June Trip to the NC Mountains

[LT]

Great trip and write up. Sure hope Darwin heals up quickly!

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[klaviator]

We got on the interstate and headed through Asheville and then east.  We got off at Old Fort and from there it would be back roads to Little Switzerland.  We didn't get far before the skies started turning black.  We stopped, put on our rain gear and ran right into a nasty thunderstorm.  In my younger days I probably would have ridden on but I'm old so we pulled into a gas station to wait it out.  When it was mostly passed we continued on.  It wasn't to far to our destination.

Why the Big Lynn lodge.  Originally I was just planning on spending one night here because it seemed like a good deal and I wanted to check it out.  When Steve joined the trip it suddenly became a much better deal.  100 bucks plus tax for a room and breakfast and dinner for 2.  It's located right off the BRP and near a bunch of great riding.

It turned out to be even better than I expected.  The room itself was pretty ordinary.  It's an old motel but well maintained.  The view on the other hand is any thing but ordinary.



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So we hung out for a while, enjoyed the view and talked to our neighbors who where all very friendly.

[klaviator]

We didn't do any more riding that day.  Dinner that night was good. I took some pics of the main lodge. This place is old but really cool.  This is a lounge with a puzzle on the big table and a small library and of course a great view.



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The dining room.



More pics of the view.



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Our plan for the next was to ride the "snake" and other roads in that area but the weather forecast called for more storms storms starting early afternoon so it looked like we would need a plan B.

[klaviator]

I headed over to the Lodge shortly before breakfast started at 7:30.  Steve and I got to know some more of our "neighbors".



At 7:30 someone rings a bell letting everyone know it's time to eat.  The dining room had a great view.



This was not some cheap breakfast bar like most hotels have.  This was order from the menu and get a fresh cooked breakfast.  Mine was great.



The weather was nice at the time so we hit the road right after breakfast since we would have limited time before the weather turned to crap again.  We started out heading South on the BRP.  The road was still wet in many places so we just cruised along at the speed limit and enjoyed the views.



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It was around 15 miles or so before turning off for our first destination.



In case you don't recognize the view, this was the Mount Mitchell parking lot.  We took some more pics.



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[renchinrider]

Why the Big Lynn lodge...  It's located right off the BRP and near a bunch of great riding.

It turned out to be even better than I expected.  The room itself was pretty ordinary.  It's an old motel but well maintained.  The view on the other hand is any thing but ordinary.



This looks like an awesome destination, Klav!  I'm adding it to my bucket list! :)



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So we hung out for a while, enjoyed the view and talked to our neighbors who where all very friendly.

[klaviator]

We hiked up to the top of Mt Mitchell.



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Then we rode back to the BRP and headed north until we got to 80.  80 is another one of those t shirt roads with a cute name: the "Devils Whip".  I don't know where they dell the AT shirts.  It is a awesome road.  We had so much fun riding down 80 to the south we turned around and rode back to the top.  Then we headed south on the BRP until we got to the next t shirt road.  That would be "Diamondback", or 226a for those of you who prefer actual road names.  They sell diamondback T shirts in the little store at 226a just off of the BRP.  We didn't stop to buy any shirts, we just rode down 226a and then back up.  It's another fantastic road.  Steve wanted to also ride 226.  It's not as good as 80 or 226a but the top few miles of 226 remind me of Blood Mountain.  It's curvy and there are 2 lanes going up.  So Steve took the lead and we rode 226a over to 226 which we rode down and back up. 

All this riding and I only got one pic.



The clouds were moving in and it wouldn't be too long before it started raining so we took 226 over the BRP and down into the nearby town of Spruce Pine where we gassed up and pickup up some lunch at Subway.  We rode back to the motel and settled on the porch to enjoy our lunch with a view.



About 5 minutes after we got back the rain hit.  Perfect timing.

[klaviator]

The Big Lynn Lodge is a fantastic place to stay for a motorcycle rider.  It is surrounded by incredible roads.  We had just ridden 100 miles of almost non-stop curves and never got more than around 15-20 miles from the motel.  The price and food is hard to beat unless you camp.  On top of that if you get a rainy day like we did it's a great place to hang out.  The view is great and kept changing as the clouds came through.



They have some games like horseshoes.  Steve showed me how to play corn hole and then beat my ass a couple of games. 



We had another great dinner and breakfast.  They have a free laundry room so I washed all our dirty and wet stuff.  We met some interesting people.  In the morning two riders on Harley's stopped in front of the lodge so we said hi.  They were from Canada and one had a strange accent.  I assumed it was French but he mentioned he was originally from Poland.  So I told him that my son was currently living in Poland in the little town of Slupsk.  He said that his wife's mother was from Slupsk!  Another case of it's a small world.

Soon it was time to head out.  We took a few more pics on our way out.



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[klaviator]

We checked the weather before leaving.  There was a large storm over Maggie Valley and it was heading our way.  I picked a route that would take us north and hopefully around the storm.  We rode south on the BRP and then north on 80.  we got rained on a little but we never stopped to put on our rain gear.  80 north of the BRP is a nice road but not nearly as good as 80 south of the BRP.  We went west on 19E then took a right on 19W.  19E is a boring 4 lane.  19W is another fantastic road.  It was fun even if it was wet.



