Hitting the Trail to Wytheville

[GinaMcD]

First off, this is a two pilot/no pillion ride report, plus some days there will be very few stops, so pictures may be few and far between. If you would rather look at pictures, we won't be offended if you skip this report.

Last year we made the 740 mile trip to Lewisburg WV in one day since we had the week after EOM off and could only manage to get Thursday & Friday off the week before. This year we are reversing the process and taking five days to get to Wytheville then making the two day blast home. So for the ride down, we really decided to do something radical (for us, at least) and stay off the interstates as much as possible.

Day 1 - Saturday, 9/17/16

We didn't have very far to go today, so we took our time finishing the packing we didn't get to last night and loading up the bikes. Yes, we are firmly in the last minute packing camp. We pulled out at 9:30, stopped for gas, and made the very short run down I-495 to Route 2 west.

Our original plan had been to hop off 2 in Orange and ride 202 all the way down along the Quabbin Reservoir and into CT. Then the other day I heard and ad on the radio for the Eastern States Exposition (The Big E) which opened yesterday, and realized we needed a new route around the Springfield MA area if we didn't want to sit in traffic for half the day.

We stayed on 2/The Mohawk Trail out to Route 112 south in Shelburne Falls MA, then turned down 116 in Ashville, eventually landing at The Old Creamery in Cummington MA for a break.

From there we made our way over to Route 8 south into CT where we picked up Route 44 to 199 into NY. This was a beautiful stretch and the first time in many, many years that we haven't taken I-84 through CT. It was heavenly. There is one stretch of 199 that makes you feel like you've suddenly landed in Kentucky horse country, white fences and all!

The ride over the Hudson River on the Kingston-Rhinecliff bridge was a real treat on a clear day, and best of all, toll-free in the westerly direction. This dumped us onto Route 209 in Kerhonkson NY, otherwise known as the Clayton "Peg Leg" Bates Memorial Highway. Not quite sure how a road in upstate NY ended up named after a one-legged tap dancer from NC...

Route 209 took us through Port Jervis and down through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. It was a beautiful run until we caught up to a slow moving pack of HDs in Parade Mode. They are impossible to get past on a narrow road with very few straight stretches.

It didn't matter because pretty soon traffic came to a dead stop and we could see a sea of flashing red lights ahead.

By the time they waved us through, they had a car on a tow truck that looked like it rolled a few times before sliding down the road quite a ways on it's roof. The area was a mass of emergency vehicles, first responders milling around, and a bunch of guys wandering around with clipboards, measuring devices and cans of spray paint.

It was one of those scenes that sends a chill down your spine.

We left the Water Gap and made the last run, still on 209, into Stroudsburg PA for a night at the Budget Inn and Suites. It's convenient, clean, and at $75 on a Saturday night in the greater Poconos area, it's dirt cheap. It has a decent on-site restaurant, Roasted Tomatoes, provides real glasses in the rooms to complement the portable bar, and if you're lucky enough to snag a room in the "300" room block, which is the lower level (downstairs from the "100" room block...), your bike gets a nice little nook for the night right outside your room.



It will come in handy in the morning if the rain they are predicting gets here before we leave.

 

[LKLD]

Gina, you and Paul enjoy the ride down, and we'll see you Thursday. Marie has some panniers she'd like to show you....she's happy, and I'm a lot lighter in the wallet...thanks. :lol:

Safe traveling,

Rob

 

[bbdig]

Are your bikes OK ? they probably have never gone this slow when heading in a westerly direction. Stay dry and keep the rubber side down.

See you on Friday

Jack & Jane

 

[GinaMcD]

Day 2 - Saturday, 9/18/16

This morning while Paul went for a walk to see if he recognized any of the names on the headstones in the cemetery next door to the hotel, I washed up and started packing.

When he got back, we finished packing, loaded the bikes, and headed for breakfast. While they do free continental breakfast Monday through Friday, they put on a bigger spread on the weekends, but they charge you $8 per person. Oh well, it was still a cheap stay given the area we were in.

