Four Day Tellico Plains Getaway

[klaviator]

The weather forecast finally showed several days of nice weather and I was itching to try my new scooter on some of my favorite roads so I headed up to Cherohala Mountain trails Campground.

I got there before noon on Monday.  A group of Harley riders arrived around the same time.  It was a tour group of riders from Germany and Austria stopping in for lunch.



I checked in, had lunch and set up camp. Then it was time to ride.  I decided to go check out Bald River Falls.

This is always a fun road and a good road for my scooter since it's not a real high speed road. Not too much traffic today. Unlike most of the times when I just blast through I stopped a bazillion times to take pictures. I won't bore you with all of them.

I'll just bore you with a few ;D



I turned off on the gravel road that goes over the Skyway but only rode it for a few miles. I did ride it all the way to the Skyway on my S8 but didn't feel like it today.



I never noticed this little bridge before so I stopped and checked it out.



It's probably been a long time since this place pumped any gas.



Another bridge and small waterfalls.



I got to where the old Tellico ORV area was and found they had paved the gravel road. It was a pretty nice ride.



It was not paved all the way through and I soon found myself on an easy gravel road.  I wondered why they only paved a couple of miles and found out later there where plans to build a gated community back here but that never happened.




I rode a couple of miles of gravel and thought about riding through to Murphy but changed my mind and turned around.

Got a few more pics on the way back.



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My kind of sign!



There's a sign that says no parking on the bridge but.....



back in civilization.



Then I had dinner at the Tellicafe then headed back to CMTC.  It got down into the 40s that night.  I was glad I brought my warm sleeping bag.

[TWJohn]

That is cool you mounted a top case. Was that an off the shelf rack or did you make it?

[klaviator]

That is cool you mounted a top case. Was that an off the shelf rack or did you make it?

It's a GIVI top case and rack.

[klaviator]

I got up and was on the road by 7 the next morning. It was around 45 and foggy but soon started to clear up.



I was headed to Deal's Gap to meet a couple of friends.



I left early enough that I would have time to stop and take some pics.  I'm glad I did.  Early morning often had the best light.



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[klaviator]

I rode a bit trying to get the feel for the scooter on the curves of 129.  I got to a spot that looked like a good place for some pics.  I was fiddling with my camera when my friend showed up on his Ninja 250.  Jerry is a local who met on ADV. (Trashcan for those of you on ADV)



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We got to the Deal's Gap Motorcycle Resort right at 9 AM.  Finding a parking spot was not a problem.



We went inside to get breakfast.  My buddy Steve showed up a few minutes later on his V-Strom 650.  Some of you have met Steve as he attended the last two Dual sporting the Free State events.

After breakfast I took the standard Deal's Gap tourist photo.



Then we rode about a mile to one of my favorite photo spots.



Then we rode the back roads from Tapoca to the Fontana resort.  Very few people seem to know about theses roads.  They are as twisty as the dragon, have great pavement and NO traffic.  I was too busy riding to get any pics.  Then we took 28 back to 129 and then to the overlook.



By the time we got to the overlook I was starting to get comfortable riding the like on these curves. I plan on coming back some day and making multiple runs so I can really get the feel for the Like on curvy roads.

[klaviator]

We wanted to check out the new section of the Foothills Parkway which had just opened a few months ago.  Then we rode through happy valley and picked up the old section of Foothills Parkway. We got off on 321 to get gas and some snacks. This is actually the parking lot of a gas station. Pretty nice spot for a break.



After a break we got back on the Parkway and rode the new section which just opened a few months ago. Steve and I swapped bikes. I was riding his V Strom and he rode my scooter for the first time. I took the next few pics while riding his Strom.



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When we got to the end we turned around and rode it the other direction.  we also swapped back to our own bikes.



Steve taking a selfie.



The new part of the FHP is a much nicer road than the old part IMO.  Besides perfect new pavement I think it's more scenic and has better curves.  It would be a blast to run through at high speed on a sportbike but this road has been publicized as a local attraction so it will likely have a fair amount of traffic.  It will also attract sportbikes and sports cars which will bring in Law Enforcement.  We ran it at a fun pace and traffic wasn't that heavy but it was mid week and not yet in peak tourist season. 



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We stopped to take a break and enjoy the view.




It was a beautiful day to be out riding.



Jerry took the Like out for a short spin.



We made plans to meet again the next day.  Jerry headed home and Steve and I rode to Tellico where we had a great dinner at the Tellicafe.  I even ran into some old riding friends I hadn't seen in years. 

By the time I got back to the campground my trip Odo was around 250 miles.  I averaged around 80 MPG for the day.

[klaviator]

I was up early the next morning again. Got a pic of my camp and new tent.  I really like this new tent.  It seems really well made for such an inexpensive tent.  At 10 x 9 x 6 ft high it has plenty of room.



