Yesterday’s ride started much the same as others on this motorcycle trip.  We started off by going into Maryville to eat.  We wanted to go to the Cracker Barrel there, but opted for Lee’s “Famous Recipe” Chicken, as that sounded good to Amy.  It turns out that they have a few less menu items at their location than the one that is about 25 miles south of our house.  I like hot and spicy foods, and the location near our house has chicken with hot and spicy breading and noodles that are loaded with black pepper.  I do not know if either of these are common at other locations, but they did not have them in Maryville.  We still enjoyed our meal.  

After eating, we headed out of Maryville, TN on US 129.  This time, we rode a length of it that I have never been on, from Maryville to the Foothills Parkway.  After passing the Foothills Parkway, we rode “The Tail of the Dragon” for the last time of this trip.  We were not in the area to ride the Dragon, it just happened that we rode it several times as it was the best way to get to where we wanted to go.  After riding the Dragon, we rode NC 28 “The Hellbender” to US 19 then US 74 to Cherokee, NC.  We rode US 441 through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Traffic was heavy and the going was slow in Cherokee and in Smoky Mountains National Park.  I have been through this park so many times it is not funny, but I have never hiked (or walked on the paved path, however you may look at it) to the top of Clingman’s Dome.  I have been up the road to Clingman’s Dome several times, but only managed to make it as far as the parking lot, because nobody ever wanted to take the steep trail with me.  Here is a little information on Clingman’s Dome, from http://www.clingmandsdome.com

At 6,643 feet, Clingmans Dome is Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s highest point. It is the highest point in Tennessee, and the second highest point east of the Mississippi. Only North Carolina’s Mt. Mitchell (6,684 feet) rises higher.Clingmans Dome is a popular Park destination. Located along the state-line ridge, it is half in North Carolina and half in Tennessee. The peak is accessible after driving Clingmans Dome Road from Newfound Gap, and then walking a steep half-mile trail. A paved trail leads to a 54-foot observation tower. The Appalachian Trail crosses Clingmans Dome, marking the highest point along its 2,144 mile journey.

On the road to Clingman’s Dome, we came around a bend, and there were cars stopped.  Amy, of course had the camera ready to go.  There was a black bear standing right beside the road, eating the grass.  It was pretty comical that people were in their cars, with the windows barely cracked and holding camreas out to take photos of the bear.  The people in front of us did not want to stop directly in front of the bear, I guess they were scared that the bear would maul them in their minivan, so they pulled past the bear and stopped.  You guessed it, this put us right in front of the bear.  Here is a photo.  

Here is a black bear standing beside the road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This is the first time that Amy has ever seen a bear in the wild.

 Now I was not worried one bit, sitting by that bear on my motorcycle, as it was a black bear, and I know that they are not usually aggressive.  Then when I got back to my uncle’s house, I was told of this story.

 

GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) — Officials at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park say a black bear mauled an 8-year-old Florida boy and the boy’s father was injured while defending him.

Park rangers later killed a bear matching the description of the one in the attack.

Park spokesman Bob Miller says the bear approached Evan Pala of Boca Raton, Fla., while he was playing in a creek at about 7:30 p.m. Monday. Miller says the bear attacked the boy, was driven off and came back a second time.

Miller says the father was able to chase the bear away with rocks and sticks.

 

The boy suffered some puncture wounds that were serious but not believed to be life-threatening. The father, John Pala, suffered several cuts during the attack.

So much for my career as a park ranger. My guess is the bear that attacked had been fed by humans.  That always ends bad for the bear.  People think it is “cute” to feed the wildlife, never thinking about the outcome.  There are people around here that feed ducks and geese, then they end up dying in the winter, because they don’t migrate.

After making it to the parking lot of Clingman’s Dome, we hiked up to the top.  Just as when we visited Mt. Washington, it was beautiful when we pulled into the parking lot, but by the time we hiked to the top, the clouds rolled in and we couldn’t see a thing.  Oh well, we got to go to the top and see the bear too.

