Our trip started off on Oct1.
We brought our 5th wheel to Maggie Valley and my buddy brought our Bikes.
We had three bikes and 4 people.
Day 1 Sunday Oct 2(My wife's birthday). We went to Cades Cove and saw more wildlife than ever imagined. The weather was absolutely gorgeous but chilly.
We did the full 11 mile Cades Cove loop, it seemed like it took forever, because we took pictures of all the wildlife we saw. We saw big groups of turkeys, big Bucks, plenty of Does, a black bear and her cubs in which the rangers were trying to get them to go further in the woods away from the traffic which caused traffic Jam.




We allowed the sun to go down before we could get to Townsend where we decided to get gas and something to eat before heading back to Maggie Valley.
In Townsend we ate at AJ's which looked like a hole in the wall but their food was excellent. The first restaurant we went in was too upscale for us! Some named steakhouse and they didn't have any rib eyes...WTH.
After supper we made sure we had our leathers and layers on because we would be going back over the Newfound gap US441 and knew it would be a bit chilly crossing over.
We wanted to avoid the river valley road as much as we could because it was pitch black dark and hard to see the curves. So we headed north on 321 to Wears valley road. BIG MISTAKE!

I won't go into detail but there was a hair pin curve that went to the right and straight up and curvy and the two bikes following me had issues making that curve.

Wears valley road runs into river valley road where we rode out the rest of the curves back to 441 just above Gatlinburg. About 2 miles before 441 a bear and her 2 cubs were crossing the road which concerned me a bit since we were on bikes....she may attack us?
Now this is 10 o'clock and the temp was dropping rapidly.
We then got on 441 heading back to Cherokee when we saw 2 wolves or coyotes.....also saw deer and hogs. The wildlife was definitely out that night. We got to Newfound Gap the border between NC and Tenn and my temp gauge read just above 20 close to 26. We were really cold at this point and still had 15 miles to get to Cherokee than another 19 miles into Maggie Valley on Soco Gap road.
Finally got back to our campsite at 12:30am COLD and Numb!
That was all about Sunday the first ride.

Monday we recuperated a bit. Still really cold. Rode bikes into Maggie to get fuel and check out some local shops.

Tuesday got up late was only 33 degrees and we had one still recovering from Sunday’s mishap.....we took our truck and went into Catalochee Valley where we saw all kinds of Wildlife. The Elk were in full rut and were doing animal **** all over the place. Went down a 4 mile curvy road in my dually where we could barely stay inside our lane just to get on a gravel road barely wide enough for two vehicles. I thought we would never get off that gravel and dusty road.






Wednesday: Trip was to ride the dragon and Cherohala Skyway. 7 hour round-trip. It was absolutely beautiful ride during the day temps got up near 60 in the valley and a little lower up on the Skyway. We went up us129 and road the dragon north which was tough because the road department was working on the road putting all sorts of gravel in the roadway and it was difficult to not hit the loose gravel.







Thursday: Trip was to go to the Emerald Village in Little Switzerland. Another chilly start and a beautiful ride. We headed out on I-40 towards Asheville and then took us25 north to Mountain top road which is a beautiful curvy road that connects to the Blue Ridge parkway. Rode the BRP for over 40 miles to Little Switzerland. Before leaving we need Gas so I checked my Zumo for the closest Gas and it took us down a paved road that led into a gravel road, then the gravel road turned into a one land road with a lot of rocks on it. Our friend laid their bike down twice on the gravel downhill road and we decided that was enough and headed back up the hill to find a better way out of there. I can’t believe that Garmin took that path. I specifically had it marked not to go off-road. In laying the bike down it developed a serious oil leak and we had to leave it behind…….



Friday: Took the Motorcycle trailer over to Little Switzerland and picked up the broken down bike. When we got back we decided to ride over to Gatlinburg for dinner and some shopping. Went up the chairlift at night and took some cool pictures. Got back to the camp at midnight and loaded up the bikes on the motorcycle trailer hat was heading back home Saturday am early.



I hated to see my bike heading back home and my wife and I are staying another week. All in all the first week went good with a few obstacles that we overcame and still made it a good trip.


Now it is Sunday with rain coming mon-wed. Oh well indoor sports are on the agenda now

Once all my pictures up load to photobucket I will share them here.....

 

I rode that same road into Cataloochee Valley on the bike a few weeks back. We were looking for palmer chapel. If you think that 1st gravel road is narrow if you pass the palmer house exhibit like we did it gets twice as narrow and twice as steep. We went 3 miles until the gps admitted it was lost and we turned around. Looks like a interesting trip! Thanks for the pictures!

 

I think we went by the Palmer Chapel I remember seeing some signs about that.

 

Nice write up.. Can't wait for more pics.. Glad you are having a good trip with only a few mishaps.. Indoor sports are a lot of fun too!!

Have a blast & safe trip back.

 

Apparently palmer chapel is just past the ranger station on the other side of the road out in a field. Once you get off that first gravel road and the road becomes "paved" again you come to a stop sign. If ya go straight you pass the ranger station on the right(just a gray house) and then the chapel on the left and the road ends. If you go right at the stop sign Palmer house is there. After a couple hours on the second gravel road we just wanted to get out of there never did actually find the chapel. Its on the list for next time.

 

Sounds a little chilly up that way .. When I stopped in Maggie Valley overnight on the way to Gettysburg in mid September was around 40 that morning .. Was cool riding the BRP all day then got a little better the following day .. Main thing is have fun and enjoy .. Look forward to more pictures ..

 

 

Still very GREEN up there! Hope to see a little more color when I get up there this weekend!

 

I understand lack of rain may be an issue this year

 

Believe it or not, a dry summer always makes for the best color.
I was on the BRP yesterday and the color is still not near peak. Peak is probably still a week or more away. It's been warmer than usual the past week with lows in the 47-50 range and highs in the mid 70's at 2000 - 2500 ft elevations.

You couldn't ask for better riding weather.