Cherohala Skyway condition 12/29/13

I'm considering a ride over Cherohala on either New Years Eve or New Years day...in either case, during daylight hours.

Anyone have any insights to what condition the road surface is in (Ice? Snow?), now that the latest storm has passed through?

Thanks.

Bob

why not ask folks that LIVE there?
http://tailofthedragon.com/weather.html

call them at the number on bottom of page.

amazing what google can do......
ever hear of it?:huh

Should have just answered the man's question and saved the smart ass commentary for in-person interaction...:huh

Just saying...


VAC

I want to hear from a rider who's just been over Cherohala...can you google that for me? Duh.

Tuesday's and Wednesday's WNC / Eastern Tennessee forecast is for sunny with a high of about 50 degrees. The roads will be fine, dress warm and enjoy the ride.

He IS asking people who live there, you asswipe. There's alot of riders on this forum who live there and some of them may have been down CH more recently than any internet report.
What are you...in 3rd grade?

It's OK...soggy's doing the best he can.

You'd be grumpy too if your sammich got wet.

Depends. If the wet is gravy that is ok!


VAC

Mmmmm....roast beef poboy with gravy from Ray's PeGe, Monroe, LA...a soggy sammich if I ever had one. Sooooo delicious.

MiniMike at Tellico Moto is a good resource also.


Of course you could just chance it....

Good suggestion...your picture is EXACTLY what I am trying to avoid. Cherohala on a clear winter day is my favorite ride. But a scene like you have pictured is a nightmare for me.

As I'm sure you know, the weather in TP or Robbinsville can be very different than what the top of Cherohala is like. The problem can also be "black ice", so we really don't have to have rain or snow for there to be a dangerous situation. Thats why I'm looking for a eye witness report and not some generic Weather Channel drivel.

Thanks for reminding of what it could look like!

There's not any snow that I'm aware of. North facing slopes and hollers can always have ice this time of year. Be wary of wet spots in the road, there are some areas that get no direct sun this time of year, never dry out completely, and hence become incredibly slippery. Tunnels are the same way. Regardless, it'll be really freakin' cold.

Here's a weather link that'll give you an idea of the temps and such at various elevations... http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/MRX/RTPMRX

Thanks for your input. I'm less worried about precip than I am ground water freezing on the road surface. As you point out, some of those shaded areas never dry out or worse, never thaw out.

Rode over Cherohala today and the road was in very good condition...almost completely dry. They have salted the road and there is some evidence of that, but its very light. There's lots of heavy icing on the rock faces but I saw no signs of water running onto the road. I don't think the temps got below freezing even at the highest elevation...I'm estimating it was around 40F...though I never stopped to carefully examine my thermometer.

Anyway, my first ride of the year was a doozy...appreciate your help!

Glad you had a good ride. Pretty day for it, if a bit cold. You touched on one thing I forgot, salt. Since commercial traffic uses the road and it's one of only a few routes across the mountains, it gets pretty heavily salted. It's best to wait for a good rain after a snow to wash the salt away.

Awesome, we headed that way on dirt this morning. Found a few cold spots down by the creek near Hayesville (dipped to 16 at one brief point, but was in the 30's up at the higher elevations.)

We got turned back with closed gates on the north side of Tusquittee Gap 35.155806,-83.695172 and wound up coming back to GA via old 64, Standing Indian, and Coweeta Hydrolgical Lab roads.

I think you are referring to the gate on Tuni Gap road which prevents you from getting onto the Tusquittee Road loop? If so, then that has been closed for a while. At least it was closed last October when I last tried to ride through there. This is really disappointing to hear. I wonder what gives as it has historically been open year round. Strange Standing Indian was open and Tuni Gap was closed.

Yes, there were two gates when we came to the clearing on Tusquittee Rd. The left gate was Tuni and the right should go on through to Big Choga. The gates were about 100yards apart. There were a couple side roads gates there as well but I expected them to be gated.

I expected Standing Indian to be closed so that was a nice surprise.

Hard to go wrong in that area.

Tuni Rd (USFS 440) is closed because of slide damage. I've been told it may be up to 3 years before it's repaired.. The road thru Tusquittee Gap (Clear Creek) is a state road and doesn't have any gates on it.
The seasonal road closures USFS begins today and that will include Standing Indian..