Totally agree with "I pity the fools that stick to the paved roads. They have no idea what they are missing." There are good rides to be had on both paved and dirt roads.
Great pics as always!
Great pics as always!
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Daniel Graduates Highschool and We Head for the Smokies!
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Simmons1
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Good stuff fellers!
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Day six. It was a crazy day! We got into very heavy rains early on while riding Little Elijay Road, a dirt road, up and over a mountain. Visibility was horrible. Daniel said he was just following my tail light and trusting me not to ride off the mountain side. I was just trying to figure out which way the road was going. We eventually found our way to NC 107 South of Sylva and parked at a gas station. I found out today that my Gore-Tex riding jack has decided to stop being water proof. I was soaked up top and it was making its way down… 
It was also cold. After waiting an hour or so without any let up in the rain, we decided to abort and head straight for Waynesville, NC. We were too early to check in our hotel room so we grabbed lunch. Roger Rogers headed back to the hotel and Daniel and I visited a local laundromat, always an interesting experience… We needed clean clothes and our riding gear needed drying. Once that was done, we loaded the bikes and it had turned into a beautiful day!! It was a bit after 3:00pm so we decided to go ride since that is what we were here to do. We ran up and over the Blue Ridge Parkway on NC 215 and then hit dirt headed East out of Balsam Grove. There were a lot of folks out because of the Memorial Day weekend. Near the end of the road we came upon a good bit of traffic. I was following a truck, running in 2nd gear at maybe 20mph. I was thinking the road was kind of narrow for people to be passing by each other. Right as I had that thought, a small white car was approaching going the opposite direction and didn’t move over much to give the truck room. The truck slowed but the right rear wheel dropped off the edge of the road and the next instant it had dropped off about a 6-7 ft drop and rolled completely over. Fortunately, a tree kept it from going further down the very steep hillside. We stopped immediately and Daniel was down to the truck before I could find a stable spot to park my bike. We could hear the lady inside freaking out. Daniel was yelling to let her know someone was outside trying to help but we needed them to unlock the doors. She couldn’t see us because of the airbags. I think her husband finally heard us and got the doors unlocked so we could open the passenger side door. They appeared to be okay and their dog was fine. They were wearing seatbelts. Getting her out of it and into a position where we could help her out was difficult because of her size. She was also really freaking out. I finally got her to focus on me and told her to look around at what a beautiful day it was and how great it was that she was alive. That kind of snapped her back to reality and she apologized for freaking. We told her that was fine, but we needed her help to get her out. Daniel was holding the door open so it wouldn’t slam shut on us. He was totally calm and very helpful. We eventually managed to get her out, then the dog, and finally her husband. By now some other people had heard the horn honking while she was banging around inside and had come to see what was going on, so we had people to help her back up to the road. We helped her husband focus on finding and getting things like phones, chargers, purse, keys, wallet, laptop, etc,… another couple came running back up the road screaming the wife’s name. They had been ahead of them in a different car and had no idea what had happened. That kind of retriggered the wife. We gave them our contact info and told them we’d be happy to give statements. We also later texted them the pics we had. Unfortunately, the other car never stopped or came back. I don’t even know if they realized what had happened!? The rest of our ride was fantastic!! Despite the recent rains, the dirt roads were in excellent condition. We did had to really watch for other vehicles, bikes, and hikers. We eventually got as far East as I-26 at the French Broad River. After a quick break and getting gas, we got up on the Blue Ridge Parkway and started making our way West. I had told Roger we’d be back by dark and we were going to be pushing it! And it never fails, one little car was going 20 under the 45 mph speed limit, braking randomly, and refusing to pull over into any of the numerous scenic overlook parking area to let the train of vehicles behind them pass. After what seemed like forever, they finally pulled out and then everyone hammered down
We were back in the line and just went with the flow. We passed through a lot of tunnels and eventually made it to NC 151, one of my all time favorite roads. It is easily one of the tightest, twistiest, and technical roads I’ve ever ridden! It is steep, dropping down from the ridge in a few miles. Many of the corners are so tight and steep that it feels like the bike is just going to flop over on its side. The trees formed a perfect tunnel glowing from the late evening sunlight. The pavement was perfect! As much fun as it was going down, going back up was even better. Daniel was locked in right behind me, hitting his braking points, running perfect lines, and ripping to the next corner to do it all over again. His KTM 390 Adventure was getting the job done! When we reached the top we pulled over to take a sunset pic and smelled some burning. Turns out it was our tires! 
it was getting late so we zipped down the Parkway, past the Pisgah Inn and got on NC 276 to run back down the mountain to Waynesville. 276 is also a seriously fun road. We rolled up to the hotel just after 9:00pm as the last light of the day was fading. We got checked into our room and let Roger know we were back. I think we did almost 230 miles, a good bit of which was extremely twisty dirt roads. It was a longgg day, but awesome. Time to dig out the bottle of Advil.
