Our trip to NC mountains last week....
#1
07-19-2015, 03:34 PM
Our trip to NC mountains last week....
The Trip:
We stayed at the Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge near Robbinsville. That place is great!! The grounds are extremely well kept, the staff is very nice and helpful, the facilities are very good, and it's in a very convenient location. They offer breakfast every morning and dinner 5 nights a week. We ate there a couple nights and the food was very good. We will most definitely stay there again, most highly recommended.
http://ironhorsenc.com
Day 1:
We drove to the Iron Horse after a 2 night stay at Stone Mountain, GA. Once we got the trailer set up, we had a few hours to ride. We headed north on Rt 28 up to the Fontana Dam, then up to the intersection with Rt 129/Tail of the Dragon, and back. 28 is a great ride along the river. With temps in the 70's and great scenery, it was a great kick off to vacation. NOTE : Do NOT take Rt 129 north from Gainesville, GA if you are towing more than a small utility trailer. We took it not knowing what it was like. Needless to say, it isn't made for towing a 30' and 10k pound trailer on. Although. I do have much respect for my '15 F-250 diesel after that drive.
Day 2:
We rode south on 28 to 64 and 276, then took the BRP home. We had to skip the western part of the BRP last year due to bad storms. Again, the scenery was great. Temps were in the upper 80's down low, but 70's up in the mountains. We logged a little over 200 miles.
Day 3 :
Heavy rain and severe storms moved through the area, so no riding. We drove down to Murphy, NC to visit a friend of my wife. We drove through heavy rain and some hail on the way. Really appreciated having the truck in there this day. On our way home, we saw some pretty good tree damage along 143 on our way back. Don't know if it was from a tornado, but it sure looked like it.
Day 4 :
The weather cleared, so we rode up 441 through the Great Smokey Mountain Nat'l Park. This is a GREAT ride with amazing scenery. We stopped at Clingman's Dome, but the clouds were low and thick, so visibility was about 20 feet above 5000'. Temps were in the 70's along 441 and upper 50's at high elevations. From 441, we took 321 in TN over to 360, and went back on the Cherohala. We logged 270 miles.
Day 5 :
This was our last riding day, so we decided to take it easy since we had a long drive the following day and had to pack up that evening. We decided to go back up to 441 and the Nat'l Park. This time we made more stops and did some hiking on the trails. We took lunch with us and ate on the side of a stream. We saw 4 elk and more amazing scenery. We logged 120 miles.
Day 6 :
Made the 12 hr drive from NC back home in FL.
Overall, we had a great trip. We logged just shy of 1500 miles on the truck, and 630 miles on the bike. We saw amazing scenery, met some great people from all over, and had a great time together. For us flatlanders, nearly all of the roads up there are great. They all have twisties, elevation changes, and great views.
This was our first long trip with the toy hauler, and I'm glad we did it this way. I do like touring on the bike, but it was nice to be able to set up camp in the middle of the NC mountains. It was much cheaper per night than a hotel, we can cook all of our meals, not be limited to pack only what fits on the bike, and have gas for the bike when we get back (fuel station on the trailer).
We stayed at the Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge near Robbinsville. That place is great!! The grounds are extremely well kept, the staff is very nice and helpful, the facilities are very good, and it's in a very convenient location. They offer breakfast every morning and dinner 5 nights a week. We ate there a couple nights and the food was very good. We will most definitely stay there again, most highly recommended.
http://ironhorsenc.com
Day 1:
We drove to the Iron Horse after a 2 night stay at Stone Mountain, GA. Once we got the trailer set up, we had a few hours to ride. We headed north on Rt 28 up to the Fontana Dam, then up to the intersection with Rt 129/Tail of the Dragon, and back. 28 is a great ride along the river. With temps in the 70's and great scenery, it was a great kick off to vacation. NOTE : Do NOT take Rt 129 north from Gainesville, GA if you are towing more than a small utility trailer. We took it not knowing what it was like. Needless to say, it isn't made for towing a 30' and 10k pound trailer on. Although. I do have much respect for my '15 F-250 diesel after that drive.
Day 2:
We rode south on 28 to 64 and 276, then took the BRP home. We had to skip the western part of the BRP last year due to bad storms. Again, the scenery was great. Temps were in the upper 80's down low, but 70's up in the mountains. We logged a little over 200 miles.
Day 3 :
Heavy rain and severe storms moved through the area, so no riding. We drove down to Murphy, NC to visit a friend of my wife. We drove through heavy rain and some hail on the way. Really appreciated having the truck in there this day. On our way home, we saw some pretty good tree damage along 143 on our way back. Don't know if it was from a tornado, but it sure looked like it.
Day 4 :
The weather cleared, so we rode up 441 through the Great Smokey Mountain Nat'l Park. This is a GREAT ride with amazing scenery. We stopped at Clingman's Dome, but the clouds were low and thick, so visibility was about 20 feet above 5000'. Temps were in the 70's along 441 and upper 50's at high elevations. From 441, we took 321 in TN over to 360, and went back on the Cherohala. We logged 270 miles.
Day 5 :
This was our last riding day, so we decided to take it easy since we had a long drive the following day and had to pack up that evening. We decided to go back up to 441 and the Nat'l Park. This time we made more stops and did some hiking on the trails. We took lunch with us and ate on the side of a stream. We saw 4 elk and more amazing scenery. We logged 120 miles.
Day 6 :
Made the 12 hr drive from NC back home in FL.
Overall, we had a great trip. We logged just shy of 1500 miles on the truck, and 630 miles on the bike. We saw amazing scenery, met some great people from all over, and had a great time together. For us flatlanders, nearly all of the roads up there are great. They all have twisties, elevation changes, and great views.
This was our first long trip with the toy hauler, and I'm glad we did it this way. I do like touring on the bike, but it was nice to be able to set up camp in the middle of the NC mountains. It was much cheaper per night than a hotel, we can cook all of our meals, not be limited to pack only what fits on the bike, and have gas for the bike when we get back (fuel station on the trailer).
#2
07-19-2015, 03:50 PM
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Here's some pix..... I'll try sharing the whole album
https://www.hdforums.com/g/album/3972436
https://www.hdforums.com/g/album/3972436