Excursions pour la Journee avec Gaston

Hot Springs, NC. Very soothing in spite of the late night trains.






Dennis led us out to Del Rio.











Waterville







Nice stuff!











Yeah!













We are almost back to camp.






Not so fast!





This incident was terrifying as it unfolded, but is now good for a chuckle. Hey Napoleon, how's your neck?




Sunday







Moments after this photo was taken, the subject was in the weeds.

TODD???????

KLR under a guard rail...

I hear he is occasionally abducted by aliens.

Looks like a lotta of fun at notta!

:huh

















Not this time!

I got out of the sack Saturday morning and was on it at 7:30.

Jonas Ridge. Hey what happened to mostly sunny??





The downside of Holston Mountain on US 421.





So, it wasn't all as good as that. The Cranberry Festival was ramping up in Shady Valley. Besides legit rain, the traffic was bumper to bumper out of Mountain City. The brass was phasing tunes I couldn't place.


I got to Bristol a tad behind schedule. We were on it by 11. Warning: if you are offended by the backside of Kyle B's bike, you should hit the back button on your browser.







Like, now.

Looking west from Sunny Point, VA.







Looking south from Chestnut Ridge back at Sunny Point. That's a big hole on the far left of the photo.






Chestnut Ridge Road brings you down to the Clinch River, where you "can cross" at Burton Ford. The bad news is you have to double back. The good news is that you can make a loop out of it and ride more of VA 65.








Really, all I wanted to do was get to Coeburn.

What's the big deal in Coeburn? Is it the scenic overlooks?






Is it the tutorial on pit bull breeding and the correlation between coat color and value?




40 mile views





Sweepers














Flanagan Dam spillway









Layla was camped at Dirtbag Drive. She had paddled the Breaks in her boat.





This summer's floods provided prodigious amounts of driftwood. Layla collected rocks for a fire circle, and Kyle and I collected wood.







I love digital cameras.

Neat.

Looks like the final drive "puddle of death"...

Nah, just a puddle of gasoline, but with the amount of smoking going on around there, it seemed a tad dicey.

Sunday morning.








We did another run over 80 to Haysi and then on over to Vansant. Then Patterson, Pilgrims Knob, Whitewood and over the hill to Jolo. They stole the Home of the Rocket Boys sign at the top of the hill.






Then up 83 to Paynesville. The West Virginia side is just as good as the Virginia side.

The back of this thing is the tail of a late 60s (?) Firebird. I should have gotten the other angle.


















The fun stuff kind of fizzles out, and then you have to ride the crappy roads in Tazewell County.










I made Kyle suffer the indignity of riding over Clinch Mountain on VA 80 to satisfy my curiosity. He's a good sport.

There is a cool waterfall on the way over to Rich Valley.




The ride home was similar to the ride over. The Holston side of The Snake was dry and sort of sunny. From Shady Valley home, the roads were wet, and I rode through a bunch of rain.

Mountain City





Birthday boy caught a chipmunk ten minutes after this photo was taken. He's 15.




That's all I got. Thanks for looking.

That is one annoyed looking cat.


Thanks for all the great pics.

We trucked up to Asheville. Our friend just got a 250 Kawasaki.













I was surprised by the improvements to Hurricane Creek. The parts that I thought wouldn't have changed are what changed the most.




I think he was putting us on about his "inexperience."























Looking north across 40 at Harmon Den.

Scofflaw!

A trip to Haywood and Cocke Counties was in order today.




The colors were ridiculous.




So were the views





It's no substitute for Caney Fork, but we make do.





Mount Sterling. I have always wanted to hike out there. Seeing the alpine meadows lit up in the sun today, I want to go there even more.



















Fun pavement, too!





We went to the mushroom picking spot, which connected us to Bug Branch.





There is a lot of exploring to do back here.








I have had an encounter with a grouse like this on Maple Sally.





This bird ended up getting a ride in a Chevy.





Bull Pen. Gotta get back here, too.






The temperature went from 58 to the low 40s and raining while we were climbing out of the Gulf.




Freedom HS lost in the second round of the state playoffs. Even in defeat, they displayed sportsmanship of the highest degree. You are a class act!

I wonder if that grouse was drunk.

The national bird of Moran Nation??

You might be on to something.

Sometimes they eat rotten (fermented) apples in the fall, does funny things to them.

Funny. That happens to the Morans too!

My first trip to Brown Mountain since May. 50 inches (!) of rain has fallen since then. They are working on some of the trails. What used to be tough is now fairly easy. What was easy is now rooty and rocky.


DC came out from Asheville.


















I am envious of his orange rims.














Orange rims.




We had a bit of a fuel spill.




















When we came to the end of 7, I thought we were in agreement about calling it a day. Then we were taking off for #9. We had some more fuel issues but made it to the parking lot. I rode home in the dark. 32 miles inside Brown Mountain. Felt like 40.