Waiting out the rain…
The Harley belongs to the store clerk, a very friendly and helpful young fellow.
You meet the most interesting people at these places
NC 215 on North side of the BRP
NC 215 heading down South side of the BRP
Daniel helped them get the door open so we could start the process of helping them get out. He did a really good job with them.
Yellow Gap road, a favorite!
BRP just West of NC 151
Same spot looking away from the sun
It was also cold. After waiting an hour or so without any let up in the rain, we decided to abort and head straight for Waynesville, NC. We were too early to check in our hotel room so we grabbed lunch. Roger Rogers headed back to the hotel and Daniel and I visited a local laundromat, always an interesting experience… We needed clean clothes and our riding gear needed drying. Once that was done, we loaded the bikes and it had turned into a beautiful day!! It was a bit after 3:00pm so we decided to go ride since that is what we were here to do. We ran up and over the Blue Ridge Parkway on NC 215 and then hit dirt headed East out of Balsam Grove. There were a lot of folks out because of the Memorial Day weekend. Near the end of the road we came upon a good bit of traffic. I was following a truck, running in 2nd gear at maybe 20mph. I was thinking the road was kind of narrow for people to be passing by each other. Right as I had that thought, a small white car was approaching going the opposite direction and didn’t move over much to give the truck room. The truck slowed but the right rear wheel dropped off the edge of the road and the next instant it had dropped off about a 6-7 ft drop and rolled completely over. Fortunately, a tree kept it from going further down the very steep hillside. We stopped immediately and Daniel was down to the truck before I could find a stable spot to park my bike. We could hear the lady inside freaking out. Daniel was yelling to let her know someone was outside trying to help but we needed them to unlock the doors. She couldn’t see us because of the airbags. I think her husband finally heard us and got the doors unlocked so we could open the passenger side door. They appeared to be okay and their dog was fine. They were wearing seatbelts. Getting her out of it and into a position where we could help her out was difficult because of her size. She was also really freaking out. I finally got her to focus on me and told her to look around at what a beautiful day it was and how great it was that she was alive. That kind of snapped her back to reality and she apologized for freaking. We told her that was fine, but we needed her help to get her out. Daniel was holding the door open so it wouldn’t slam shut on us. He was totally calm and very helpful. We eventually managed to get her out, then the dog, and finally her husband. By now some other people had heard the horn honking while she was banging around inside and had come to see what was going on, so we had people to help her back up to the road. We helped her husband focus on finding and getting things like phones, chargers, purse, keys, wallet, laptop, etc,… another couple came running back up the road screaming the wife’s name. They had been ahead of them in a different car and had no idea what had happened. That kind of retriggered the wife. We gave them our contact info and told them we’d be happy to give statements. We also later texted them the pics we had. Unfortunately, the other car never stopped or came back. I don’t even know if they realized what had happened!? The rest of our ride was fantastic!! Despite the recent rains, the dirt roads were in excellent condition. We did had to really watch for other vehicles, bikes, and hikers. We eventually got as far East as I-26 at the French Broad River. After a quick break and getting gas, we got up on the Blue Ridge Parkway and started making our way West. I had told Roger we’d be back by dark and we were going to be pushing it! And it never fails, one little car was going 20 under the 45 mph speed limit, braking randomly, and refusing to pull over into any of the numerous scenic overlook parking area to let the train of vehicles behind them pass. After what seemed like forever, they finally pulled out and then everyone hammered downWe were back in the line and just went with the flow. We passed through a lot of tunnels and eventually made it to NC 151, one of my all time favorite roads. It is easily one of the tightest, twistiest, and technical roads I’ve ever ridden! It is steep, dropping down from the ridge in a few miles. Many of the corners are so tight and steep that it feels like the bike is just going to flop over on its side. The trees formed a perfect tunnel glowing from the late evening sunlight. The pavement was perfect! As much fun as it was going down, going back up was even better. Daniel was locked in right behind me, hitting his braking points, running perfect lines, and ripping to the next corner to do it all over again. His KTM 390 Adventure was getting the job done! When we reached the top we pulled over to take a sunset pic and smelled some burning. Turns out it was our tires! it was getting late so we zipped down the Parkway, past the Pisgah Inn and got on NC 276 to run back down the mountain to Waynesville. 276 is also a seriously fun road. We rolled up to the hotel just after 9:00pm as the last light of the day was fading. We got checked into our room and let Roger know we were back. I think we did almost 230 miles, a good bit of which was extremely twisty dirt roads. It was a longgg day, but awesome. Time to dig out the bottle of Advil.Waiting out the rain…
The Harley belongs to the store clerk, a very friendly and helpful young fellow.