Today's route was supposed to be 209 to to 147, over the bridge by the Shamoken Dam, then 522 all the way down to Skyline Drive at Front Royal.

While we did have to stop after about 20 miles to put on the rain jackets, we were soon clear of the rain and all went well for the first part of the day. We were in and out of small downtowns where Main Street businesses were still thriving. And in between we were riding through open farm land. We made a gas stop at the Turkey Hill at the junction of 209 and 901 in a town called Minersville. They were selling the local product by the bag full.



And at the front edge of the parking lot we found this tribute to the local miners.



The artist was a local boy who had landed a job at the Franklin Mint. The detail on the statue is amazing.



The run up 147 was entertaining, but once we crossed the river, the day started going down hill fast. That's because we were hitting so much traffic, it felt like we were going no where fast.

We stuck with 522 until a gas stop in Lewiston PA. A check of the map showed that we could continue on our route and arrive at our destination at 7 p.m. with no stops and no traffic, or back track east to I-81 and arrive at the same time. Hmmmm....

A check of the radar settled it. Staying on 522 would put us smack dab in the middle of a huge green blob. Retreating east at a quicker pace would mean just getting clipped by the southern edge of the rain.

We retreated. So much for back roads all the way...

From I-81, where we did hit just a brief shower, we took I-66 over to Front Royal VA. Then the decision was Skyline Drive or circle around to the south east to our landing place. Another check of the routing options showed the circle around would save us almost half an hour. We were circling around.

So we took 340 out of Front Royal back onto to 522, then turned onto 211 just south of Flint Hill. The road started off innocently, then suddenly turned into a twisting, snaking, uphill run. We had virtually no other traffic and two lanes, and we took full advantage of them.

At one point in a deep right hander, a little chuckle came through the Sena into my earbuds, so I asked Paul what was so funny. Just as he answered, "I just scraped my foot!" I felt my own right foot scraping along the pavement. Then I giggled. We continued on, scraping and chuckling, and scraping and giggling, until we got to our turn onto Skyline Drive.

We purchased our pass and set off south towards the Skyland Resort at Mile 41. We checked in, rode down to the back lot where our room is, unloaded, changed and made the five minute hike on the wooded trail, uphill all the way, to the dining room by flashlight. After dinner we found a seat in the taproom for a glass of Legend Brown Ale and listened to tonight's performer play his guitar and sing a few folk songs.

Then it was back down the trail to our room for bourbon on the back deck overlooking the lights of Luray VA. I can't wait to see what the view is in the daylight!

 

[Fred W]

Our ride plan down (starting tomorrow AM) will be very similar to yours started, except we'll be dropping down on the east side of the Quabbin and avoiding the Big E by staying south of Springfield. But we're also running down the DWG into Pensy.

Hope you can manage to stay dry today!

 

[BkerChuck]

A cool footnote for you. The statue you photographed in Minersville, PA, at night his lantern lights up! That statue has been used as a bonus location in several LD rallies.

 

[GinaMcD]

1338260" timestamp="1474288528"]A cool footnote for you. The statue you photographed in Minersville, PA, at night his lantern lights up! That statue has been used as a bonus location in several LD rallies.

Thanks! I love stumbling across stuff like this.

 

[GinaMcD]

Our ride plan down (starting tomorrow AM) will be very similar to yours started, except we'll be dropping down on the east side of the Quabbin and avoiding the Big E by staying south of Springfield. But we're also running down the DWG into Pensy.
Hope you can manage to stay dry today!

We've been wondering how much overlap there would be in our plans.

Enjoy the ride and we'll see you Friday!

 

[Fred W]

Our ride plan down (starting tomorrow AM) will be very similar to yours started, except we'll be dropping down on the east side of the Quabbin and avoiding the Big E by staying south of Springfield. But we're also running down the DWG into Pensy.

Hope you can manage to stay dry today!

