Miles Thursday: 250?
Hours in the saddle: 5:36
Our flight landed at 10pm the night before, and we both did some unpacking after we got home and got to bed really late. We thought we’d take the next day off, but instead we decided to hit Skyline Drive https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/driving-skyline-drive.htm. It was a weekday so we thought we could miss some of the crowds, which we did.
Skyline is a highway that goes through the Appalachain Mountains. There are almost 70 overlooks along the 105 miles. It’s a national park and costs $15/vehicle if you don’t have a handy-dandy park pass.
We did the south half of Skyline Drive last October. There was a big sign warning of fog, but we blew it off because we’re smarter than that and then had a pretty crappy time on a twisty mountain road with wildlife crossing when we couldn’t see. You can only exit the drive at a few places, so we were stuck on it for a while. Fog droplets collected on our helmet visors and glasses in addition to making visibility poor. The best way we figured out to go was for Jaron to take his glasses off and put his helmet visor up, and then Julie could follow his taillight. (Jaron is much less blind than Julie is without their glasses) So! It was nice to be able to have a better experience this time.
It was really an enjoyable ride, and much of the time we didn’t have anyone in front of us setting the pace. The overlooks were beautiful and distracting. And we had to stop several times for deer AND BEARS. Several cars both directions were stopped early on in our drive, and one that came past us flashed their lights. And as we passed thru that area after everyone got going again, we saw a mound of brown fur on the other side of the low rock wall that acts as a guardrail. Ack! Then later, we for real saw a bear crossing the road. Usually with deer we slow down and honk at them and they go one direction or another. We came to a full stop and gave the bear A LOT of room. It took its sweet-ass time, too. So that brings the trip total for bears to 3.
Julie forgot how far south the road took us and how long it would take to get back home. It took us 3 hours to get home after exiting Skyline.
On our way home, along a 4 lane divided highway, a deer came galloping across the road on a collision course with Julie. It was going so fast that Jaron didn’t even see it in the lead. Julie slammed on her brakes and figured this was it, and the galloping deer just turned around on the median and went back the other way. That was a little exciting.
Leave a Reply