You meet the most interesting people at these places
NC 215 on North side of the BRP
NC 215 heading down South side of the BRP
Daniel helped them get the door open so we could start the process of helping them get out. He did a really good job with them.
Yellow Gap road, a favorite!
BRP just West of NC 151
Same spot looking away from the sun
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Day seven. 209 miles. There was a bit more paved riding than I expected but we still knocked out some great dirt roads. The first half of the day was nice and a tad warm. We ran up to Hotsprings and did a few loops in that area, found some more dead ends, and then worked our way down the West side of I-40 through the National forest. This was all dirt. This was when the BIG rain drops started coming down. Stopping to gear up for the rain before it hit us paid off. Most of it went just South of us and we rode in behind it as it moved through the area. It must have been bad because there were branches down everywhere and quite a bit of run off on the roads. There must have been some nasty winds. One of the branches was around 5” diameter. Seven straight days of hard core twisty paved and dirt roads makes a body tired and sore!! Now I’m sitting in a rocker outside my hotel room waiting for the Advil to kick in and another storm to roll through. The hotel shower is awesome, having lots of water pressure, HOT water, and a good massage head. I am beginning to wonder if Daniel has fallen asleep in there while I sit here waiting for my turn!?
Been seeing a lot of these all week
Typical of the paved and dirt roads out here
Not the same road as above but the same nonetheless
Another group of riders at our lunch stop in Hotsprings
This is a paved road with a LOT of algae growing on it
Roger “might” have fallen over here while doing one of MANY u-turns, but there is no photographic proof, so…
The kickstand switch was acting up. Nothing a few good kicks couldn’t fix
It got dark and wet right after this stop
Small debris from the storm we just missed. There were some corners with much larger debris.
Rock wall at beginning of bridge covered in moss and poison ivy
Our hotel has cool flower beds
Been seeing a lot of these all week
Typical of the paved and dirt roads out here
Not the same road as above but the same nonetheless
Another group of riders at our lunch stop in Hotsprings
This is a paved road with a LOT of algae growing on it
Roger “might” have fallen over here while doing one of MANY u-turns, but there is no photographic proof, so…
The kickstand switch was acting up. Nothing a few good kicks couldn’t fix
It got dark and wet right after this stop
Small debris from the storm we just missed. There were some corners with much larger debris.
Rock wall at beginning of bridge covered in moss and poison ivy
Our hotel has cool flower beds
Some of those hairpins look familiar to me. The big DR thread on ADV had several good in that area and I've seen lots of DR pics taken in very similar places! Definitely on my list of places to go ride someday.
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Day eight. 175 miles or so. I woke up to the sound of thunder, how far off I sat and wondered… started humming a song from 1982 
I looked out the window and it was coming down in buckets! I texted Roger and suggested a rain delay of an hour or so. This worked great! We headed out about 10:30am and made for the Blue Ridge Parkway. We headed in the direction of Cherokee, NC., riding through tunnels and clouds. We came upon a rider on the inside of a corner that was upright on his Honda Africa Twin, but he was in the grass on a soft shoulder and I could see he was stuck. We pulled off at what was already going to be our turn onto a dirt road and parked the bikes. We were able to grab his crash bars and pull while he gave it a bit of gas, easing the bike back up onto the pavement. We got him parked over by our bikes so he’d be out of the line of traffic and made sure he was okay. As best I can tell, he dropped off the edge of the pavement and just slid out in the mud and grass. We helped him get the globs of mud and grass off the bike and make sure everything on the bike was good to go. As usual, I forgot his name, but he was from Chicago. Anyway… the dirt road was great but short, eventually dropping us out on the Cherokee Scenic Byway. We ran this until it dead ended into the start of the Heintooga Loop, a superb one way dirt road! There was very little traffic. It wasn’t raining, but the heavy tree canopy was dripping a good bit and there was quite a lot of water on the road. The steep sections were quite rutted from the water running down them. There was a heavy fog for much of the ride and it was in the mid 50s. It was a very surreal riding experience. The dirt section of the loop was about 28 miles and eventually became a wonderfully smooth paved road that followed a river down out of the mountains into the town of Cherokee. We had a great lunch there and then continued working our way South to run up and over Leatherman Gap. The road heading up the mountain was yet another fantastic twisty paved road. We came upon work crews replacing broken power poles and clearing trees. The top few feet of the power poles had been snapped off and power lines were on the ground. The crews were already prepping new poles. Shortly after we reached the start of the dirt and it was great! It wasn’t very wet and traction was perfect. It was steep and twisty. It even had a few decent water crossings. We popped out just North of Franklin on NC 28. This would be our third time to run this section of 28, it really is that good! This time though, we ran it all the way up to The Tail of the Dragon, or Deals Gap, a now infamous twisty road boasting 318 curves in 11 miles. It’s not one of my favorite roads in the area, but it is a bucket list item for many people, so we came to let Daniel ride it on his own bike this time instead of on the back of mine like last time in 2019. Roger just hung out at the resort at the start and socialized. The run out and back was a blast, until we got stuck behind some seriously slow sport bikes. The road is in