Blue Ridge Parkway – Fall Color
Run October, 2003
On October 6, 2003 my son and I set out to travel to one of the nicest roads in the US, the BRP. I was excited, a little scared, in need of a vacation, and wondering about motorcycling all in the same breath.
“a little scared” – Exactly a year to the day before, Oct 6, 2002, I crashed my rig in the middle of Kentucky on our way to the BRP. In that crash, I wrecked my rig and fractured my scapula (shoulder), thus aborting our trip.
“excited” – after causing an abort to last years trip, we both were yearning to get back.
“in need of a vacation” – after working 31 years for Ingersoll, they went bankrupt April 15th, 2003 and I hadn’t taken any vacation all year after, thankfully, acquiring contract work with Lockheed Martin Aerospace in Texas.
“wondering?” – after being off 2 wheels for a year, I wondered if I could still handle long saddle time.
Soooooooo, being in search of fall colors, we were both excited to see the weather channel update the foliage map to show “near peak” along the whole Appalachian Mountains where the BRP is. Long story short, the weather channel lied. L Read on…………..
Anyway, Everything turned out very very nice on this trip, although quite tumultuous for me as you will read. First off, I didn’t crash. Now there is a good thing! Keep the rubber down and the shiny side up.
After Day one, slabing for 543 miles, I started to wonder if I “had it in me” anymore. My neck hurt, my shoulders hurt. Hmmmm, was it the weight of the helmet after being “out of helmet shape”? (Only motorcyclists would understand neck conditioning to handle helmet weight) Partially. I later in the trip determined my shoulder pain was due to my previous bone breakage and re-healing. I could actually feel the bumps in my shoulder where the bone re-healed. Guess I will learn to live with it.
As for my mental status after day 1, I was ok and had no incidents. We camped that night at Roosevelt Lake, Ohio – Route 125 near Portsmouth in the Shawnee Stare Park. We made our attempt at a campfire, but we were not very successful.
Day 2 would take us winding around scenic roads in Ohio, and into West Virginia. Our goal this day was to have fun, and end up near the north entrance to the BRP in preparation for the next morning which would begin the first leg (1st half) of the BRP.
This day brought me down. Down LOW. I was trying to be SO careful (not to crash), I over did it and totally wore myself to a frizz. I was “on the bars” all day!!!!!! All I can do to describe my condition was how my son phrased it (ref: movie Top Gun), “Goose, That mig really messed you up”. (the mig being my crash of a year ago) And messed up I was. I was ready to rent a truck and load up the rig and head for home. I told Chad I would sleep on it and make a final decision in the morning.
Despite my fatigue and difficulties of the day, here’s a couple shots taken at a German Valley outlook where Chad flagged me down
Day 3
Well, morning came, and following a good nights rest (I slept well after being so worn out), I realized that if I gave up now, I would be going home to sell my bike and to get out of the sport. I soon came to my senses and decided to purge on.
So, Chad did his usual to sniff out a breakfast stop, we made it to the BRP. Although I had been there before, it seemed new and I couldn’t stop the grin on my face. I had made it back to the BRP in one piece.
For those who don’t know about riding the BRP, everyone basically does their own thing and stops as desired to enjoy and make peace with yourself. Just as with my last trip, I again found great comfort and serenity with the close proximity of Virginia BRP farmland and civilization.
The following sight gave me especially strong feelings of peace. You can spread my ashes up on that hill.
The sun was shining brightly with crystal clear skies and I about shot myself thinking just last night I was thinking of canning it all. I tried to ease up on the shoulders, relax on the bars, get my eyes off the road and enjoy the scenery. I had to keep reminding myself, but gradually, I was coming out of my slump of last night. There have been trips where I hardly see Chad along the way, but somehow, on this leg of the journey, we kept running into each other. We kept “leap frogging” in front of each other, ending up with photo opportunities of each other, riding along on the BRP, at Peace.
Although we were not seeing much fall colors at all, here are other wonderful pictures from the northern half of the BRP:
Our destination this night would be at BRP mile marker 245 at Doughton Park Campground, right on the parkway. We arrived early enough to set up camp and gather firewood in prep for a campfire. Doughton park has a parkway (down home) quaint restaurant where we dined.
