July 6 - Cherokee, NC to Roanoke, VA - 390 miles

We rode the southern part of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and it was absolutely beautiful all the way.  This Parkway runs along the tops of the ridges of the Smoky Mountains for several hundred miles, with panoramic views of the Smokies on both sides of the ridge.

Both Norm and Deane had either ridden or driven parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway, but neither had been up the whole route.  So today was the first day of two that we had been planning for a long time.

As we made an early morning start from our motel in Cherokee, it was quite foggy down in the valleys, but we thought it might get better as we climbed up to the Parkway.  And it did indeed get better.   As we approached the top of the ridges, the fog lay in the valleys, and the mountain ridges were completely clear.  This in itself was very pretty.

From there on, the day was perfect; blue sky with little puffy clouds and very clear, with only a little humidity in the air.  This was the Smoky Mountains at their best.

The southernmost part of the Parkway is the highest.  Not long after we rode up the ridges, we found the highest part of the Parkway.  One may not think 6,053 ft. elevation is very high, but remember, the base of the mountains is not very much above sea level.  While we were at this highest elevation, the temperature was 55^o  and a 20 mph wind was blowing.  This was COLD for us, after several days at 90^o or more.  We wore warm clothes for the rest of the day, with the temperature not reaching higher than 75^o for the high of the day, so it was very comfortable riding.

The whole area of the Smoky Mountains is heavily forested, with the views down to other green mountains, ridges, and valleys exceeding our wildest dreams of what the Blue Ridge ride should be.  An interesting part of the ride is the number of long tunnels that were required to get through mountain tops of solid granite.  We counted 25 tunnels that we rode through just today!!

Now for our first "Wild Life Report" of this year's ride.

We were riding along when Deane spotted what looked like spotted furry little animals sort of tumbling down the inclined shoulder toward the road ahead on his left side.  Upon getting closer, it turned out to be a Mama Skunk and her three baby skunks, who wanted to cross the road.  Deane slowed almost to a stop, and a pickup coming the opposite way slowed almost to a stop, and the Mama Skunk and her babies trotted across the road and disappeared into the forest.

Then Norm spotted Bambi, a pretty little deer fawn, standing in the shadows alongside the road.  The little guy was scared when Deane rode by on his motorcycle, and turned and jumped back into the forest.

Last, Deane spotted a Pheasant just crossing the road and disappearing into the weeds.

The animals had a happy day, and we had a happy day.

What a great day!  Tomorrow we will ride the upper half of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

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