Beth drove up to meet me at work in Durham on Friday afternoon and we mounted up and hit the road. We reached our destination, the Iron Horse Motorcycle Campground in Stecoah, NC, late on Friday night, set up our tent in the dark and hit the sack. The Iron Horse is a new campground with modern amenities in a bucolic setting. White noise from a stream that meandered through the campground ensured peaceful slumber.
We spent Saturday riding some of the amazing roads in the area: Deal's Gap, Cherohala Skyway and all the great roads in between. Saturday night wasn't quite as restful at the Iron Horse as Friday night. A large group of cruiser riders had arrived and they partied late into the night. Sunday morning arrived too quickly.
With a sluggish start, we packed up camp and began a long, circuitous route toward Georgia. Our route would take us up 28, through Deal's Gap, and across the newly reopened Foothills Parkway before turning southward to Georgia. We got stuck in the usual Gatlinburg traffic jam along the very scenic, curvaceous 441, and had to stop to take in the beauty of the numerous waterfalls around Highlands, NC. It was getting late in the day before we reached the twisty Warwoman Road, followed by the insane jaunt through Wolf Pen Gap, and the sun had set by the time we reached Two Wheels Only (TWO) Motorcycle Campground in Suches, Georgia.
The owners of TWO had left for the night and we were greeted by the only other camper, Richard. We promised not to forget each others names. TWO is another fabulous campground with lots of character. You have to ride over a narrow wooden bridge spanning a small creek to reach your campsite. Again, we camped beside a noisy creek and slept like babies all night.
On Monday morning we packed up and hit the road back toward North Carolina. We first had to make a side stop for breakfast in Helen, GA. Helen, also known as Alpine Helen, is touristy small town modeled after small towns found in the Bavarian Alps. Being a big fan of German food, I had hoped to eat lunch in Helen, but we were there to early, so settled for a delicious, if American, breakfast.
After crossing back into NC, we got on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Cherokee and headed up to the Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground (BRMC) in Cruso. The BRMC is just off the Parkway down the ridiculously twisty Highway 276. It was dusk by the time we reached BRMC, and again the owners had already left. And again, eerily enough, we were greeted by a friendly camper named Richard. Richard and his fellow travelers were down from Canada on weeklong tour.
BRMC was our favorite campground of the trip due to the noisiest of streams and friendliest of campers. We ended up staying there for two nights and enjoyed getting to know the other campers around the communal bonfire at night.
On Tuesday, we spent the day at the Biltmore Estate in nearby Asheville. Neither Beth nor I had ever been to Biltmore before and we were both awed by its grandeur. It was difficult to pry Beth away as they were closing that afternoon because she was having so much fun taking pictures.
After another restful night we packed up camp and continued on up the parkway toward Virginia. On Wednesday afternoon the rain hit in a big way. We ended up getting drowned in rain, but pressed on until the fog grew so thick that I couldn't see far enough ahead to continue safely. We finally found a hotel room in Boone, and that's when we learned about the hurricanes. The weather report was not good for the mountains for the next couple of days, but it looked like our home down east was going to get pounded by one, if not two, hurricanes. We reluctantly made the decision to return home the next day so that we wouldn't get stuck waiting out the hurricanes.
Thursday was spent riding in the rain headed for home. The rain didn't let up all day, and we were glad to get home to dry out. The trip didn't last quite as long as we had planned, but we couldn't complain. It was a fun adventure.
Click the thumbnails on the left to see the many photographs taken mostly by Beth.
Richard Bryan
September 5, 2004