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A few things that have changed since May. For those that have been to the lookout in the Joyce Kilmer Forest, they have torn it down and built a new one. They cut the tree down that grew up through the middle of it and moved the lookout over. Same great view but seems a shame about the huge tree. They were in the process of digging up the walkway so that should be nice come next May. The road leading up to it was in really great shape as were the roads in the forest also. Not that any of us have gone swimming in it but that real pretty park with the great view where people do swim has a 5.00 day fee now. The Happy Valley road at the bottom of the Dragon was being repaved. It's a nice road to ride on with very little traffic. It ends up in Maryville, TN and is super smooth now. My wife loved the new addition to the parkway and even got to see a bear cross the road on the way back. We stayed 4 nights at the resort and had a nice time. Not real crowded up there. No cool bikes though, pretty much all Harleys. Looking forward to seeing all y'all in May.

Thanks Buddy, very interesting. Maybe there was a reason they cut down the tree. I had to cut down a 115 foot tall poplar in my yard this year. Lightning hit it a couple years ago and cracked it all the way down, and it was slowly dying. I had to cut it down before it started randomly dropping dead branches big enough to break a person's neck. If you want to swim, I guess you can swim at the boat ramp on route 28 about any time. I seldom see anyone at the pier there. I bet the water is cold though.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

I loved that spot. These guys probably killed the tree..... LOLOLOL

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This is true. Where I grew up the hills were so steep and long, when your ball rolled down the hill you just said "screw it"...

I hate that they removed the tree, but glad to hear the road is in decent shape, last time up there was a lot of gravel and pebbles on the road. Thinking about going back to the "Back of the Dragon" first weekend in September. Great roads up there very light traffic the first time I went there and I have spied some new great looking roads for my next trip there. Its like the Dragon without the traffic!

Thanks for the update Buddy. We were all just there at that tree this year! Can’t wait to see the new observation deck next time.

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1972 Kawasaki H2 Mach IV (Candytone Blue), 1976 Suzuki GT750 (Maui Blue)
1984 Yamaha RZ350 (KRR- Yellow/Black).

“Jeff and Chris are THE MEN!”
RIP John E. Evans

I did a motorcycle camping trip to the Back of the Dragon two years ago. How are you going to get there? I was thinking of doing a camping trip there again sometime.

Yes, the traffic was very light, but I found that if you do come to a car it's not likely that the driver is going to pull over to let you by. My description of that road is three Tail of the Dragons, separated by some normal lowland roads to let you rest between them.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

There was a bunch of work going on up there. Cutting the grass on the side of the roads, repainting lines and lots of repaving. All the roads were in great shape for riding once you got past the work going on. We did get stopped by a downed tree on that back back road that leads into Fontana Village. It was too heavy for us to move and by the time we decided on another route , the county workers rolled up and cut the tree into pieces so we could go by. They said they had been looking for that tree for an hour and a half.

Buddy, did you notice if anyone was cutting trees and brush at the overlooks on the Cherohala Skyway? Or maybe you didn't get up there. Those overlooks have been overgrown for years now, and at a lot of them you can't see squat.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

I drove the Cherohala a couple weeks ago...nope..no cutting has taken place. The overlooks are all over grown.

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Busy doing more riding than wrenching.......

We rode it Jim and it's like Rick said. Still grown up pretty bad.