We've been wondering how much overlap there would be in our plans.

Enjoy the ride and we'll see you Friday!

Kind'a funny actually. I suppose there are only so many interesting non-highway roads to escape New England, but... my route plan has us going down US 44 to NY 199 across the Kingston bridge, down US 209 thru Port Jarvis and down through the Water Gap. When we get to I 80 we'll either blast across it to I-81 and our planned stop in Hazleton, or if it's not too late continue down US 209 to PA 99 to Hazleton.

A lot will depend on the pain level of the ionbeam's butts by then.

 

[wheatonFJR]

SMH...Poor Helen and Alan.

 

[Geezer]

Peg Leg Bates owned a resort and country club just off of Route 209 in Kerhonkson. It was damaged in Hurricane Sandy but had already deteriorated a lot by then. Currently the place is being turned into a high end housing development.

 

[BkerChuck]

Took me a little while but I found my pic.

 

[GinaMcD]

Day 3 - Monday, 9/19/16

I woke up early today, heard rain falling, and rolled over and went back to sleep. About an hour later, Paul decided we'd slept late enough and pulled open the curtains. Still not much of a view.



A check of the forecast showed we were going to be in the rain at least until noon. No need to rush off anywhere. Eventually we got dressed and made the climb up the hill for a late breakfast. Biscuits and gravy and grits--a good healthy start to the day. But the view from our table was still the same.



By the time we finished eating, however, it was starting to look a bit more promising.



We walked back down to our building, looked at the bikes still tucked in under their covers, and went inside to get ready.



Then we hit the trail.



The Appalachian Trail, to be exact.

Before motorcycles entered our lives, most of our vacation time was spent on multi-day backpacking trips along the AT corridor following the white blazes in VA in the spring, and MA, NH and ME in the summer. (The blue blazes are used to mark other trails that intersect or run together with the AT.)

Today we were trying to remember that last time we put our boots on the AT and realized it's been close to 20 years. While we no longer dream of thru-hiking the full 2,200 miles some day, we thought since our lodging was just a short walk from an AT crossing, this would be a good opportunity to say hello to it again.

So today's route would be the AT northbound to The Stony Man summit loop trail, back to the AT north, then south on the Passamoquoddy Trail back to the lodge. About 5.5 miles in all.

Days like today tend to keep most people out of the woods. But we learned early on to appreciate the feeling of being completely alone in the world you experience in the woods in pea soup fog. You see, when you crawl out of your tent in the morning and are greeted by rain and fog, but you need to get that day's miles behind you, you suit up and go.

Just like motorcycle touring.

Our first stop was at the top of the Stony Man summit on a loop trail off the AT. We got there just in time for a few breaks in the clouds.



From there it was back down to the AT for the hike over to the Little Stony Man cliffs. But by then the view had closed up again.



So we continued on, enjoying the near silence, and found ourselves at the base of the cliffs--apparently a popular spot for rock climbers.



We stopped to have a quick drink of water and Paul spotted this leaning against a tree.



Could this be the Stony Man? We weren't sure, but we gave him a more prominent perch so that other hikers might enjoy seeing him.



Eventually we found ourselves back on the road to our room. We made a pot of tea and enjoyed it out on the back deck. We knew pretty soon tonight's other guests would be hanging out on their own decks, so we enjoyed the silence while it lasted.



We decided to treat ourselves to a "night on the town" tonight. We hit the Taproom at 6 p.m., found a table near the stage area, and started the evening with couple of beers. As the evening went on, we could see the fog and clouds starting to break again and we managed to catch the beginning of the sunset. (Note - those things that look like snow covered mountains are actually clouds.)



By the time the show began, we were just finishing dinner.



So we decided to stretch the evening out with an after dinner drink until the show ended at 10:00. We even had a warm up for Hawaiian Shirt night when they broke out the Ukuleles. Although "Baby It's Cold Outside" was an interesting choice...



