Tennessee Waltz Ride--September 10, 2016

Our route plan would have had us taking back roads up to Blue Ridge, then up to Tennessee. However we decided to take the express way (575/515) to allow more time in the mountains before the promised 90+ degree temperatures prevailed. So, the six of us (Dennis,Steve D.,Larry, Tad, Mike and Bob S.) hopped on the Interstate , made our way past the ubiquitous traffic lights in the Jasper area, to arrive for breakfast at the ever crowded McD at the turn off for Ga 5.

Steve, Larry, Bob, Tad, Mike, Dennis

After our stop we headed up Ga 5 to McCaysville and crossed over the Toccoa River into Tennessee. A quick ride up Tn 68 brought us to US 64/74 and a turn west heading for the Ocoee River gorge. This is a beautiful area with the highway positioned between vertical cliffs and the river. We were not alone enjoying the area. Kayaks, canoes and rafts dotted the waterway, with many running the rapids past the power station dam.

Around the point where the river settles down to a lake we turned on to a forest service road (77) and started the curvy climb up to the Chilhowee Overlook. The view from the overlook was good but soften a bit by summer haze. We all made note that a Winter ride here should be in our plans

Further up FS77, on our way to the Recreation Area we came across a group of pick-ups and folks with dogs, radio receivers sporting antennas. We had come across a scene like this on a previous ride on the Cherohala Skyway. In that case the people were keeping track of dogs that were hunting bears. Although the bear hunting with dogs season was still a few weeks off we guess these folks were "warming up'.

The trip down the mountain offered two alternatives: one, the way we came up, the other a unknown-to-us dirt/gravel road that would be a short cut to our path along the west side of the mountain. Three of us were riding dual sport bikes, the other three street-only bikes. We opted to send Larry on his KLR down the dirt/gravel road (Benton Springs Road) to scout it for future use, while the rest of us went back  down the way we came up, planning to meet Larry at the foot of his descent.

The meet-up with Larry went smoothly and we all headed north to pick up Tn 30 going east toward Reliance. Our route plan would have had us turn north onto Tn 315 and head for Tellico Plains but instead we stayed on Tn 30 and headed south back to the Ocoee.

The ride east along the river had us all wishing we could beat the heat and cool off in the river, but instead we road through and stopped at a Hardees for lunch and a lot of talk about the events of the day. After lunch and a fuel fill we backtracked through Copperhill and McCaysville and on to the four lane for the trip home.

Video of Ride: 

It was a good ride, even in the heat. My round trip mileage from home was 235 miles.

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