Back Way To Morganton

On a comfortable Saturday morning, 6 riders met for a leisurely tour of North Ga – Larry, Richard, Bob K, Steve G and Steve D, with his son-in-law Clay (glad to have you). With a muggy, but clear, forecast, they headed up old 5 to Jasper, then on to Ellijay via Jones Mountain and Yukon Roads. The air hung heavy with the scent of chicken farms! Leaving Ellijay on Boardtown Road, we managed to find even more farms along the serene back roads of Gilmer county. By then, we’d earned a “seat and coffee” break at (the world’s busiest!) McDonalds in Blue Ridge.

The ride continued with a beautiful pass across the Lake Blue Ridge dam, then onward to Suches. “Twisty 60” lived up to its nickname by starting with gentle sweepers in the Morganton area, then becoming ever-tighter as we ascended to Suches, the beautiful “Valley Above the Clouds”.

At TWO (Two Wheels of Suches), we enjoyed eyeing the “moto candy” as we soaked in the mountain views from our porch gliders. This was Richard’s first visit and he was quite taken by the babbling brook running through this original motorcycle resort in the SE – maybe we’ll see him on a future ride-n-camp here!

After enjoying a hearty lunch in the lodge, we hustled out of TWO in a handful of raindrops (where did they come from - I guess that’s why Suches is so green!) southward to Woody Gap (AT crossing), then down the twistiest curves 60 has to offer. On the way to Dahlonega, we pulled into Riders’ Hill so the group could see all they had to offer (sales, service, restaurant, gear – not a bad way to kill time while getting maintenance done). From there, we continued into Dahlonega. Auraria and Castleberry Ridge roads were both a scenic and peaceful, yet lightly-traveled and fast route to Dawsonville. From there it was 53 West and Yellow Creek south to our homes in the Cherokee area (and by early afternoon, no less!) Mileage was 160.

 Chalk this up as a great ride day. Join us next time.