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[Trip Report] Smoky Mountain Tour 08/21/04

Tourmeister

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Howdy,

:tab Okay, so this was not actually a "tour", but we still went and we still had a fantastic time wandering around in the woods on little backroads. We did a ton of unbelievable paved roads as well, taking the knobbies to the extreme and running them for all they were worth. I will get a trip report done... eventually... but here are the pics:

http://twtex.com/linkfiles/082104NorthCarolina/

Friday, Aug 20th:

:tab With the GS loaded onto the trailer, I leave work around 4:30pm and head to the house. It's hot and humid. When I arrive, Bob Krogman is here on his GS, spare tires strapped to the back of the bike on top of his luggage. We get his bike on the trailer and strapped down. As soon as Beth get's home from work, we finish the last minute loading, pile into the truck, and head to Arlington where we will spend the night with Bill "Wasabi" Joye.

:tab We get into Bill's place around 10:30pm. We decide to go ahead and load his bike tonight so we won't have to mess with it in the morning. In the process of getting overnight luggage out of the back of the truck, I get distracted. After we get Bill's bike loaded, we decided to move the trailer to a better location in front of his house. As I start to pull away, I feel a bump bump from the trailer... :scratch We get out to have a look and I suddenly remember the luggage... :oops: I have run over and dragged Beth's suitcase, crap! After we get the truck moved, we head inside to see what the damage will be. Fortunately, nothing breakable is in the bag and other than some scuffing on the bag, she's good to go. We hang out for a few hours visiting with Bill and his wife, Donna. Then it is off to bed. We have an early morning tomorrow.

Saturday, Aug 21st.

:tab Our plan today is simple. Get on I-20 and head East to Birmingham, Alabama so we can spend the evening and night at Buzz "hcope1" Copeland's home. After getting ordered back off the interstate so everyone can get breakfast, we get back on the road and I set the cruise control. It will be a mind numbing 600 mile drive... a mind numbing 600 mile drive... a mind numbing 600 mile drive...

:tab Bill brought a book on DVD with him so we pop that in relatively early in the drive. It helps to pass the time and is entertaining. Before we realize it, half the cast is dead, we know who did it, and we are in Birmingham looking for Buzz's house. It turns out that he lives in a nice old part of town, just South of the center of town. Many of the homes have been beautifully restored, or bull dozed and replaced with huge modern boxes :roll: We've arrived in time to get dinner and all of us pile into Buzz's little Ford Exploder to go get Mexican food.

:tab After dinner and a few drinks, we head back to the house for a nice evening of visiting, watching motorcycling videos from some of Buzz's rides into the Smokies, and just goofing off. The plan for tomorrow is to head out around 9:00am, no point in killing ourselves getting up early as we don't have so many miles to do tomorrow.

Sunday, Aug. 22nd

:tab We awake to a bright morning. The others are already up and around, sitting on the back porch outside our bedroom window making fun of us for "sleeping in" so late.

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Maude, Buzz and Pat (Maude is the dog, hehe)
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The humble abode, much bigger than it looks!
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Getting set to head out, we'll unload the bikes later.
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Bill, Pat, Buzz, Mama Beth and Bob
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Bill, Beth, :mrgreen: and Bob...
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:tab After saying our goodbyes, we head North on I-59 towards Chattanooga. This has got to be one of the worst freeways in the country in terms of quality of the contruction!! Pulling the trailer through here makes it even worse. The continual bumping and rocking is almost nauseating :-| There is no speed that makes it smoother, so we just grin and bear it. Needing to wiz, the bumping around is killing me!

:tab When we finally reach the small town of Trenton, it is time to stop and unload the bikes. Here we head East into the fun stuff while Beth will continue on the main highways on to Deal's Gap where we will meet her later this evening. After a quite lunch at Wendy's, we unload, gear up, gas up and head out of town on Hwy 136. I forgot my earlugs... Eh... how bad could it be...?

:tab Scarcely a mile or so out of town the road starts getting twisty. We wind our way up and around the Cloudland Canyon State Park, shoot across the top of the hills and then drop back down into the one light town of Cooper Heights. I pull over. My ears are already getting that numb feeling from being exposed to loud sounds. The low frequency pounding is too much for me and I have to dig out a pair of ear plugs. Then we are back on the road, the refreshing cocoon of partial silence renews my sense of anticipation of the roads ahead.

:tab We stay on Hwy 136 until we reach Nickelsville and then head North on Hwy 225. It has obviously been a wet year as everything is very green and lush looking. It's not too hot, but it is quite humid and the air has that hazy look to it. We've been running through a nice section of the Chattahoochee National Forest since getting on Hwy 136. Now as we approach Chatsworth, we will be heading into the Forest again on Hwy 52. This is a scenic byway, for good reason. It is also a great ride!