the process of being repaved. About half of the outbound lane had been done and all of the return line had been done. It was perfectly clean blacktop, dry, and super smoooth! I let Daniel lead the return run so I could get him on video. He was being super smooth and hitting all of his lines. It was really fun to watch. About halfway back we pulled right to let some seriously fast bike blow by us, one with a young girl in blue jean shorts and a crop top perched on the backseat. She did at least have on a helmet. She must REALLY trust the dude driving!! We met up with Roger back at the start and gassed up the bikes. And then the rain came, HARD!! It only last about ten minutes. Once it passed Roger headed back down 28 to the Fontana Village to check in for the evening while Daniel and I ran down US 129 and then took a great short cut back over the mountains that dropped out into the backside of the resort. It was deserted and more fun than Deals Gap. We got checked and made it to the grill just before closing time for dinner. While they were cleaning up after closing, the staff let us sit outside on the covered deck with our drinks to watch the end of a great day!
After the morning storm had passed
The fire tower kept slipping in and out of view as the clouds passed by
Passenger on the Africa Twin we rescued
A little dirty, but rider and bike good to go!
Moose? Meese? Huge deer? Whatever, they were freaking big and sleeping on the shoulder of the BRP!! They weren’t real concerned about the sound of our bikes either. But, they did keep an eye on us!
These waterfalls were everywhere!!
Heading to Leatherman Gap
The larger of the two water crossings on Leatherman Gap
This is why we run deep and wide in corners!! This would be right at the exit of the corner if we had been coming the other direction
The grill at the Fontana Village Resort
The porch at the grill
I looked out the window and it was coming down in buckets! I texted Roger and suggested a rain delay of an hour or so. This worked great! We headed out about 10:30am and made for the Blue Ridge Parkway. We headed in the direction of Cherokee, NC., riding through tunnels and clouds. We came upon a rider on the inside of a corner that was upright on his Honda Africa Twin, but he was in the grass on a soft shoulder and I could see he was stuck. We pulled off at what was already going to be our turn onto a dirt road and parked the bikes. We were able to grab his crash bars and pull while he gave it a bit of gas, easing the bike back up onto the pavement. We got him parked over by our bikes so he’d be out of the line of traffic and made sure he was okay. As best I can tell, he dropped off the edge of the pavement and just slid out in the mud and grass. We helped him get the globs of mud and grass off the bike and make sure everything on the bike was good to go. As usual, I forgot his name, but he was from Chicago. Anyway… the dirt road was great but short, eventually dropping us out on the Cherokee Scenic Byway. We ran this until it dead ended into the start of the Heintooga Loop, a superb one way dirt road! There was very little traffic. It wasn’t raining, but the heavy tree canopy was dripping a good bit and there was quite a lot of water on the road. The steep sections were quite rutted from the water running down them. There was a heavy fog for much of the ride and it was in the mid 50s. It was a very surreal riding experience. The dirt section of the loop was about 28 miles and eventually became a wonderfully smooth paved road that followed a river down out of the mountains into the town of Cherokee. We had a great lunch there and then continued working our way South to run up and over Leatherman Gap. The road heading up the mountain was yet another fantastic twisty paved road. We came upon work crews replacing broken power poles and clearing trees. The top few feet of the power poles had been snapped off and power lines were on the ground. The crews were already prepping new poles. Shortly after we reached the start of the dirt and it was great! It wasn’t very wet and traction was perfect. It was steep and twisty. It even had a few decent water crossings. We popped out just North of Franklin on NC 28. This would be our third time to run this section of 28, it really is that good! This time though, we ran it all the way up to The Tail of the Dragon, or Deals Gap, a now infamous twisty road boasting 318 curves in 11 miles. It’s not one of my favorite roads in the area, but it is a bucket list item for many people, so we came to let Daniel ride it on his own bike this time instead of on the back of mine like last time in 2019. Roger just hung out at the resort at the start and socialized. The run out and back was a blast, until we got stuck behind some seriously slow sport bikes. The road is in the process of being repaved. About half of the outbound lane had been done and all of the return line had been done. It was perfectly clean blacktop, dry, and super smoooth! I let Daniel lead the return run so I could get him on video. He was being super smooth and hitting all of his lines. It was really fun to watch. About halfway back we pulled right to let some seriously fast bike blow by us, one with a young girl in blue jean shorts and a crop top perched on the backseat. She did at least have on a helmet. She must REALLY trust the dude driving!! We met up with Roger back at the start and gassed up the bikes. And then the rain came, HARD!! It only last about ten minutes. Once it passed Roger headed back down 28 to the Fontana Village to check in for the evening while Daniel and I ran down US 129 and then took a great short cut back over the mountains that dropped out into the backside of the resort. It was deserted and more fun than Deals Gap. We got checked and made it to the grill just before closing time for dinner. While they were cleaning up after closing, the staff let us sit outside on the covered deck with our drinks to watch the end of a great day!After the morning storm had passed
The fire tower kept slipping in and out of view as the clouds passed by
Passenger on the Africa Twin we rescued
A little dirty, but rider and bike good to go!