It was cold again this morning, in the 40s but not foggy. I rode over the Skyway. It really wasn't much colder at the top than at lower elevations. It still looked more like early spring at higher elevations.



This was a good test of the like's hill climbing ability. It would do 40+ on even the steepest parts of the Skyway. The Super 8 was a good 5 MPH slower on the hills and the Smax about 5 MPH faster.

I was pretty cold by the time I got ot Robbinsville where I met Jerry for breakfast at McDs. Then we rode to the raft put in site at the beginning of Wayah Rd where we met up with Steve.



Steve was on his new V Strom 1000. He got a great deal on a NOS 2014 model. Here he is telling Jerry all about it.



It was still chilly but a beautiful day.

[klaviator]

We rode 74, 28, and one of my "secret" roads to Franklin. (secret means I can't remember the name and am too lazy to look it up ;D) After Franklin more twisty roads to one of my favorite places to take a break.



There is a sand beach here and during the warmer months there can be some nice "scenery to look at but today was cold and windy.  We were pretty bundled up for the ride and it still felt chilly when stopped.  On top of that clouds had moved in making it colder.

But when I looked down at the beach I couldn't believe it!



I guess they really wanted a tan.

We hung out for a while and talked about various things.



and enjoyed the view ;)



Being a happily married man I headed off looking for some different scenery.



Then I moved to another vantage point and waited for Steve and Jerry so I could get some "action" pics. While I was waiting.....



And here they come.



And there they go.



I think I used about all of my zoom for this next one. It's a bit blurry, I could have used a tripod for this, but I think the effect is cool.

[klaviator]

We continued on and rode some twisty roads.  I didn't take any pics until I got to one of my favorite picture spots on the "too too" road. That's not the real name of the road but the late Frank Cheek named it that since he considered it "too crooked and too steep to ride on a motorsickle".

I only got Jerry and my scooter because Steve didn't want to ride his big beast out on the narrow gravel trail and then have to get the beast turned around.



Another of my favorite picture spots. I have taken pictures of a bunch of my other bikes here so now I have the Like as well.



Bridal Veil Falls.



We had a good run down 28 to Franklin. Traffic on this road can be nasty but if you catch it without traffic it is sublime. Imagine the dragon with way better scenery.

we stopped in Franklin for gas. With my tiny 1.8 gallon tank I was the only one who needed it. It turned out I could have passed since I got 90 MPG on that tank and still had plenty left to get to Robbinsville.

We stopped at Fat Buddies in Franklin for a late lunch/early dinner. It's a great place for BBQ.

Then we rode Wayah RD. It's another of my favorites and we didn't have any traffic slowing us down.



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After Wayah Rd Steve headed back home. Jerry and I rode together to Robbinsville and then split up. I took the Skyway back to Tellico.



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This interesting vehicle was pulling out as I pulled into a turnout.



By the time I got back to the campground this was my tripmeter for the day. I actually took this pic the next morning which is why there is dew on the glass.

[klaviator]

I planned on sleeping in Thursday morning since I had no one to meet and no schedule to keep.

I was still up at the crack of dawn so since I was up anyway I went riding. I rode 315 down to Reliance. It's a great twisty road but I kept the speed down as I was worried about critters in the road this early. When I got to Reliance I took some pics. I really like how this next one came out.



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Next I headed for a road that has some great scenery along the Hiwassee river.  Some nice riding getting there.



But when i got the the river it was all foggy :(



So I headed back to camp.



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[klaviator]

When I got back to the campground I had a PB&J for breakfast.  It was still early and the grass was still wet with dew.  I wanted to get through Chattanooga before rush hour but I hate packing up a wet tent so I went for another ride.  I took off without any plan.  I headed into Tellico Plains where i got a few pics.



This is right off the Skyway by the intersection of 360.



Talk about weird...



Then I decided I wanted to ride some good curves.  Rafter road was right down the road and it's always been one of my favorites so that's where I rode.

The perfect bike for this road is a super moto but it was fun on the scooter.  Narrow, super curvy, mostly good pavement and NO traffic.



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It eventually becomes a gravel road which goes to Indian Boundary.  I rode about a quarter mile in the gravel and turned around.



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One nice thing about being on a small scooter is that's it's so easy to pull a U turn on even the tightest of roads.  In nearly all of the pics I took on this road I had pulled a U turn and was facing opposite the direct I was traveling.

And I took some pics while riding.



Then it was back to the campground with around 90 miles for the day.

[lazeebum]

You sure are making retirement look good.

[Nice Goat]

Very nice!  The Goat approves!  :D

[Guidedawg]

Great pics and report!

[KevinB]

Good stuff...thanks for sharing!