Once we got on 68, we rode north towards Tellico Plains, holding the throttles to the stops and enjoying the curves on little bikes.
I often think a KLX with a big bore kit and 17" rims would be a hoot on many of the small paved roads, as it is, it's still a ton of fun on knobbies.
Close to Tellico plains, we turned onto Old Furnace Rd,

Started out fun, but about a mile from where it intersects Cherohala Skyway, we got stuck behind a parade of bear hunters driving slowly in the middle of the road. No place to pas, and they seemed to have no intention of pulling over and letting us by.
Once we got to the Skyway, we headed into Tellico plains to hit a grocery store, somehow i had forgotten to pack coffee and salsa on this trip. Fortunately, I had managed to beg some coffee from another camper that morning, otherwise i'd have never gotten us up and moving.
After the brief stop, we headed back out the Skyway, turned on River Rd, then crossed the river and up Wildcat rd.
It turns into Bald River rd, and was fun riding until Smithfield Rd intersected with it.
Then there was a sign that the road was under construction and closed M-F 9-5. Fortunately, it was Saturday. There was a couple on DRZs there and we asked how the road was. They replied there was fresh gravel ahead, they were waiting on the rest of the their group.
We started up, and the gravel was deep and loose. Going the other way, was a young lady on a TW200, she was crawling, and didn't look comfortable at all. We continued, hoping it wouldn't last.


Fortunately, after a couple miles, the deep fresh gravel ended at Lookout Tower Rd.