Moose? Meese? Huge deer? Whatever, they were freaking big and sleeping on the shoulder of the BRP!! They weren’t real concerned about the sound of our bikes either. But, they did keep an eye on us!
These waterfalls were everywhere!!
Heading to Leatherman Gap
The larger of the two water crossings on Leatherman Gap
This is why we run deep and wide in corners!! This would be right at the exit of the corner if we had been coming the other direction
The grill at the Fontana Village Resort
The porch at the grill
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Simmons1
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Been a while since I have been over that way. I am enjoying the photos immensely.
Same here! I was living in Stone Mtn GA when I bought the Wee VStrom from a retired ex marine living just over the N GA border in Murphy, NC. He became an unofficial riding mentor to me. I’d get up before dawn and ride north, we would meet for breakfast then ride all day. I learned so much just by following him.
It is really cool to see these pix and have the feeling of recognition of the place names and highways. (It never occurred to me to venture down any unpaved road. LOL)
Thanks for taking the time and spending the energy to crest this RR, Scott. You’ll always have a great memory book of these journeys.
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Day nine, 200 miles. We ran some fantastic little paved backroads out the back side of Fontana Village Resort over to US 129 and the Joyce Kilmer road over the NC 145, the Cherohala Skyway. This is 55 miles of paved motorcycle bliss. We basically had it all to ourselves. We took a break in Tellico Plains, TN., before heading into the woods on Old Furnace Rd., another nice flowing dirt road through the mountains. We did a short stint on TN 68 down to Joe Brown Highway and cut back East back into North Carolina. This was all excellent twisty pavement with little traffic. We eventually back North over the mountains on Davis Creek Rd., and Tipton Creek Rd., which were both superb dirt! I let Daniel take point and followed to shoot video. He set a really smooth pace and it was a blast to watch. We reached the Tellico River and followed it for a while. It was paved and fun, but we soon turned back onto dirt on Green Cove and then Bald River Roads. These had a lot of fresh gravel, which was nice, except for this one corner… At that point I was leading and we here heading down the mountain. Coming into the corner I was carrying more speed than I wanted and went for the back brake. It locked up, which is not unusual when riding dirt, but it wasn’t slowing me down and I came in a bit hot. I was hollering at myself, “TURN THE BIKE!!” Also not unusual because it help override the natural tendency to panic and freeze up. Daniel is right behind me listening and watching all of this. Make the turn or go off the side of the mountain… I ran a bit wide and that fresh new gravel got the best of me. It was deep on the outside of the corner and my front end tucked, causing the bike to land on the right side and slide. Fortunately, by the time I went down, I had scrubbed a good bit of speed and was traveling parallel to the edge of the road, so I did not go over the side, which would have been a longggg way down and STEEP. As it was, I just slid a few feet on my right side. My riding gear did its job. No injuries. The crash bars on the bike did their job. No damage to the bike. Daniel managed not to target fixate and run me over, getting himself stopped next to me. He immediately asked if I was okay. When I said yes, he immediately took a picture before I could even get up off the ground He and Roger helped me lift the bike and we continued on our way, eventually getting back to Tellico where we stopped for lunch and gas. We headed out of town on TN 360to Rafter Road. This was yet another super twisty paved road and it connected to Indian Boundary Rd. Somewhere along the way it became dirt and seemed to endlessly follow creeks and or rivers. We turned onto Doublecamp Creek Rd. All over the place there was evidence of storm damage. Trees were down all over the place. Whoever maintains the roads had done a great job of getting in here and clearing the road fast, like maybe in the last day or two! We turned back East on Cold Spring Rd., and it got very rocky and rough!! It was hard to miss all the big rocks and was taking some pretty good hits to the front end of the bike. I was really wishing I had the new front end shock installed. It wasn’t working and I had to replace it with my old one just days before leave for this trip. By the time we got back to pavement, I was beat! We rolled in Vonore, TN., gassed up the bikes and grabbed some snacks. Then we found our hotel and settled in for the evening. It was another great day of riding in motorcycle Nirvana!