After the show we stopped to talk to the performers, and discovered that Bradley was from our neck of the woods -- born in Lowell MA, spent most of his life in Nashua NH, then lived in Milford NH up until he packed up and headed south. Not much work for a blue grass banjo picker in New England...

We dug out the flashlight and made the walk down to our room for a nightcap and stargazing on the back deck before calling it a night.

 

[Intech]

Good stuff! See y'all in a couple of days!

 

[LKLD]

Livin' the dream Gina... livin' the dream. :yes:

 

[BkerChuck]

Very cool! One of our machinists at work is taking a sabbatical next year to finish hiking the AT. When he was younger he did Maine down to PA and before he turns 60 next year wants to do PA down to GA to finish it off.

 

[GinaMcD]

Edit - post deleted. Internet is not cooperating out here in the sticks. Will try again later.

 

[FJReady]

Anxiously awaiting next installment...

 

[GinaMcD]

Day 4 - Tuesday, 9/20/16

This morning we woke up to our phones repeatedly buzzing with weather alerts for dense fog. The reports said the fog would lift by 10.

We'll see....

We dressed and packed and headed out to load the bikes just after 9. No sign of any lifting.



Visibility was about ten feet and speeds were barely 5mph for the short ride up to the main lodge.

The dining room was full and the staff seemed to be having a rough morning, so breakfast became a drawn out affair. Ten came and went and the fog was showing no sign of lifting, so we didn't mind hanging out and having an extra cup of coffee.

By the time we decided to give it a go, the sky was finally starting to brighten up. About ten miles down the road the sun finally made an appearance. Oh well, I guess we aren't going to have to stay and check out tonight's entertainment.



Our first Blue Ridge Parkway ride was in 2002, the year after I got my MC license. Since then we've ridden up and down it so many times we've lost count.

This is only our second time riding Skyline Drive. Riders we have talked to over the years have either praised it or said it was a waste if time and money. Given that our first Skyline ride was in rain and dense fog, we couldn't say which opinion we agreed with. Having now ridden all but the first 30 miles in good weather, we would say it's worth riding.

And as we know it won't be the last National Park we visit within the next 12 months, we shelled out the $80 (versus $30 for two MCs) for a National Park pass. Those of you with Geezer Passes are all set!

Skyline dumped us onto the Blue Ridge Parkway where speeds could be (legally) increased. The sun was shining, the road was dry, traffic was fairly light, and the slow movers either let us by or were easy to pass.

We were having a great time rounding off our tires until we ran up on an HD threesome from WV traveling at an average of 35mph--10 below the posted and 15 below the average pace...

We were in a windy stretch with very few and very short straights. We were going to need help from them to get by.

That help was not being offered...

Paul finally managed to pass riders two and three, but had to tuck in behind the leader. It got worse after that as rider #3 then seemed intent on blocking me while the leader seemed to ignore Paul's presence.

By the time we made it past all of them we realized what was going on. The lead rider was a newbie based on the newness of all her gear and her straight ahead, tense riding posture. The other two were her Knights in Shining Chrome protecting her flanks. And in the processes, pissing off all the vehicles that had stacked up behind us... No wonder so many drivers hate motorcycles.

We pulled in at the Peaks of Otter Lodge at 2:30 -- half an hour before check in time, so we bought a snack and sat out on the back lawn overlooking the lake. We checked in, unloaded, but had to wait for housekeeping to finish vacuuming our room.



After unpacking and changing, we headed out for a one mile walk on the path around the Lake.



Along the way we stopped to check out this "ordinary" on the northern edge of the lake.





We got back to the lodge and decided to do some bike maintenance while we had time and daylight. I dug out my tools and adjusted then lubed the Bird's chain, we checked tires, and we replaced the foam cover on my left hand grip.

We had plenty of time to shower before dinner, and ponder when the last time this bathroom feature was actually used.



After enjoying an early dinner with a couple of local beers, we settled on our rear deck with after dinner drinks for some star gazing.