meet up was I-40 Exit 407 McDonald's for 9 a.m. departure.  I pushed Sweet Thang out of the garage at 7:55 as I needed to stop and top off the gas tank and grab a bite to eat before leaving.  Hit the Pilot station corner of Boyds Creek Rd. and TN 66.  Then road about 3 miles or so to the meet up place.  Some bikers were already there.  A good morning greeting, some I knew, some were new to me, but coffee and a breakfast burrito was calling my name.

Here's some of the bikes that made the ride today.  A bit of everything from a bunch of Harley's, a few Indians, a BMW trike, and some Hondas. 

This pretty autumn orange trike is a Honda VTX 1800.  Pretty much hand made by a guy who knew what he was doing.  Rider came out with a great looking bike and one of a kind on top of that.  

A nice bunch of folks with most near my age.  It was about 15 bikes total more or less until near the end of the ride when we split.

Left McDonald's heading north on East Dumplin Road.  Just nice rolling hills with some nice curves through the farm land.

Next we rolled into downtown Historic Dandridge, TN.  This town now sits on the edge of a very large lake.  It dates back to the mid 1700s.

We crossed the bridge which has a new bridge under construction along side it getting a nice view of Lake Douglas or at least a piece of it.

The sky was exceptionally blue today and the reflection on the water made it look almost as blue as the sky.  Where are the clouds?  Not here for sure.

From Dandridge we rode up to Newport, TN.  This highway is nice and scenic.  And this morning it was just a pleasant trip.  Very few cars to contend with.

Our ride today was something like this shown on the map.  If you take this map and attach it to the ride I made Thursday it would resemble a figure "8".  I rode back from Cherokee to Seymour today while Thursday I rode from Seymour to Cherokee.  That's the overlap of the figure 8,

A vineyard waiting on the bottles.  There are several vineyards up in this area.  And probably a "still" or two also.

Aahh, the mountains with some morning mist.  But Ole Sol will take care of the mist in just a short while.

Heading on toward Newport.

But before Newport is Chestnut Hill, home of Bush's Beans.  This is a small shot of the "beanerie".  Also referred to as the "gas plant".

When we stopped in Newport for a short break I took a closer shot of that triked out VTX.  Nice piece of work.

From Newport we headed on towards our next destination which would be Hot Springs, NC.  Plenty of Bradford Pear still blooming.

I really like this new bridge that has been installed within the last year or two.  It has a pretty design.

Then we cross over from TN to NC.

We were enjoying the scenery as well as the fresh air and the lack of other vehicles.

Spring time is coming to NC as seen here along the edge of the highway.

We curved and rolled right along, sometimes along the edge of the mountain and next along the creek.

Sometimes the creek was narrow and sometimes a little wide.  Quite often more like a ditch but the water was flowing regardless.  We stopped in Hot Springs and dined at the Smoky Mountain Diner.  They reserved the entire back porch for us.  I'm sure glad the weather cooperated or it would have been dining with jackets on.

                      NC 209 is a great motorcycle road.  And it gets a lot of use especially during the Summer and Fall.  After lunch we headed out for Maggie Valley, NC on our way to Cherokee.

We would wind through some nice big valleys and over a bunch of hills, travel by large farms with big barns and such.  The grass was nice and green, you could almost here it growing in the warm Spring sun. 

And yes, there seems to always be a nice gift shop/biker stop along many of these roads.  This was one of them.

Mountains to the right of me, mountains to the left, straight ahead I ride my faithful steed so that tonight I may rest in my bed.

Coming up on an old farmstead nestled in the folds of the mountains.

And almost as if out of nowhere up pops one of those government missile silos, one big'un and two small'uns.  I mean right out there beside the highway.  How can they fool people with these things.  Gets me nervous riding by them.  What happens if they decide to launch one when I'm right beside it.  I guess I'll just be blown around like a speck of dust.

Optics from the camera or actually curving.  Well, my cheap-o camera doesn't have optics that do this so it must curve.  And a brand new fence at that.

This is a very large farm operation.  Lots of sheds, feed storage areas, barns and their very own cattle hauling semi-tractor trailer rig.

Wild flowers make a setting for this pretty house out here in the country.  We roll through Maggie Valley to a point where we eventually turn off and hit the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Heading for the Blue Ridge.

The view from one of the turn outs on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Spring hasn't gotten to this elevation yet.

After some miles on the BRP we come to its southern end, right next to the East entrance to the Smoky Mountain National Park.  The old farmstead at Oconaluftee Visitor Center.

Some of the bikers turned left and followed Dan into Cherokee for ice cream, the rest of us turned right and headed back to TN.

Over the mountains to the Sugarland Visitor Center, left along the Little Pigeon River Rd. to Metcalf Bottoms Picnic area, through it to U.S. 321 at Wears Valley, left before Pigeon Forge (to stay out of the Rod Run traffic) and back roads to the house.  Another great day in the saddle.  Comfortable ride, not any difficulties with equipment or people, and weather that just can't be beaten.  You could not have asked for better.

The total mileage today, door to door, was 199.  This put me over the 500 mile mark for the week.  Not bad since most of it was done with two rides.  And my Phat Lady, Ms. Sweet Thang, was her gorgeous reliable self.  Here we were, a group of people that did not know each other very much, got along fine during the ride and meal, laughed and talked about anything and everything and no one, absolutely no one, shot any body.  So I ask you, What the heck is going on with all these crazy people shooting and killing each other?  I think I can answer that question.  They need to get a motorcycle.  Ride and drive safe.