The 4th of July Pisgah Style

Friday afternoon I headed to Bent Creek with the intention of riding across Pisgah and into the Nantahala National Forest to Wolf Mtn. and then back to Bent Creek. A big ride, but of course I would be spending the night along the way to test my Trans Georgia gear. Holiday traffic had I26 at a near standstill on my drive and that delayed me by about 30 minutes or so. I had planned to stop at the Hub to resupply and hydrate and when I wasn't on the bike until after 3pm I was worried that I would not make it to the Hub before they closed at 6. How long does it take to ride from Bent Creek to the Ranger Station?

I knew I was pushing it and really had to hustle my way across 1206 and then Clawhammer seemed to take forever but in the end I made it there with ten minutes to spare. My best drinking buddy Pura Vida Joe was there, of course, and before I knew it the PBR's were going down and I was feeling good about getting a good ride in.



Nothing lasts and the Hub finally closed, so down the road I went. I put some Good Ole Grateful Dead on my mp3 player and settled in for the ride. With all night ahead of me there was no reason to hurry anymore and I took my time and enjoyed the ride.



My route was mainly gravel as I'm still worried about my bike breaking. It is going to break eventually and 2am on Farlow didn't sound good and the Trans Georgia route is mainly gravel so I felt fine about taking the easy route. Even for an easy route I still seemed to be climbing some mountains and 5003 > 140A seemed a lot like a trail at times. I made it out to highway 215 and was immediately greeted by a long line of motorcycles. Then a bunch of cars going very fast and I made the call to skip the Wolf Mtn. loop and stay off the highway for the night. If it isn't fun why do it? Wolf Mtn. isn't going anywhere and I will get there eventually. Plus I was kind of eager to get in some miles fast and make it home early on Saturday as I had some work to do Saturday afternoon. So down the road I went.



I took the easy way. 9:30 pm and still light out!



Before I knew it I was back at the Hatchery and was scouring the vending machines for the best use of $2.25. A diet Coke (nesttea was sold out!) mixed well with my emergency whiskey and a bag of Buggles and a bag of Sun Chips and that was dinner.



After my ten minute pit stop I pulled out and headed up 475B feeling good. It was full on night time and there I was riding my bike in Pisgah. It doesn't get any better than that! There was a very surprising amount of traffic on the gravel roads. I don't know where everyone was headed and they actually seemed to just be out joy riding so I took it easy and made sure I was seen and gave them all plenty of room. Bailing on Wolf Mtn. wasn't an easy call but if I was dodging traffic on 1206 I could only imagine what 215 would have been like at that hour.

I made it across 1206 in good time and it was still early, well only midnight anyway, and I could have easily ridden back to my truck in Bent Creek without a problem but one of my reasons for doing this ride was to test my gear so I pulled off the road shortly after turning onto 5000 and set my hammock up in a couple of trees and settled in for the night with 85 miles in for the day.

I built a small fire, played some one handed solitaire, listened to a fuzzy FM country radio station out of Charlotte and sipped some whiskey out of the bottle. 1:38am in Pisgah.





After a full night's sleep I was up at 5:30am but waited until first light to get back on the bike. 6am and I was rolling home by the dawn's early light.



I stopped at Bent Creek Gap for breakfast and to text Terri that I would be home earlier than planned.



From looking at the mileage I realized I wasn't even going to break a hundred miles so I took South Ridge on the way back to add a little mileage. In the end I still came up a little short. Story of my life.



I was home by nine and had a five pancakes and three eggs on my plate before ten. The back of the worm and a wooden leg...

I took the rest of Saturday off and most of Sunday as well but did manage to get Duma out for a run in Mills River. It was hot so we did North Mills River trail out and back. 18 river crossings will keep a dog cool!









Today Terri and I went out for a fun hike. Pilot Cove/Slate Rock Creek > Pilot Cove Loop. Three years ago on our first date I gave Terri the choice between High Falls and Slate Rock and she picked High Falls. Today we did the second option. It was threatening to storm the whole way up as we did the loop clockwise and shortly after we reached the rock it started raining. By the time we got back down it was a full on storm and we were drenched but there was nothing we could do but laugh.

Independence Day in Pisgah in the rain. Six years ago to the day I rode Pisgah for the first time under the same conditions, I've told you that story before so I won't bore you with it again. Downhill from here indeed!