Appalachia

[dbarkdoll_imp]

Day 2

Got an early start and set my GPS for Tellico Plains, Tennessee. Another 5+ hours to there. Geeze, I underestimated how long it would take to get to the good riding areas out there. Oh well, better get a move on. More divided highway for the whole morning, Highway 64 I believe. Coulda been worse, but you can only ride though so much flat farmland before you start to wonder why you didn’t just drive. No matter, headphones back in, throttle pinned, let’s get there already. Not sure when I got to Tellico Plains but I’d say it was about 2:00. I could see the foothills to the east, I knew I was close now. I could also see some foreboding weather forming above said foothills, uh oh. Fingers crossed. Left the fuel station and hopped on the Cherohala Skyway for my first real taste of the Appalachians on two wheels. Needless to say I was on cloud nine and grateful to finally be on some beautiful curves. Flew by a few overlooks til I saw one that looked nice, I needed to pee anyway.



I was keeping my eye on the dark clouds forming ahead of me, contemplating whether I should put my rain gear on or not, when a family pulls up to the overlook.

“You gotten any hail yet?”, they asked.

“No.”

“We ran into some about 30 minutes back”

“I was just contemplating whether or not to put my rain gear on...”

“I’d put it on.”

Duly noted.

Kept on heading east and gaining elevation when it started to come down. Thank you nice family for the heads up. Nothing too crazy, I’ve ridden in harder rain, but at 4000-5000 feet let’s just say my nerves were a bit tight. Plodded along and actually enjoyed the ride for the most part, my gear worked well and I was happy to cool off finally. Didn’t stop for anymore overlooks or pictures obviously, just wanted to get down off the mountain and back down to normal weather. Did so before too long and started looking for a place to camp for the night. Picked a spot out on the map right by Lake Santeelah, and boy did I make the right choice.

If you’re ever in the area and are down with primitive camping, this is the spot. It’s called Cheoah Point. The lake is beautiful and there’s a nice swimming area. The campsites are nice and spread out, making for a very quiet and peaceful nights sleep, free hot showers (yes, you read correctly.), free drinking water, no bugs, no dew on the tent in the morning, and oh yeah. It’s 15 minutes south of Deals Gap. For $20 a night. Can’t beat that.







I contemplated doing the Dragon that night, but decided to hit it fresh in the morning. I could hear people screaming and roaring down US 129 to and from there for most of the evening. My closest neighbors had some dual sports they had trailered in so naturally I went over to chat with them. Two super nice guys who drove down from Toronto and were riding the area for a week. Been coming down there for 8 years now doing the same thing so they knew all the roads front and back and gave me some suggestions on what i should ride the next day. Had some beers and talked bikes with them the rest of the night and then hit the hay. Wonderful guys really.