2016-05-26 thru 29 Tellico Plains Adventure

[kdtrull]

Me and the lazeebum....we think alike in several ways.  For instance, we both equate "long weekend" with "long ride".  And so it was....except Randy was a step ahead.  He already knew where he was going.  And I only knew that I was going somewhere.  He had already setup for a trip to Tellico Plains with a stay at the Cherohala Mountain Trails Campground.  So, that settled that...now we both know where we're going.  But, we almost never know how we're going to get there.  And, we almost always know it ain't gonna' be on the interstate.  A good portion of the fun of it all is developing the route, while en' route.  Which is where we begin with the audible and visual stimuli.  One great way to get yourself up to the CMTCG is to take TN 30 for part of the way:



More to follow.....

[kdtrull]

I don't have time to cut up another video tonight but here is where we were headed:



It's a great place with it's own unique brand of coolness....mainly due to the goodly nature of the owners/operators, Wayne and Kelly.  I forget what it costs to camp there for a night...but, it's not much.  And for a one-time fee of 15 clams, Wayne will have a large tent with two cots, two bags, two pillows, and two nice chairs outside, waiting for you when you get there.  Good grief, it made packing so much easier!!  He even ran a drop cord to the tent so I could use my sleepy-time life support system.

As it gets dark, the place takes on an additional element of coolness.





The main lighting was all crafted from (I'm guessing) stock Harley mufflers as I hear that a Harley group out of Huntsville decorated the pavilion as a gift to Wayne and Kelly....who BTW, were sent on a free vacation while the work was done.



We got there on a Thursday night...no one else was there yet.  By the time we got back from our Friday ride, the place was packed.  I never got a picture of our tent....maybe Randy has one he can add.

Better cut it off for the night.  More later.

[lazeebum]

This is the tent and chairs with cots and sleeping bags inside that Wayne had set up for us.  Not only are Wayne and Kelly great host, Wayne can put you on the good riding in the area.  Heck, he even loaded a route into my GPS for me. That is hospitality!

[Chitza]

I stayed with Wayne and Kelly last spring on my first real trip on the CS. I arrived much later than I intended and the kitchen was closed. I was looking at the snacks at the counter when I checked in. Wayne insisted on fixing me a sandwich. Great place to stay and wonderful hosts.

[kdtrull]

I stayed with Wayne and Kelly last spring on my first real trip on the CS. I arrived much later than I intended and the kitchen was closed. I was looking at the snacks at the counter when I checked in. Wayne insisted on fixing me a sandwich. Great place to stay and wonderful hosts.

Is that not some fantastic customer focus?  They tried to feed us a couple times too...I just didn't have the heart to let them.

I never got an actual photograph of our campsite but I do have a short clip of video that gives any of you who haven't been there a glimpse of what the place is like.



Ha....I just noticed Randy's camp picture....lol and duuhuu!

[kdtrull]

First thing I noticed when I walked up to the office door was a big ole ADV sticker.  A day or so later, I asked permission to place a modest BamaRides sticker on the door (in the top left corner, of course):




I have a few pictures of the camp, in general.











And inside the lodge:




The fellers what decorated the pavilion were pretty crafty IMHO:




When we got unloaded and had a chance to grab some grub, we headed to Krambonz.  I had a Critical Alert alarm on the hungry gland by then.  I know folks have mixed feelings about food pictures but you gotta' check out this rack of ribs.



We'll get back to some riding in the next post.

[lazeebum]

We really wanted to ride our motorcycles up to this meadow, but the thought of a five hundred dollar fine and having my bike impounded did not sound like a good idea.

This lonely rock caught my eye. I would like to camp here one clear night just to see the stars.

[lazeebum]

Kenneth just doing what Kenneth does.

[lazeebum]

As I was watering the local fauna, I noticed this rock that resembled a knife.

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[lazeebum]

Here it is.

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[Guidedawg]

Crystal clear video, great music, a picturesque journey, and always entertaining story.

Thumbs up from the envious one!

[kdtrull]

Crystal clear video, great music, a picturesque journey, and always entertaining story.

Thumbs up from the envious one!

