Tellico Plains dual sport and camp weekend

[klaviator]

We stopped at Bald River Falls. We were spread out enough for me to park my bike and run out on the bridge and get pics of the last four riders as they rode by.

Natalee.



Chris:



Terry.




Stephen.



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Group pic. From the left: John, Jeff, Rich, Terry, Chris, Natalee and Stephen.

[klaviator]

We continued on River road for a ways and then turned right on the gravel road I had explored on Wednesday. I enjoyed it so much I was happy to ride it again. We stopped at the little lake.



I think the colors were better than on Wednesday.



To fish at this lake you need to be 65 or handicapped.

I moved my bike to get it in the pic.

[klaviator]

After the lake we headed down the dead end to the Cemetery.



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Then we turned around.



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[klaviator]

We headed down Bald River Road.



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We went past the sign that said the road was closed 7-5 weekdays. We quickly saw that the reason for the closure was major road construction. They were clearing away trees but the road itself was awesome. Hard packed dirt and twisty as hell as it snaked its way up the mountain!!

Then the road got to the top of the mountain and started down. They had covered it with really thick and nasty gravel ???. It sucked riding on it although the views were spectacular. I stopped once to take a pic.




We passed a group of adventure bikes coming up. They looked like they were struggling. I found out later it was a group staying at the campground and two of them dropped their bikes in the nasty gravel.

I don't think I'll be riding that section of road for at least a year. maybe by then the gravel will have been packed down some.

We stopped at the end of the road.



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Peak tourist season and Saturday but there was still almost no little traffic out here.

[klaviator]

While we were taking a break I realized I had a flaw in my plan (or lack therof). I knew the area I wanted to go riding but there were no gas stations or places to eat there. It was a bit early for lunch but we decided to go find a gas station that would hopefully also have some food. We had a nice ride out to 68 then headed South. It took a bit longer than I expected but we eventually found a gas station. I topped off my tank and headed inside. As I was looking for something to eat a gal asked what I was looking for. I said something for lunch and she replied that they had hot dogs, burgers and BBQ.

Perfect.

We all got something to eat.




While gas station food is often overpriced and not very good I have found the opposite is often true at family owned country gas stations. While not exactly gourmet I was happy with my lunch.

Soon we were ready to go ride some more.




We headed back North on 68. As we approached the bridge over the Hiwassee River I thought it would be a great photo spot. It turned out we were turning right after the bridge and I got my chance.

There is a bike and rider in this pic.



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[klaviator]

Our next destination was the Hiwassee dam which has a nice visitor area. It was a great ride there but I didn't get many pics.

Got one while waiting to re group.



Got the next one on the Hiwassee dam access road while riding.




I discovered this road back in the 90s while riding my EX500. Its an awesome sportbike road and has very little traffic. I guess I had a flashback to those old days because I pinned the throttle and let er rip. For the first time on this ride I left Rich in the dust!
While the KLX doesn't have the power my EX did it still makes a great sportbike on twisty paved roads and can fly around the curves!

When I got to the dam I found the visitors parking lot gate closed.



No problem, we found a place to park and checked out the view.



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Its a long way down!

[klaviator]

We headed back in the direction we came from. As we were riding along I noticed a dirt road off to the left. I had never ridden it before. I had no idea where it went but it looked interesting so I pulled U turn and we rode it.

What a fantastic road!  Super twisty and beautiful. I was having too much fun ripping along to get any pics until I stopped at the end.



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Then it was back on the pavement again but still a fantastic ride!



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We got back on dirt and I found the bike squirming around. Did I have a flat tire? I stopped and checked. It was just the road. Rich thought he might have a flat too but then he saw my bike was moving around too.  It was just the road.   A combination of ruts and slick mud.

We stopped at the same spot Steve and I stopped a couple of days earlier.

[klaviator]

When Steve and I were here on Thursday we had limited time so we took the Joe Brown Higway back to 68 and then back to Tellico for an early dinner. This time we had time so we went up Burrel mtn Rd.



