Blue Ridge Day Trip

by Steve Wishard

Prior to becoming active in BMWNEF, I spent several years riding with a group of very experienced riders in Jacksonville. Men & women, a variety of motorcycle brands, all safe and relaxed, no pressure or conflicts. Some of the other members of that group are also in BMWNEF.

The person who started that group, and organized most of the rides, moved to North Carolina a while back. The group had already begun drifting apart before his departure and essentially dissolved when he moved. However, he and a few core members remain in touch. I would occasionally meet him for breakfast.

Last May, one of those core members reached out and put together a 5 day trip to visit North Carolina and our since relocated friend. He ended up with 6 of us on bikes and one who stopped by for a couple of hours by car. The car traveler drove up from Suches where he was with BMWNEF during the annual TWO trip.

Since we had all been to NC several times, and ridden all the famous roads, we wanted to avoid those and do new things. So everyone was asked to specify a ride & destination they would like to do. As usual, only 3 offered suggestions.

One person wanted to ride to Brushy

Mountain State Prison via the Devil’s Triangle, tour the prison and have lunch at Warden’s Table Restaurant within the prison. We did the ride. Unfortunately the prison was closed that day so we didn’t get the tour or lunch (superior planning). However, it was a beautiful and challenging ride. So it was a great day anyway and now we have an excuse for another trip.

One person wanted to ride the Road

To Nowhere, ride through the Road To Nowhere Tunnel and see what was on the other side.

I wanted to ride to the top of Clingmans Dome, hike up to Clingmans Dome Tower and shoot a multi-panel panoramic photo with my Pro Nikon camera and Manfrotto Panoramic Tripod.

Since the Road To Nowhere was on the route and almost exactly half way to Clingman’s Dome, we decided to combine the two rides into one trip.

As it turned out I probably should have planned Clingmans better as well. I think under-planning is what happens when you’ve done a trip many times and then do that trip again but add several new elements. Sort of like the fact that most traffic accidents happen within 25 miles of home. We get too confident.

see any detail of the tunnel or the road. It was all just black except the opening at the far end.

The ride up to Road To Nowhere Tunnel was 41 miles and expected to take an hour. The route includes mostly highway up to Bryson City, followed by 6 twisty miles of 2 lane along Tuckascgee river and ending with 0.7 miles to the tunnel parking area. Cars cannot proceed past the parking area due to posts embeded in the road. Fortunately, we weren’t in cars and the posts are spaced so a motorcycle can get through.

As we made our way down the tunnel, I was amazed by its ability to absorb light. My GTL has a great adaptive headlight, BMW fog lights & Clearwater Erica auxiliary lights mounted under the mirrors. With everything on high I still couldn’t

We all wish we could have seen the road. The last 100 feet or so was 1-2 inch deep mud. When I rolled into that, despite only going about 5 mph, it was like I had ridden onto an ice rink. The bike going every way but straight. If it had been any longer I would have probably gone down. When I took the photo above it all just looked black to me. I cranked up the ISO setting on the camera and the photo revealed all the graphetti and the Mud.

Nearly everyone had the same slippery experience near the end of the tunnel. It 21 turned out that there was a narrow strip that was mud-free and a couple of folks were lucky enough to hit that. We all hit it on the way back. I’m not sure we could have pick my bike or the Harleys up on that slick surface, even with 7 of us. nessee, and the highest point along the 2,192-mile Appalachian Trail.

Clingmans Dome Observation Tower, built in 1959, is a 45-foot concrete tower featuring a circular observation platform. The observation platform is accessed by a spiral ramp. On very clear days, visibility reaches 100 miles and 7 states can be seen from the tower.

With everyone safely out the far end of the tunnel, we lined up the bikes for a group photo. Some passing hikers were kind enough to do the honors.

The Road To Nowhere was created as part of a project in the 1940s - 1960s. It was intended to provide access to areas made inaccessible by Fontana Dam & Lake. However, the project ran into unstable, acid leaching rock and was therefore abandon for safety and environmental concerns.

The Road To Nowhere actually leads to a lot of places. It terminates into Lakeshore Trail, which in turn connects to several other trails that criss-cross Smoky Mountain National Park.

Once we finished exploring the far side of the tunnel, and everyone was safely back through, we set out for our second stop. Clingmans Dome Tower.

Clingmans Dome is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains. With an elevation of 6,643 feet, it is the highest mountain in the Great Smoky Mtns National Park, the highest point in Ten-

We didn’t know it at the time but the altitude increase I was counting on for my panoramic photo would come at a price. Clingmans Dome Road, beginning at Newfound Gap, is a switchback road which climbs 2,796 feet in 8.9 miles.

The steep climb, slow speed & frequent switchbacks caused one of the older Harleys, with over 100K miles, to have clutch problems. By the time we got to the parking area it took the engine, what was left of the clutch, and a couple folks pushing to get it into a parking spot.

However, being in the parking lot didn’t mean elevation was done kicking our butts. The tower, with its observation platform, is a 1/2-mile hike up a 13% grade. That is a 332-foot increase in just 2,640 feet. Then there is the 45 feet up the tower. To be honest, the panoramic image in the header of this article, would not exist if it weren’t for my friend Thai carrying my camera & tripod up - andthe numerous resting places along that 1/2-mile path. Getting old sucks.

But hey!, mother nature wanted to throw one more challenge at us. By the time I got to the platform, there was a dense wall of clouds moving in which were lower than the tower. Visibility in the direction I wanted to shoot was about a quarter mile for half of the frame. So I had to move 90° around the tower. In that direction I could get a good distance shot, however, there was a radio tower almost in the center of the photo.

After all the effort put in by everyone so I could get this photo, I wasn’t going home empty handed. So I shot all of the images, stitched them all together in photoshop, and then removed the tower. It’s not as good as I hoped but that’s how things go in the photography game. It’s 10% skill, 10% patients, 30% determination and 50% luck.

It didn’t take as long to get back down to the parking lot but it still took a while. My thighs & knees don’t like downhill slopes. If my legs buckled and I had fallen I’d have probably been doing 60 when I rolled into the parking lot.

The guys who stayed with the crippled Harley had gotten it in a state where they thought it would make it back to the house. He could coast nearly all the way down the mountain.

Some bought souveniers, others rested, I did both. Then I packed up the camera gear and we all set out down the mountain. It didn’t take long to get back to Eddie’s (the guy we rode up to see). The Harley made it all the way back to Jacksonville with no issues. It did need a clutch repair once home but- Hey!100K+. Kind of hard to complain.