On The Move

Hello again everyone!

It was a busy day today, and as the title of this post implies, I didn't spend a great deal of it holding still.  I've been slacking in the exercise department this whole vacation, largely because I tend to work out in the evenings after dinner, but that time frame hasn't really been free for jogging this week.  To ensure that I got some exercise today I started my day off with a jog.  Normally I find working out before breakfast to be morally reprehensible, but I had to make an exception today.  It was a difficult jog today, I'm not used to any change in elevation at all, and those changes tend to be drastic around these parts.

Following my meager attempts at fitness I had some breakfast and then joined Jay on a run to the Deal's Gap Motorcycle Resort.  As the name implies, it's a hotel catering to motorcyclists that sits on the far end of The Dragon.  It was nice to finally see this iconic location, which would have been a normal sight had The Dragon actually been open.  Also, the drive between here and Deal's Gap (known as The Hellbender) is an absolute riot.  Jay said he actually prefers the Hellbender because he finds The Dragon to be a bit nauseating, where the Hellbender is less technically challenging and therefore a little more enjoyable to drive.

Deal's Gap has a particularly sobering reminder of how dangerous the driving is around these parts:

The Tree of Shame.  Yes, those are little bits of cars and motorcycles tied to it.  The Dragon, and frankly the entire region around it, is not for the faint of heart.

We had a good lunch at the Resort and I got to gawk at a variety of excellent motorcycles:

The complete absence of anything in the 125cc range emphasized the wisdom of my decision to leave my bike at home.  There are a few hills around here that I think would make my bike cry.

On the way back through the Hellbender we stopped off at the bottom of Fontana Dam.  I'd been to the top a couple of times, but standing at the bottom of that massive structure really drove home the scale of it.

Also, a cool picture of Jay's car... which doesn't hurt.

The river beyond the Dam is quite pretty up-close too:

After chilling out below the Dam for awhile we headed back to the Village.  I rested up for a bit and then decided to take a hike out on the Appalachian Trail.  It's such a huge trail that I wanted to hike a small portion of it while I was here.

I started hiking just south of Highway 28, close to Fontana Dam.  I had no particular destination, I was just hiking until I felt like turning around again.  The trail itself provided a fairly natural goal for me though, as it just continued to wind up and up one small mountain, and then continued on towards the peak of another one.  When faced with an upward path I am in no way capable to turning around half-way.  The bulk of the trail was on the North face, so small breaks in the trees offered up views of Fontana Dam, which gave me a good sense of how high up I was getting.  Once I hit the peak of the mountain I was aiming for and the path started to turn downwards I turned around and walked back the way I came.  It turned out to be a really excellent hike; it was beautiful, relaxing, and I didn't see another soul the entire time I was out there.  I had to strap my camera to a tree just to get a photo proving I was really there:

Here are a couple more shots from the trail:

That second shot is from the peak, and if you look at the full-sized version you should be able to see Fontana Dam below me through the trees.

After I made my way down I actually walked over to the area of the Dam that I kept seeing to try to determine which peak I had made it to.  I took the following photo from the top of the Dam, and I've marked where I believe I was with a blue dot:

After that I wandered over to other side of the Dam and make my way down to the water's edge.  The water was beautiful and clear, I really think this would be an excellent place for a paddling/camping vacation:

When I got back to the Village we all got together for dinner, and I've been just kicking my feet up and relaxing since then.  It's pretty late now and I'm just about ready to call it a night.  I have no idea what tomorrow holds, and I plan to just play it by ear.  It will be my last day to enjoy the area before Saturday's long drive home, so whatever I do I'll have to make the most of it.  I'll let you all know how it turns out.