We left Charleston early, arriving at the local Total Wine and More as they were opening. We figured we'd have better luck parking in an empty lot. Wayne can't drink just regular beer, he's into the craft beers, heavy on the hops and/or really dark. Stuff you can't get at the local Wal-mart or Winn-Dixie. No we have to make specific beer runs. Sometime we end up in the weirdest parts of town, but this time all was good. The store was right along our route! From there we headed northwest on Interstate 26.
First stop in North Carolina was Hendersonville and the location of Ohlins USA. Wayne needed to drop off the rear shock from his trail bike to be serviced.
Then it was on to Lake Powhatan Campground in the Pisgah National Forest. This camp was located at one of the entrances to the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRPW). The BRPW is 469 miles of limited access roadway. Not a single stop sign in sight! From our camp we planned to ride the southern 100 miles, to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park one day and to the north on the other.
Most of the parkway was in the 4-5000 ft. level today, but we did get a little higher on occasion.
This is a two lane road, with a double yellow line most of the way. What they do have is a boatload of scenic overlooks where slow traffic can pull over and let the rest of us by!
This area is surrounded by forest land,
interesting rock formations,
and spectacular views.
The parkway in the distance
We stopped at the Visitors Center in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park for lunch
The park service moved many of the farm buildings from the park proper to this Mountain Farm Museum
On day two we planned to follow one of the published rides in RoadRunner Motorcyclist Magazine. This would take us north on the parkway, but then around on some awesome twisty roads. One thing we noticed is although the BRPW is very scenic and it does run along the ridge top, the roads that connect the real world with the parkway often have more corners and a higher fun factor.
Today's route was interrupted after just 13 miles on the parkway. The heavy rains of the winter has closed two sections for repairs. We took the detour, ended back on our route and continued on our way.
No picnic areas along the way today, so we pulled over by a stream for lunch.
We are a little early for the true beauty of the parkway, the hardwoods are not quite ready for their new leaves. Some are starting to flower and the leaves will follow soon. And rhododendrons! I was really surprised to see them. I shouldn't be, after all this is a coastal range and that's where we find them in Washington. I can't wait to see this area in the summer when we come through on our cross country motorcycle ride. We rode part of the route on this ride and it should be awesome. These hardwood forests are very different than what we are use to in the west. There is no underbrush, just the dry leaves from the fall.
Trapped like a rat...
We tried a come-along
And broke all three cables we had
The campground host couldn't find a long enough chain to help
The Forest Service had to call in the pros
Yep, still there, on the coach
Now the real work begins
It was a big boom truck
Ropes got put high in the surrounding trees
He had to access the offender from the top of the coach
Then a rope was run to their truck. Pulling forward did the trick
Yeah! We are free!!
Once we moved the coach they let the tension off the tree, and it went right down to the ground!
The red section at the bottom is the only living part of this tree.
Only one root was still alive!
From here we headed northeast to catch the upper part of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We were only 4 hours behind schedule, but that's what Walmart parking lots are for, right? Quick overnight parking!
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