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My pictures don't show how twisty this road was in some places.  The warning sign at the intersection might give you a clue on what we just rode through.



After 19w we picked up 352/212, 208 and 25 to Hot Springs.



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It was time for lunch when we got to Hot Springs.



I had the Bacon, lettuce and fried green tomato sandwich.  It was good but more than I really wanted to eat.



Steve found this interesting bit of history on the wall.



Saw this in town after lunch.

[klaviator]

After getting ice cream cones for desert we headed for Maggie Valley via another t shirt road and then some other not so well known but still fun roads.



Why Maggie Valley?  How about a free motel room waiting for us.  Mark and Darwin had paid for a room at the Comfort Inn, weren't using it and couldn't get a refund so they let us use it. 

So what happened to Darwin?  The next day, on advice from Darwin's daughter who is a Nurse, Mark took Darwin to Asheville where they had a real Hospital.  There they inserted a rod into Darwin's leg and kept him for a few days of rehab before his wife took him home.  Darwin is 83 so it will take hime a few month's to recover and hopefully ride again.

So we unloaded our bikes at the Comfort Inn and a while later headed out to dinner to a place Mark had recommended.



Good BBQ.  I recommend it.

After dinner Steve wanted to ride the BRP a bit.  I went back to the motel then went for a walk to burn off a few calories and then find some ice cream. 



So I was walking down the road and enjoying the view when I saw a KTM Adventure ride by.  I thought "Jeff has a bike like that."  The KTM rider pulled into a motel parking lot so I walked over to check it out.  Guess what?



It was Jeff (Jwwr).  I pointed my camera at him and said "Smile".  He looked up surprised and asked "what are you doing here?"  So we talked a bit.  He was up on an overnight trip.  We discussed routes then parted ways but not before I got another picture.



Then it was time for some ice cream!

[Jwwr]

It was good to see you Win! I took your advise on Charles Creek Road, It was the highlight of my short rain soaked trip!

[klaviator]

Friday would be our last day before heading home and we finally had a great weather forecast, one with no rain in it.  We took advantage of the free breakfast at the Comfort Inn and then hit the road.  We took my favorite route of unknown roads to get to 209.  Just before getting to a section of tight curves we caught up to a slow moving truck so we pulled over to let it get down the road.  There just wouldn't be any good passing spots for the next couple of miles.  Since we were stopped I took some pics.



Having to deal with slow moving traffic is part of riding twisty roads unless you ride real slow.  We had a full day of riding ahead of us and little did we know that this would be the last time we got held up by slow moving traffic except in towns. 

We rode 209, out only T shirt road of the day.  We stopped to check out the "Bridge of Madison County".



We turned right on 63 and stopped to check this out.



The door to this little chapel is not locked and visitors are welcome.



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We rode 63 over the mountain.  63 is not a t shirt road but I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes one.  It is that great of a ride.  We stopped to turn around once it flattened out on the other side.  Steve commented that he was surprised that he had never ridden that road before and and was glad we were going back over it.  So we rode back over it.  We didn't have any traffic either way.  Then  it was back on 209 to the next road just a few miles north on 209.



The next road will never become a t shirt road.  I have never seen another motorcycle on this road except for those riding with me.  Some of the locals know it but I doubt many tourists will ever see it.  The road name?  Baltimore Branch.  Good luck finding it as the road sign is missing.  If you are on a street bike you probably wouldn't ride it anyway.



It starts out crappy pavement and then turns to gravel/dirt.



It's got some steep hills and hairpin curves but is reasonably smooth.  It can done on pretty much any street bike if it's dry.  It wasn't dry on this day and had some mud but we rode it anyway.



Once over the mountain it becomes perfect pavement and very curvy and scenic. 



We stopped to check out this interesting little contraption.  The owner came out and told us all about it.



He said he road it on the street to run errands.



Interesting guy but hard to understand what he was saying with a helmet and earplugs.

Steve was getting hungry and my route didn't have much of anything on it except for a bazillion curves so we detoured off of my route to find someplace to eat.  We ended in the town of Marshall.  Neither of us had been here before so we explored looking for a place to eat.  We considered this place:



But we ended up here.



Lunch was OK.

After lunch we explored some more.



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[klaviator]

Behind me as I took that pic of the courthouse was a bridge across the river.  Of course I had to go see what was on the other side.  So Steve and I crossed the river and followed that road.  I was originally planning on just seeing where it went and turning around but it was a nice curvy road with no traffic and it just kept going and going and staying a fun road.  Eventually it ended when it intersected 63.  So we took a right and rode 63 again



We went through Hot Springs and on to some of my favorite roads in Madison County.  These are not t shirt roads.  What they are is mostly unknown super twisty roads with very little traffic.  We never got stuck behind traffic and often rode 10-15 minutes without even seeing any other traffic.  At the end of one particularly twisty road we stopped and I commented to Steve that it was a perfect road for a Grom.  I'm going to have to go back and ride that area on my Smax.  On these roads it's all about handling, power is mostly irrelevant. 

We were too busy riding to take many pics.  I only got this one:



We rode back through Hot Springs and 209 to Maggie Valley.  We only rode about 220 miles but we were both worn out.  Imagine riding back and forth through the dragon for 220 miles and then realize that many of the roads we were on were tighter and more challenging and you can see why we were worn out........well that and we're a couple of OLD farts :D