We left Clingman’s Dome and rode back to the house via US 441 to US 411.  It was a slow ride going through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.  This ride took about 6 hours with the hike included.  It took so long mostly due to the heavy traffic, and the steep hike to the top of Clingman’s Dome.  We had a great time, but it is not a ride to take if you want to go fast, it just won’t happen. 

I wonder why they call these The Great Smoky Mountains?

I love this photo. The blur of the pavement adds to the look of going fast.

Yesterday, we decided to take a short ride.  After days of leaving early, returning late, and eating supper at 10:00 PM, we thought it would be nice to be back at a decent time.  We left and set out to the Foothills Parkway to US 129 “The Tail of the Dragon” and then went past the Horse Creek campground in the Joyce Kilmer Forest.  After passing through the Joyce Kilmer Forest, we headed out the Cherohala Skyway toward Tellico Plains, Tennessee.  This road is a great road for motorcycles as there is almost no traffic.  The sweeping turns are great and plentiful.  There are pull offs with scenic views it seems almost every mile.  There are some photos from the Skyway on one of our previous posts.  Yesterday, the pace was more relaxed and we made several stops.  Amy was taking photos almost the entire time.  I am so glad I do not buy film anymore.

I like this photo too, probably because of the yellow line. Amy really had to hang off of the bike to capture these.

When we made it to within 14 miles of Tellico Plains, we came to another pull off, but this time there was a US Forest Service truck blocking the roadway just before the pull off.  There was fire truck in the pull off with its emergency lights on.  I told Amy to get ready with the camera, as there was probably a helicopter coming.  It turns out that there had been a motorcycle crash about two miles up the road.  

Video of Helicopter Landing on Cherohala Skyway

We passed the accident, it was a black Yamaha sportbike that looks like it “low sided” in a turn.  The bike was pretty damaged.  We don’t know how the driver turned out, we hope that he is OK.  

We finished riding the Cherohala Skyway and stopped for a drink and an ice cream bar at the gas station in Tellico Plains.  Being from Ohio, we do not get to enjoy Mayfield Dairy ice cream, so I take advantage of being in the south.  I was sitting outside on a bench eating my ice cream and a cool hot rod pulled in.  I told the owner that he had one car that I could love driving.  It looked like they had fun climbing in and out of the car.

We decided that we had so much fun on our ride, that we just turned around and did the exact same route on the way home.  It took a little longer going that route versus going the direct route, but I would ride from Ohio to do this route.

On our way back toward Robbinsville, NC, we came around a turn and saw an animal on the roadway.  We weren’t sure, but it looked like a black dog.  As we approached, it turned sideways and we could see that it was a wild hog and there were four others with it that ran out in front of us.  We did not get to the camera in time to get a photo of them.  By the time we got the camera, all we captured in the photo was trees.

Does this dam look familiar?

This is the dam that appeared in the movie "The Fugitive"

Our “short ride” took us several hours after the wait for the helicopter and the sightseeing, but it was fun.  Later we went to El Sazon in Maryville, TN for supper.  It is a great mexican restaurant that is a favorite of our family.

We are on a trip right now.  We are staying with family in the Knoxville, TN area and we traveled to Atlanta, GA to see my sister for a couple of days.  We have been riding an average of 300 miles per day.  Today we rode 344.4 miles and nearly ran out of gas.  Anyway, here are some photos we have taken along the way.  I will post more stories when I have some time.

Honda CB550SC Nighthawk running on the freeway. Not bad for a $300 bike!

Here is a shot of my sister's Honda CB550SC Nighthawk with my BMW Boxer motor in the foreground.

This photo of our BMW R1200RT taken on the Cherohala Skyway looks like a BMW advertisement

Here is another great photo that Amy took of my Uncle Greg's BMW R1150RT on the Cherohala Skyway.

These butterflies were EVERYWHERE on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Amy took many photos of the butterflies, and of the bees, but she got both in this photo.

I will post more photos when I have some more time.  Our days have been starting early and ending late, so I must call it a night.  We will be going back into the mountains tomorrow to ride some more great roads, and probably let Amy take many more photos.