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Camping and Riding. Like Peanut Butter and chocolate – does it get any better? On a gorgeous, crisp fall morning, Larry and Dan headed toward Cleveland to meet Mel. The three quickly headed up 75, then westward across Wolf Pen Gap. The leaves had begun to change color and the day’s brisk winds caused them to rain down at times. As they headed down the Richard Russell Scenic Hwy in beautiful sunshine, they stopped to admire the view from the always-scenic Hog Pen Gap.
From there it was south to 19, then back north through Neels Gap to pick up the western half of Wolf Pen Gap. Soon the annual “True Grits 50cc Rally” would begin and the guys wanted to position themselves at Wildcat BBQ (about 6 mi N of Suches) where they could both enjoy great bbq and snag a nice vantage point of the contestants flying by (well, at 50cc, strolling by) in their “blaze of glory and cloud of 2-stroke-smoke! Very entertaining.
After lunch, they planned to head S to TWO in Suches, but since each was riding on adventure-style motorcycle, they decided to take a route through the forest by heading up Gaddistown Rd to the ridge top, they eastward across FS42. It was a gorgeous afternoon and they quickly set up tents and previewed the “tiddlers” as they returned from their 67 mi course. Dinner was in the comfort of TWO’s lodge, then they enjoyed meeting several riders from the FL area over a nice campfire. Overnight lows were about 50 degrees which was perfect to this crew.
At daybreak they broke down their (nicely dry!) tents, then marveled at TWO’s great breakfast offerings. Since they enjoyed their forest tour the previous afternoon, they decided more was in order, so... They headed west across FS42, then north (down) FS58 which runs alongside beautiful Noontootla Creek, then around the backside of the Toccoa River, then southward to home. About 200 miles of smiles. Don’t let this prime fall riding weather pass you by - get out and enjoy it, even if in a cage!
Taking advantage of early fall weather, Dan, BobK, and Larry rode a couple areas in the northwest we haven’t ridden in a while – the Ocoee River in SW TN and the Ft Mountain area NW of Ellijay. Why did we wait so long?
The morning was chilly and the afternoon warm. In other words, perfect! The trio zipped up to Ellijay the fast way (Hwy 515), then hopped over to Boardtown Road to Blue Ridge - beautiful and relaxing. As they arrived in McCaysville, the early morning cloud ceiling was just beginning to lift. It was cool enough they really hoped those clouds continued rising. By the time they were riding along the Ocoee river, they were enjoying bright fall sunshine. And even if they were a tad cool, what about those rafters and kayakers! After reaching the Lake Ocoee area, Larry missed a turn which took them a few miles N on Hwy 30 at the base of the mountain. When they stopped, they met a couple of friendly hounds in the road sporting radio collars with antennae. Turns out those playful pups were shirking their hunting duties on opening day of Bear and Hog season for eastern TN. The guys let the hunters they’d passed a couple miles earlier know so they could redirect their dogs to a safer area.
From there, they rode up high above Lake Ocoee and Chilhowee Mountain for a couple of spectacular overlooks.
From the Lake Ocoee overlooks they rode back down for lunch at The Bus Bar – something of a cross between Ballground’s Burger Buss and an eclectic outdoor music and craft beer venue catering to the “river rat” crowd. The food was good, but it would have been most interesting to see them in the evening when they’re in full swing. Maybe we’ll consider camping there at a future date.
After lunch they cruised down 411 with the beautiful Cohuttas looming on their left. At Chattsworth, they headed east on 52 to enjoy the wonderfully twisty section outside of Ft Mountain State Park. And more beautiful overlooks. From there it was down 515 to Woodstock, then home. You should’a been there!
Introduction
Mid-Atlantic Backcountry Discovery Route – a 1060 mile off-road route from the NE tip of TN to the N border of PA/NY. Well, not all offroad. It’s an awesome mix of twisty paved backroads and unpaved Forest Service of every type imaginable, all through beautiful Appalachian and Allegheny mountains and valleys! (here’s a brief article with a much better description and map… MABDR summary). The non-profit BDR organization (rideBDR) has created a dozen of these routes in the big-Western states, but this was their first (of only two) east of the Mississippi. The BDR group makes full GPS tracks available to download and Butler makes waterproof m/c maps to provide additional logistical support. Dave and Larry have pondered this trip for several years and finally made it come true. Here’s the high-level story and Dave’s Thoughts.
In late July, three riders gathered for… A Great Day in the Mountains! Dan, Dennis and Larry started early to minimize temps and afternoon pop-up shower risk – and it paid off handsomely. They enjoyed a beautiful and, dare I say, cool ride up through the Grandview, Sunrise and Doublehead Gap areas to Van Zandts in Dial for a welcome break. For a day forecasted for mid-90’s in the metro, they weren’t expecting to see 68 degrees in Dial at late morning – though entirely welcome!