During Dinner, we of course discussed my mental status following the days ride. After I was all “up” and bubbly, Chad proclaimed I was like a yo-yo, and of course I agreed. I also, however, reminded him of the 245 miles we had just ridden and the crystal clear skies, and “known curves” and no unmarked 10mph corners, etc, etc.
We later relaxed to a successful campfire (thanks to Chad being at the helm).
Day 4
I again camp-slept well, but this time, I think it was just peace and not fatigue. We awoke to heavy morning due, but after hearing of impending rain, we were happy to see signs of clearing.
Attempting to dry my tent before balling it up, I hung it out to dry
Sun burning off morning fog (sun is at left of pix illuminating trees to the right at top of the hill)
After breaking camp, we headed back to the restaurant for breakfast. Then, my blooper of the trip.
Upon leaving to begin leg 2 (2nd half) of the BRP, Chad waved me to get out of Dodge and so I headed out …………. The Wrong Way! A few yards down the road I just happed to glance back at the restaurant and noticed Chad Waving furiously like a person on an aircraft carrier with flashlights, waving me to go the OTHER WAY. Geezeeeeeeeee. I felt like the real dummy I actually was. I know I would have eventually figured it out somewhere down the road when the mileposts were going the wrong way, but crap, I felt dumb.
Anyway, (heading SOUTH Bob), the parkway immediately introduced new beautiful scenery calling for more pictures.
An area where we usually encounter some really pretty fall colors is the Linn Cove area and the viaduct around a mountain side. The clouds were now starting to block the sunshine and although the trees around the viaduct were starting to show off, it was not nearly as colorful as we have seen.
Then onward and looking off to the South, I soon discovered it was going to rain as they had predicted. So, a few last shots before having to put away the camera
NOW……..Let me give you a lesson (I personally will never forget).
I knew it was going to rain, and this is usually no big deal. My Aerostitch, helmet, gloves, riding boots, and my rig have ridden hours on end in rain. You just deal with it.
BUT……….
Rain comes from Clouds
The mountain roads go up higher than low hanging rain clouds
Analysis………….FOG – FOG – FOG
And did I mention Dark, misty, FOG so you can’t see 3 feet in front of you …. On curvy mountain winding roads and a helmet shield that was mis-adjusted and started to get wet and fog up on the inside and holy crap, I was wondering – seriously wondering if I would see tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I remember seeing signs all over the parkway stating
“Avoid mountain roads in Snow, Rain and Fog”
People………….do NOT ride motorcycles in the mountains in FOG.
Now here’s the scenario. Since Chad and I did not know which one of us was in the lead, both of us (bof-us) thought the other was in front and therefore didn’t want to ditch and get off the mountain. We had made plans to meet at the last outlook on the parkway (Big Witch Outlook), and so both of us purged on, riding DEATH FOG MOUNTAIN. After riding nearly 80 miles going up and down (into and out of rainy fog), I was thanking the Lord when I finally came up upon Big Witch Valley, where I knew Big Witch Outlook was not far ahead.
Chad had arrived at Big Witch ahead of me, and started the mind game. Lets see. How long before he made a 911 call for a search in the mountain drop-offs for dear old dad. I, on the other hand, made a joke asking if he wanted a pair of water proof gloves that were not quite waterproof. They were SOAKED. I struggled to get them off and threw them to the ground. You will have to see a picture he took of them in his trip report (Link to CRT report). Since Chad thought I was ahead of him, he said he was constantly watching the pavement looking for bike debris and/or skid/slide marks.
Oh boy, I don’t like to even talk about it anymore.
I was quite surprised to hear he had only been at Big Witch for 5 or 10 minutes ahead of me. Anyway, both of us wondered how we made it and for me it is a bit scarier. A friend of mine (Dennis G) calls it “using up your punch cards”. Well, I think I used up another one.
So, after getting our feet back on the ground, we exited the BRP, through Cherokee reservation and on to a welcome motel which I think we both needed badly after that experience!
We lodged at Phillips motel (we call it grannies motel) and dined at “Lynn’s Place up yonder at the top of the hill near the courthouse” ;-)
Day 5
Chad wanted to run over to Deals Gap and slay a dragon, and I was really not in the mood, so he took a ride while I spread out our wet tents from last night to dry them out. I also discovered our helmet shield problem. They just needed adjustment to cause the shield to tightly grip the opening seal. Prior to this, we were both going to have issues with Shoei. I felt stupid I hadn’t discovered this prior to Death Fog Mountain incident.