Thanks Mr. Dawg....sure would like to have you along sometime.  Used dual sports are about as cheap a bike as a feller can get.  Jump in there....you can Guide the next one.  Maybe we can, at least, get in a road ride sometime!!

Now we're gonna' back up a spell.  There was still some fun in store for day 1.  After we rode over a 300 mile, meandering route up and over, talked to Wayne, unloaded the junk, and talked to Wayne some more....we still had a little juice left in the tank before that big rack of ribs.  Wayne told us Star Mountain would be a nice afternoon ride....just down the road from camp.
And that's what we did:



Just a couple pictures to wrap up day 1, somewhere on Star Mountain Road:

[kdtrull]

Jumping ahead a bit....again.  I've been sorting through tons of video and had no idea the camera was rolling when Wynn passed us on Saturday.
A cool surprise.  We chatted a bit.  Then, he set us up for a nice ride later in the day.
Sorry this report is rolling out so slow....been pretty busy during the week and trying to ride the new scoot as much as I can.

[kdtrull]

Boba Fett....
Wayne has a Boba Fett helmet replica.  How cool is that?  That's about all I needed to know to know we would be friends.
By Friday morning, he was feeling the itch to ride.  On one of the busiest weekends of the season for the camp, we coerced the brother into abandoning responsibility and taking a ride.   :o
In reality, he did that all by himself.  But, we may have had a slight influence on him....and Kelly is more than capable of taking care of the camp for a while.
He sent us off to breakfast and told us to come back by afterwards to pick him up.  We never had to stop...he was waiting for us by the road.

Halo....
Wayne's real helmet looks like a Halo helmet.  Extra cool points.  And, he rides a nice DRZ400...bonus cool. 
We followed Randy up North River Road to Mud Gap Road before reality set in and Wayne decided it was time to get back to business.  We had more plans for the rest of the day.  A mud/water rescue of a TAT traveler was not in the plan.  But that was just another bump in the road.  I'll trim that one up later.

[kdtrull]

Friday wound up being a good long day of riding.  We got a little bit of a late start (my fault) and rode into the early evening.  The first segment was what you saw in the previous post and didn't last near long enough.  But, after we parted ways with Wayne, we set out to (almost) random destinations.  The final words from Wayne were something about Whigg Meadow....which is where we went next.  Randy has already posted a couple pictures from there in a previous post.  The first segment up to Whigg Meadow starts where Mud Gap Road splits off from North River Road.  It splits off to the SW and gradually winds up to the meadow.



Mud gap is a fairly nice gravel/dirt road...nothing especially grand about the views but it is nicely shaded and has a few nice picture stops.



The road ends just below the meadow, just SW and slightly lower than Haw Knob and Little Haw Knob.  A trail continues up and across the meadow.



That is Little Haw Knob in the picture below.  Just over the knob to the NE is part of the Cherohala Skyway.  Just out of the frame on the right side is the taller Haw Knob.



The taller Haw Knob.



The meadow sits just about in the middle but to the SW of the two knobs.

Some old pot-bellied dude was blocking our view over to Sassafras Ridge.



Like Randy said, I think it would be a cool place to spend a night.  I imagine there would be a great view of the sky from up there.



We backtracked out to North River Road and soon passed under the Cherohala Skyway. 



I've read that there is a grave site just off this road and on the north side of the bridge.  I stole this image off of the googles and have never actually seen the marker.



We piddled around the area for a while then decide to head over to Waya Bald.  Took a few pics along the way.  Some of them are quite common.





The paved portion of the road up to Waya Bald has some really good water scenery.  I don't know how we managed to not get a single picture on that segment....but it was along the same time that we forgot to even stop for lunch...which is totally way out of my character.

We didn't start slowing down for pictures until we got on the gravel road up to the bald.







The view at the top is quite nice and easily accessible on most any 2-wheeler:






The tired gland and the hungry gland were really starting to swell up by the time we left and we took a much faster route back to Tellico.  Ate like a big dog at Tellicafe...stopped by the zippy-mart and zipped on back to camp for some breeze shootin' at the pavilion.

You'll probably have to click on the map shot and download it from Photobucket to make heads or tails out of it.



Just made a very poor judgement with a pair of N52 neodymium magnets and now bleeding like the stuck hog....more later.  :o