View from our back porch
Cool moth outside our cabin this morning
Some kind of Ducati next door. He had the TV on ALL NIGHT at a fairly high volume
The view from Roger’s room
Just before we dropped out onto US 129
That is US 129 down below us. This pipe has to be at least 8 feet in diameter and OLD. It is all riveted steel rather than welded. It also leaks.
Looking from one of the overlooks on the NC side of the Cherohala Skyway.
This might be part of Old Furnace Road South of Tellico Plains.
Tellico River along River Road
That one corner… on Bald River Road coming down the North side of the mountains back to the Skyway (TN 165).
It got deep and soft where Daniel is standing
Ready to get back to business!
Excellent lunch at very inexpensive prices!!
She let me take this so I could text it to Sarah and Rachel because I knew they’d love them.
These little dudes were all over the place
On in… there are 5-6 babies trying to keep up with momma. The current was moving pretty fast because of all the storms, but they were able to stay with her! No idea what kind of duck it was?
It’s a 1920 something. The wife was kind of grumpy so I moved on
There are TONS of abandoned homes, businesses, and vehicles in these mountains!
Near the start of Doublecamp Creek Rd., and it started getting really bumpy and rocky after this!!
There were quite a few recently cleared trees all along the roads. This one had been cut some time ago from the looks of it.
At that point I was leading and we here heading down the mountain. Coming into the corner I was carrying more speed than I wanted and went for the back brake. It locked up, which is not unusual when riding dirt, but it wasn’t slowing me down and I came in a bit hot. I was hollering at myself, “TURN THE BIKE!!” Also not unusual because it help override the natural tendency to panic and freeze up. Daniel is right behind me listening and watching all of this. Make the turn or go off the side of the mountain… I ran a bit wide and that fresh new gravel got the best of me. It was deep on the outside of the corner and my front end tucked, causing the bike to land on the right side and slide. Fortunately, by the time I went down, I had scrubbed a good bit of speed and was traveling parallel to the edge of the road, so I did not go over the side, which would have been a longggg way down and STEEP. As it was, I just slid a few feet on my right side. My riding gear did its job. No injuries. The crash bars on the bike did their job. No damage to the bike. Daniel managed not to target fixate and run me over, getting himself stopped next to me. He immediately asked if I was okay. When I said yes, he immediately took a picture before I could even get up off the ground He and Roger helped me lift the bike and we continued on our way, eventually getting back to Tellico where we stopped for lunch and gas. We headed out of town on TN 360to Rafter Road. This was yet another super twisty paved road and it connected to Indian Boundary Rd. Somewhere along the way it became dirt and seemed to endlessly follow creeks and or rivers. We turned onto Doublecamp Creek Rd. All over the place there was evidence of storm damage. Trees were down all over the place. Whoever maintains the roads had done a great job of getting in here and clearing the road fast, like maybe in the last day or two! We turned back East on Cold Spring Rd., and it got very rocky and rough!! It was hard to miss all the big rocks and was taking some pretty good hits to the front end of the bike. I was really wishing I had the new front end shock installed. It wasn’t working and I had to replace it with my old one just days before leave for this trip. By the time we got back to pavement, I was beat! We rolled in Vonore, TN., gassed up the bikes and grabbed some snacks. Then we found our hotel and settled in for the evening. It was another great day of riding in motorcycle Nirvana!View from our back porch
Cool moth outside our cabin this morning
Some kind of Ducati next door. He had the TV on ALL NIGHT at a fairly high volume
The view from Roger’s room
Just before we dropped out onto US 129
That is US 129 down below us. This pipe has to be at least 8 feet in diameter and OLD. It is all riveted steel rather than welded. It also leaks.
Looking from one of the overlooks on the NC side of the Cherohala Skyway.
This might be part of Old Furnace Road South of Tellico Plains.
Tellico River along River Road
That one corner… on Bald River Road coming down the North side of the mountains back to the Skyway (TN 165).
It got deep and soft where Daniel is standing
Ready to get back to business!