We came to an intersection.



We went straight and followed the road way up the mountain until it started getting gnarly. Jown was all for going on because he loves riding through mud holes. I didn't feel like it so we turned around and headed back down the mountain.

While riding I glanced in my mirror and saw Rich and his bike go down.

Oh Oh!

I pulled quick U turn.




Thankfully Rich was already back on his feet.



The bike looked fine as well. Despite being a "cheap China bike" with a carb it fired up immediately!



We continued on and took a left at the intersection we rode past on the way up.

[klaviator]

We continued on until we got back to the Joe Brown Highway. I know its called a highway but its a twisty as hell, two lane paved road in NC and a twisty as hell gravel road in TN. I guess back in the days of horse drawn wagons it would have been considered a highway.

My original plan was to take Joe Brown to 68 and back to Tellico. We still had plenty of time so why not follow it towards Murphy and then cut back over the mountain to River Road? We decided to do that. We rode towards Murphy and soon rode into a rain shower. It didn't last too long. We hung a left on Hanging Dog Road. I didn't remember if we needed to follow Hanging Dog or take a right somewhere so I pulled into a gas station to find out.

BTW, this was the only time in 5 days of riding that I got mare than 20 miles away from Tellico Plains.  I think that we were around 23 miles away at the intersection of Joe Brown and Hanging Dog.



We got directions, took a break and enjoyed the view.



Then we took off. We took a ride on Davis Creek and the road soon turned to gravel as it went over the mountain. This was another great ride!



There were a number of 4wd vehicles up here. This used to go through the Tellico OHV area which was very popular with the 4 x 4 crowd before they shut it down years ago.



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[klaviator]

Gravel gave way to pavement but the fun factor was still there.



I stopped to regroup and to enjoy one of my favorite views.



No that isn't the view.

This is:



I tried to get my bike in the pic but It just wasn't as good.



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[klaviator]

We continued towards Tellico on River road.



This road crosses the river several times so sometimes its on the right, sometimes the left.



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I pulled off on this bridge to re group and discuss plans. Terry and Chris were headed back to the campground to pack up and head back to Birmingham.



The rest of us were heading to the Tellicafe for dinner.



What a fantastic day of riding

I consider myself lucky to have such great people to ride with.

[klaviator]

We had a good evening hanging out at the campground. There were a few of us planning on riding for a half day on Sunday. We were just hoping for some good weather.

Sunday morning was really gloomy......and then it started raining again :(

Actually, it wasn't that bad. I was pretty tired from four days of riding and it was fun just hanging out. I have to agree with Rich when he said that this wasn't just about riding. The camaraderie and hanging out with like minded people was a big part of the experience.

Eventually it started looking better and the forecast called for no more rain. We suited up and got on the road around 10:30. We started by heading south on 315.

Even the gloomy weather couldn't hide the beauty of the countryside.



And 315 is a fun road!



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[klaviator]

Just before the Hiwassee River we turned left on to Childers Creek Road. Then right on powerhouse road which led us to this scenic overlook of the Hiwassee River.



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And then we rode along the river.



At the end we stopped. I rode ahead on the way back to get some action pics.



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[klaviator]

We backtracked on Powerhouse road.



The road was wet but didn't have a bunch of leaves on it.



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Then we went right on Childers Creek road and eventually another right. That road turned to dirt but I knew where we were going................until I didn't ???

[klaviator]

The road started fairly smooth then got much rougher and narrower. I had never been on this road. Where were we? We came to another dirt road. This was a wider more travelled road. We took a right and it looked familiar.



I thought this might be the road Steve and I rode last year but were stopped by a tree blocking the road. We followed it downhill for a while to a sort of cul-de-sac and took the biggest trail off of that. After crossing a big mud puddle we came to this:




Looking at Google Maps afterwards I'm pretty sure this was Wildcat creek. It was a cool spot and we spend some time there.

There was a bridge there.



The view from the bridge looking back towards our bikes.



Another view of the bridge.