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Bob's Blue Beastie
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We're going that way!
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:tab There are a few other riders hanging out at the scenic overlook and we chat with them for a few minutes before getting back on the road. Several of them are locals and this is a regular ride for them. I wonder if they realize how good thay have it? The rest of the run into Ellijay is great. The road bends and twists through the woods. There are beautiful little homes all along the sides of the mountains. We drop down into Ellijay and take a break. Already Bill and Bob are amazed at how well the TKC-80 Knobbies are working on their bikes for pavement riding. I think they were expecting the tires to be a little squirmy, which they are not at all!

:tab We get back on the road after our break and head North on US 76 towards Blue Ridge. US 76 is a nice relaxing four lane highway that runs through a long narrow valley chasing the Cherrylog Creek. When we reach Blue Ridge, we turn North on Hwy 5 and head for the Tennessee border. The plan is to hit Hwy 2 for a run out and back. It runs West up into the mountains and dead ends, but it looks really twisty on the maps! I never even see the turn off and we are in Copperhill on the border before I realize we have gone to far. Oh well :shrug:

:tab Once inside Tennesee, Hwy 5 ends and Hwy 68 begins, and this is where the real fun begins as well. The road winds around the edge of a huge copper mine. The road and surrounding area has a very dirty industrial look to it, think rusty. Soon though, the road runs through a few fast wide sweepers and then we are heading out of town into the woods. The road narrows to two lanes and begins to twist and wind its' way over the countryside. The first time I came through here it was dark and really cold. This time it is a beautiful day in the mid 80's. I settle down and begin to find my groove...

:tab There is very little traffic here and we pretty much have the road to ourselves. It feels like riding a quick roller coaster, not the kind with the real high drops, but those with the really fast ups and downs that get your stomach feeling tickly. Even without going insanely fast, it is easy to get some serious lean angles on this road. The pavement is just wonderfully smooth. In places, there are series of esses where I can see all the way down through them to the exit of the last curve, but they are still tight enough that I cannot just run right down the middle of them. I still have to negotiate each one. These are fun bacause the challenge is finding just enough exit roll on to make the bike corner well, but not so much roll on that you come into the next corner too hot. Often times, by the end of one of these snaky sections, I have picked up enough speed coming into the last corner that I actually have to hit the brakes :lol:

:tab I round a long sweeping right hander in a little valley, run a short straight and then hit a tight left around the base of the mountain. Coming out of the left I am greeted with another of the strings of esses. Sure enough, by the time I hit the last curve, I am cruising. I make a very slight tug on the front brake to ensure the suspension is settled before I tip into the corner. Then that funny little feeling creeps up into the edge of my awareness... this corner is tighter than it seems :shock:

:tab I have trained myself over the miles and miles of riding to do nothing when I panic. I don't mean that I freeze. What I mean is that I don't have an uncontrolled physical reaction, like a jerk on the bars, or chopping the throttle. I still get the surge of adrenalin and the rapid rise in heart rate, but basically, I don't spazz ;-) This allows me to relax very quickly so that I can do what I really need to do to keep a potentially bad situation from becoming a truly bad situation. With a quick mental scream in my head to look through the corner, I lift my eyes towards the exit, lay the bike over quickly and firmly, then get on the gas...

:tab The feeling of the luggage on the GS hitting the ground is strange. There is a moment in time where everything seems to stop and I find myself seemingly spending an eternity pondering what that odd noise an strange feeling could be? Then the next corner approaches, I snap back to reality, set my entry speed and continue on my way. It occurs to me that I have not tightened up the suspension since I was last offroad on the GS and that I should probably pull over and do so. When I come to a stop a few corners later, I notice Bill and Bob are not behind me. Instantly my mind wanders back to that last tight corner :-|

:tab I hate that feeling, the uneasy feeling of wondering what the next few minutes will be like. Am I on the verge of some surreal experience? Do I get to find out what the local EMT services are like? Is the trip that just started already over? Most importantly, will one of my buddies be seriously hurt?! I crank up the preload on the rear shock with a few twists of the remote adjuster, get back on the bike and haul butt back up the road.

:tab I come around the corner and see Bill standing down in a deep grassy ditch. There is a truck pulled over and a few guys are standing around Bill's V-Strom, Bob is one of them. Seeing Bill up and walking around without anyone really paying attention to him is a relief. He's obviously unhurt. But what about the bike? Bob has the bike fired up and it is running fine. Getting it back up out of the ditch proves entertaining. The ground is damp and loose. When Bob gets on the gas, the knobbies dig in and start sending dirt back towards the guys pushing. With a bit of a running start, he gets it up the embankment and parked on the shoulder.