Excellent lunch at very inexpensive prices!!
She let me take this so I could text it to Sarah and Rachel because I knew they’d love them.
These little dudes were all over the place
On in… there are 5-6 babies trying to keep up with momma. The current was moving pretty fast because of all the storms, but they were able to stay with her! No idea what kind of duck it was?
It’s a 1920 something. The wife was kind of grumpy so I moved on
There are TONS of abandoned homes, businesses, and vehicles in these mountains!
Near the start of Doublecamp Creek Rd., and it started getting really bumpy and rocky after this!!
There were quite a few recently cleared trees all along the roads. This one had been cut some time ago from the looks of it.
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Thrills and spills and still no broken brake lever! Amazing!
Awesome mountain area and flowing water pics! Glad you were not hurt when your bike took a nap!
Look out for black bears!
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Great report of a great ride. Not that I'm keeping score but I think now every bike has been on the ground. We can't confirm @Rsquared but it seems to be very plausible.
I like how you are on a mix of bikes all enjoying the same roads together. I often hear comments about how that bike is too big, that bike is too small...We all get lost looking for that Goldilocks bike when what we should do is get out and enjoy what we have. Ride on!
I like how you are on a mix of bikes all enjoying the same roads together. I often hear comments about how that bike is too big, that bike is too small...We all get lost looking for that Goldilocks bike when what we should do is get out and enjoy what we have. Ride on!
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We are back in Dalton, Ga., safe and mostly sound, at least of body… Heading out momentarily to get dinner. Will post up report and pics from today after dinner. We’ll be leaving here early AM to haul back to Texas.
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Daniel put together this short video from our riding on day nine.
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Day ten, our last day on the bikes. 187miles. After watching Daniel ride for nine days Roger graciously offered to let Daniel ride his KTM 690 Enduro today to see how he liked it because he has been talking about wanting to buy one eventually. Also, Roger was curious to ride Daniel’s KTM 390 Adventure. We left Vonore, TN., right at 9:00am and started working our way sort of South in a round about way on narrow paved roads that were like roller coasters. I didn’t waste any time before missing a few turns and finding dead ends. It was all fun, but we were soon back on the dirt roads leading up and over the mountains. By now we’ve become quite proficient at navigating what seem like endless steep switchbacks going up and down up and down… Daniel REALLY likes the 690, on pavement and dirt! We stopped in Reliance, TN, at a little corner store and had a fantastic lunch made from scratch by the store clerk. After lunch, we did a bit of pavement and headed back in to woods on the dirt. There was a good deal more tree damage along the these roads than what we had previously encountered. Several times on some of the paved roads we encountered tree crews working. Most of the time on the dirt roads they were cleared. However, we did have to stop and move some and even had to ride over one. Daniel almost made it over that one but he hit his foot peg on the part of the log where I told him not to hit his foot peg, my fault for making him fixate on it The bike fell over but he stepped off right into a bear hug from me because I was spotting him. The bike was fine. I managed to ride the big GS over it. Roger opted to walk his 690 Enduro over it. Being the last day, we were getting tired and were trying to be careful. Some sections of the dirt got quite rough and technical. We reached US 64 and headed East a bit before turning South back into a national forest. By now we had maybe 50 miles left of our route. We encountered our least favorite road surface, freshly laid deep gravel. It went for miles. Cornering in it is a delicate balancing act of having enough speed to be stable but not so much that one or both tires starts sliding on what feels like marbles! Daniel and I were talking about how much we dislike this kind of gravel but how we will put up with it and moments later I heard the unmistakable sound of his bike going down I stopped immediately and by the time I could look back he was already on the communicator letting me know he was fine. Roger pulled up a few seconds later and we started checking over Daniel and his bike. Like me yesterday, he was fine because the riding gear did its job! The bike was also fine. In a few minutes we were rolling again. The gravel eventually ended, to the relief of us all! We soon reached pavement again and started the last stretch of the trip. We finished on a high note because this was GA 2 East of Chatsworth and it is another roller coaster of perfectly smooth asphalt with tight corners for miles. We pulled in behind Phil’s house and parked behind the trucks. He came out and visited with us while we loaded the bikes. We met Roger back at the hotel and after showering and a change of clothes we finished off the trip with dinner at Outback Steakhouse. Roger generously bought our dinner and we sat a while recounting the last ten days and sharing stories from past adventures. I think it is fair to say that Daniel is HOOKED! Tomorrow we start the long haul back to Texas, 13 hours or so…
“So what you’re going to want to do is….”
Totally stoked!
An excellent cook!!
There was a lot of this!
Even on this pic it is wayyy twistier than it looks!!
