June 1, 2010 – Riding the Great Smokey Mountains

June 1, 2010

Waterfalls & The Great Smokey Mountains

I open my eyes and look at my watch.  Its 0540 hrs and I can hear the pitter patter of raindrops on my tent fly.  We moved our campsite last evening because we were both tired of the rivers that were running below the floors.  It seem a little dryer in the tent, but the thought of riding again in the rain is most undesireable.  I roll over, close my eyes again and pray for nicer weather.
I get out of my sleeping bag shortly before 0700 hrs.  I'd done laundry last night, so at least I had clean clothes to put on, although this morning, they're a little damp.  I get dressed and make my way to the kitchen.  Its breakfast burritos for breakfast courtesy of the VFRW Guys..I gotta say, they put on quite a spread.  We have coffee and Tyler, Dusten and Dan are checking the Weather Radar on their mobile phones.  The showers look to be passing and it should be a nice day for riding.
We leave KSL at almost 11 and head for Dry Falls.  Again, the road is a Motorcyclist's dream.  Tight, decreasing radius curves, long sweepers and S-Turns that make my knees ache.  Its a good ache though...we dont' get curves like this at home.  We make the turnoff to Dry falls and the road gets to be even more fun.  Its narrow and follows the river -- and with the recent rain, the river is moving very fast.  We make our way over a hill and see the parking lot for Dry Falls.  The falls are huge and we take the opportunity for pictures. 
When we finish, we load up again and head to Bridal Veil falls, where you can ride your motorcycle under and take pictures.  The water, as cold as rain is quite refreshing since its become very humid. 
We finish at this end of the county and stop at a Hardee's for lunch.  Not the best meal, but the restaurant is Air Conditioned.  We've got the route mapped and head for Wayah Road to make our way to Robbinsville and the Cherohala Skyway.  Wayah Road is another one of those incredible mountain roads with tight curves and long sweepers following the river.  There's also hardly any traffic.  We can run pretty hard though here and acutally push the bikes to their limits.  I think my 900 is going to hate me at the end of this trip.  Wayah road also put the first scare into me of the trip.  I took a corner too tightly and ended up in the soft shoulder.  Unfortunately, the shoulder is VERY soft due to the recent rain and I bury the bike damn near to the axle.    I get off and it stays up without the side stand.  Crap.  I cuss quietly..okay, who am I kidding?  I cuss loudly at the bike and the curve and then try and figure out my way out.  I lift the ass end by the luggage rack, hop aboard and and slowly rock back to the asphalt.  That was embarrassing. 
We make the Cherohala Skyway and it rises into the mountains and provides 50 minutes of sheer joy and exhiliration.  The curves are absolutely incredible and there is literally NO traffic.  And no Tenessee Highway Patrol.  We double the speed limit for most of the trip and upon completion of the run, find the Bald River Falls about six miles off the main road.  After some pictures, we take another 50 minutes filling our visors with toothy grins as we head back to Robbinsville.
The day ends with when we return to KSL for dinner and a beer.  Tomorrow, we start heading home...

                            

I just had to take a picture of this T-Shirt.  Written on it were a lot of the names of folks I communicate with on a daily basis.  Names of friends who I haven’t met face to face yet.

Bobby, Mo and Courtney.  Owners and operators of Kickstand Lodge.  I’m proud to say, “I know Mo!”.
 
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Jim and Cindy. Cindy and her husband have toured Nova Scotia on their Goldwing and are returning this fall. I sure hope they call…Jim reminds me a lot of my friend Reid Sanford. He’s retired and travels all summer by motorcycle