:tab A quick inspection of Bill and his bike reveals that he just got seriously lucky! Apparently he locked up the rear tire coming into this corner and just lowsided right off the road into a nice soft grassy ditch. Of all the places he could have gone off along this road that could have been really really bad, this is as good as it gets! Other than a rear turn signal that snapped off, the bike has no damage, not even any serious scratches!

The skid mark
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Bill points to his final stopping point, Bob stands at the top of the ditch
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:tab notice that big pile of trees to the right of Bill...?

This one log was right next to Bill's head when he opened his eyes after coming to a stop.
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:tab Could have been a lotttt worse...

:tab After the adrenaline settles down and we realize that Bill is fine, his bike is fine, and the trip is still a go, we get back on the road. I say a quick prayer of thanks and then roll on the gas... Despite the excitement of Bill's offroading experiement, we are not really behind schedule. The remaining miles of Hwy 68 leading up to Tellico Plains are even better than the ones before we stopped. I could easily spend all day just running back and forth on this road from Copperhill to Tellico Plains, over and over, over and over... But we've got places to be, so I'll have to be content to do it in my imagination after the trip when I am bored at work.

:tab As we get closer to Tellico Plains, we start seeing more bikes on the road. We stop at the gas station on Hwy 68 and Hwy 165, the start of the Cherohala Skyway. There are quite a few bikes in the parking lot so we spend a few minutes socializing. As soon as a few of the local cruiser riders find out we are headed to Deal's Gap, they start talking down to us like we are a bunch of crazy idiots for wanting to ride such a twisty road :roll: different strokes for different folks I guess :shrug: I assure them that I have been there numerous times and know exactly what I am getting into, that does nothing to settle them down, so we take our leave and head out of town to the Skyway.

:tab The Cherohala Skyway is a fantastic road. The very first time we came out here, we entered the area via this route on a moonlight cold night with clear skies. Since that first ride here, I have always tried to make the Skyway my entry and departure point from the area. The weather is always iffy... I've seen it clear and blue in the low 70's, raining with heavy fog in the mid 40's. Today, it is muggy and overcast, maybe in the mid 70's with dry pavement, in most places. We start the run down into the woods along the banks of the Tellico River, a wide, shallow and fast flowing ribbon of crystal clear ice cold water. On previous rides here I have often enjoyed a break on the side of the road soaking my feet in the cold water, very refreshing!

:tab The Skyway proper leaves the Tellico river behind right where Oosterneck Creek feeds into the river. Here it starts a winding climb up on to the ridges. The pavement is still smooth and clean, as it has always been. Heavy commercial traffic is not allowed through here. The first run through here four years ago had me ripping up brand spanking new pavement on the VFR. Fully loaded on the GS, I take a more sedate approach and settle into a nice rythm, letting the flow of the curves seep into that unthinking part of my consciousness where mind and road become one. If only there were more roads like this back home in Texas...

:tab We make a brief stop at one of the numerous scenic overlooks so I can shoot a few pics.

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:tab As long as it does not start raining, this is great for riding. We continue to gain altitude as we head East toward the North Carolina state line. Many of the peaks and ridges in this area are over 5000 feet which makes for great scenic vistas. As far as I can see, the thick carpet of forest extends off into the grey hazy horizon. What must it have felt like to be travelling here a few hundred years past? Likely there were no road maps, no GPS units, maybe a compass if the traveller was resourceful. Even now on such a spectacular road, it feels very remote.

:tab Shortly after crossing into North Carolina, we reach Santeelah Gap, the "end" of the parkway. The road becomes Hwy 143 and continues on in a much more twisty manner until it reaches Robbinsville. We elect to turn North on Hwy 1127 into the Joyce Kilmer Slickrock Wilderness Area. Don't ask me who this person was, I've no clue. The road however is relatively new and very smooth at first. It runs up the West side of Santeelah Lake. As we get deeper into the woods, it gets tighter and rougher with a little bit of loose gravel here and there. We cross over the Santeelah Creek and head East on Hwy 1134.

The bridge over the creek. The woods are quite thick here!
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:tab Hwy 1134 is very narrow with many blind corners. To one side is a steep drop down toward the lake and to the other is a steep rise of rock and trees. Going fast here is not a wise thing to do. Instead, I slow down and try to absorb the feeling of the place. It is very still. There are people camping in various sites along the road. The smell of camp fires hangs in the still air down in the woods. I'm starting to wish we were going to be doing some camping on this trip. Maybe next time...
 
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