The morning brought light fog and clouds hanging low, obscuring the mountains. Our original plans would have us start heading west by traversing the Cherahala skyway. I was rather skeptical of heading back into the mountains, especially after talking with granny and she said “ you better not go onto the skyway with all this fog” Holy crap, I can’t do that again.
But, as time went by, I detected clearing conditions and when Chad returned, he said he had bad news. He stated the foggy conditions. I pointed to the west and said I had been monitoring the cloud altitude and that I thought we should give it a go with the Skyway. He agreed and the rest is history.
I previously mentioned we hadn’t seen much color yet on the trip. Well, we didn’t know it yet, but were about to be rewarded for that and our terror on Death fog mountain. Immediately upon entering the Skyway, the colors began to show up. So much so, that neither one of us got very far fast, because we were stopping for pictures to much.
The clouds had totally lifted from road level, leaving just a tad for some good pictures.
We did a little leap froggin and picture taking of each other and all to soon, I realized the Cherohala would soon end after approx 50 miles and altitudes a little above 5300 ft. (http://www.westernncattractions.com/cherohal.htm )
Sooooo, toward the (western) end of the Cherohala, I stopped at a familiar overlook where there is a bubbling stream. I decided it was time to stop and “smell the roses” for a while. The sun felt good and I felt good and ……….life was good!
A bit later, Chad came round the bend and flagged him down to have yet another skyway stop. He jokingly said “but Dad, we had talked about purging straight through to Carbondale. We will never make it smellin all these roses” We both laughed and enjoyed the extended stop.
It was at this point, I realized our journey was nearing the end, since we would soon be heading back onto the flatlands.
We stopped near Bowling Green Kentucky for this night’s lodging at Best Western. We decided to reward ourselves with a good meal. We dined at the rather luxurious Iron Skillet and it was REALLY good eatin.
Day 6
We had a rather uneventful ride to Carbondale and had to do the ferry trip across the Ohio river to get from Kentucky into Illinois.
I took one last shot near Carbondale in Giant City park.
I think we were both a little gloomy feeling the end of the trip, but on the other side of the coin felt really good about such a nice trip. We arrived early enough to enjoy Carbondale.
We did the traditional walk around SIU campus, had a few beers at Sidetracks and then onto dinner at Trace. Life was once again ……… good.
Day 7
Today, we headed north to do the 57 / 74 / 39 trip back to home from southern Illinois. Again uneventful, but I used it to zone out, reminiscing a VERY nice vacation.
Conclusion
Well, as conclusions go, this one will be short. I ended the trip on a really big HIGH. I’m sure it had something to do with lots of things:
Long time without a vacation
First trip since my crash of a year gone by
Tremendous colors on the Cherohala
Friendship and good times riding with my Son
We lived, despite Death Fog Mountain
As for me and my tumultuous ups and downs about touring, one can never say for sure. But, my garage would sure be a lonely place if there wasn’t a bike parked in there!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Chad for sharing such a wonderful trip!
|
Day |
Miles |
Saddle time |
Lodging |
Comments in brief |
|
1 |
543 |
8 hr. 14 min |
Camp 1 |
Slab on Interstate until we get tired |
|
2 |
376 |
7 hr. 38 min |
Motel 6 |
Wind through Ohio and WV. Get close to BRP |
|
3 |
295 |
6 hr. 14 min |
Camp 2 on BRP! Doughton Park |
1st leg of BRP from north entrance to Doughton park |
|
4 |
287 |
7 hr. 3 min |
Phillips motel |
2nd leg of BRP from Doughton park to southern end of BRP |
|
5 |
301 |
5 hr. 58 min |
Best West, Bowling green |
Deals gap – Cherohala Skyway – enjoy what is left of mountains heading toward Illinois |
|
6 |
244 |
4 hr. 12 min |
Tom Bodet – we’ll leave the light on for you |
Enjoy backroads while motoring toward Carbondale |
|
7 |
389 |
5 hr. 43 min |
HOME! |
Interstate slab home |