Our trip to Deals Gap for the 17TH Annual 2 Stroke Meet this year included some great ADV riding along with the usual excellent road riding. 8 Guys and 17 Motorcycles adorned our cabin on Yellow Creek Rd. Parking for 3 enclosed trailers was tight but we managed.
Getting ready to head out for the day on our driveway. The driveway was no problem on a bike but trailers were a different story. The bridge in the pic crosses a stocked Trout Stream where Paul caught a few of the Brookies. He kept one and we had a tasty over cracker appetizer.
One of our day trips was through Tatham Gap.
After a curvy uphill dirt road we made it to the final section that, lucky for us, the gate was left open by the guys working on the towers.
Unfortunately we had climbed above the cloud layer and visibility wasn't that great, but we finally had good cell phone reception.
Adam taking in Bald River Falls, and Dry Falls below. I think Dry Falls is named that because you can walk behind and under the falls.
Time for a trail side lunch.
This camping area is at the end of the same road as Bald River Falls, and about 13 miles from the falls. We came in from the opposite end of the falls on dirt. I had never been to this end and never knew about all the camping areas and the small camp village with a general store that was on this road. We always came in from the Cherehola and turned around at Bald River Falls. On our return loop we took a dirt road off this road and eventually hit the Dirt Cherehola back.
Timmy's lunch menu seemed a bit odd at first but was actually pretty good.
Speaking of food, we eat pretty damn well on these trips. Lobster Tails, Venison, Elk, Steaks, Sausages, and Paul whipped up a fine Rabbit Stew. This was the first year we brought a Crock Pot and it's a keeper.
And of course you need something to wash that down. Due to the dry nature of the area we plan our route home carefully.
A couple of our lunch stops this trip,
The Marina at Lake Burton GA has pretty good food and a great view of the lake.
This place in Highlands has some of the best burgers anywhere. The owner is a Motorcyclist and he treated us to their house specialty, hot, right out of the oven, Chocolate Chip Cookies. After the burgers and the cookies you had to roll us out of that joint.
A first for us this trip was a ride into South Carolina. An overlook in SC.
There are always mechanical problems. Here, the 85 RZ350 decided to seize up and we had to tow it. Can you tell we were heading home? We had to tow it about 25 miles from Bryson City.
Back at camp we always had a game of Stump going. If you haven't played this game you don't know what you are missing. It involves throwing a claw hammer in the air and slamming it down on the nail of an opponent in the stump, all while drinking beer. I don't think it's a big hit with the Safety Pup gang.
Time to kick back and review the day's events. This week always goes by so quickly. We only got to The Gap once to hook up with the rest of the 2 stroke guys, say hello, and ride The Dragon, but all in all we lucked out with the weather and had another great trip. The cabin rental through VRBO worked out great. Parking for the trailers was tight but the value was exceptional. We would have gone back to Fontana and gotten the same cabin we always get if the place wasn't full of Z cars. This place was half the price and twice as good, thank you Z Cars. Until next year.