He’s standing where he came through! I managed to hug the inside edge all the way down.
There is a mark behind him where his back tire was sliding as he dropped into the crevice before he realized he was committed to the line!
After we got the bike righted and him remounted
There are seemingly endless miles of roads like this here!
The last day blues…
I don’t know what these are, but they are blooming everywhere!
Cool overlook at a four way intersection
We just came up this
We went up the left side and it was the start of a longgg climb!
Annoyed that he dropped his bike but still having a blast!
The man that never drops his bike… in front of anyone
Trip done. He done.
Roger’s rear blinker. We don’t know what happened he might enlighten us
Getting ready to load it all up for the trip home.
Gratuitous flower pic from our walk to Outback for dinner.
The bike fell over but he stepped off right into a bear hug from me because I was spotting him. The bike was fine. I managed to ride the big GS over it. Roger opted to walk his 690 Enduro over it. Being the last day, we were getting tired and were trying to be careful. Some sections of the dirt got quite rough and technical. We reached US 64 and headed East a bit before turning South back into a national forest. By now we had maybe 50 miles left of our route. We encountered our least favorite road surface, freshly laid deep gravel. It went for miles. Cornering in it is a delicate balancing act of having enough speed to be stable but not so much that one or both tires starts sliding on what feels like marbles! Daniel and I were talking about how much we dislike this kind of gravel but how we will put up with it and moments later I heard the unmistakable sound of his bike going down I stopped immediately and by the time I could look back he was already on the communicator letting me know he was fine. Roger pulled up a few seconds later and we started checking over Daniel and his bike. Like me yesterday, he was fine because the riding gear did its job! The bike was also fine. In a few minutes we were rolling again. The gravel eventually ended, to the relief of us all! We soon reached pavement again and started the last stretch of the trip. We finished on a high note because this was GA 2 East of Chatsworth and it is another roller coaster of perfectly smooth asphalt with tight corners for miles. We pulled in behind Phil’s house and parked behind the trucks. He came out and visited with us while we loaded the bikes. We met Roger back at the hotel and after showering and a change of clothes we finished off the trip with dinner at Outback Steakhouse. Roger generously bought our dinner and we sat a while recounting the last ten days and sharing stories from past adventures. I think it is fair to say that Daniel is HOOKED! Tomorrow we start the long haul back to Texas, 13 hours or so…“So what you’re going to want to do is….”
Totally stoked!
An excellent cook!!
There was a lot of this!
Even on this pic it is wayyy twistier than it looks!!
He’s standing where he came through! I managed to hug the inside edge all the way down.
There is a mark behind him where his back tire was sliding as he dropped into the crevice before he realized he was committed to the line!
After we got the bike righted and him remounted
There are seemingly endless miles of roads like this here!
The last day blues…
I don’t know what these are, but they are blooming everywhere!
Cool overlook at a four way intersection
We just came up this
We went up the left side and it was the start of a longgg climb!
Annoyed that he dropped his bike but still having a blast!
The man that never drops his bike… in front of anyone
Trip done. He done.
Roger’s rear blinker. We don’t know what happened
he might enlighten us Getting ready to load it all up for the trip home.
Gratuitous flower pic from our walk to Outback for dinner.
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Those cigar box guitars behind the store counter and pretty cool.
Plus one amazing ride y'all are having!
Plus one amazing ride y'all are having!
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Day eleven, 818 miles! Mostly good weather until we reached East Texas! Managed to get home in 13 hours and unload the bikes just before a nasty storm ripped through the area taking out trees all over town and knocking out power for a good chunk of town. Were good. Passed by Bambi Kiser’s home and saw a big oak tree in her yard was down so we stopped to make sure she was good. There were numerous trees down at her home near the Ella Smither overpass at I-45, and many more throughout the Avenues part of town. There was an amazing amount of street flooding. The lightning was spectacular and CLOSE! When it let up the sun peaked under the edge of the storm and created a massive full rainbow with a faint double that was even bigger! We managed to get dinner despite the power outages and get home safely after Daniel and I made sure to top off all our generator gas cans, just in case… The yard is beyond being out of control because it hasn’t been mowed in at least three weeks and who knows when it will ever be dry enough to mow again!? Meanwhile we have a lot of branches to pick up, trees to trim, and several that just need to be dropped completely. I’m already missing being in the Smokies riding
Glad y’all are back safe and sound.
Thanks for taking us along!
Thanks for taking us along!
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In that last picture, what is the smoke in the tree line coming from?
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That has to be some kind of lens flare on his camera. That is me in the pic and there was no smoke.
No brake levers were harmed in the making of this adventure.