The Best Laid Schemes of Mice & Men

But little mouse, you are not alone,

in proving foresight may be vain;

The best laid schemes of mice & men

go often askew

and leave us nothing but grief & pain,

for promises of joy.

- " To a Mouse" by Robert Burns
(English translation)

Labor Day Weekend, 2011

And so it was, this Labor Day weekend, the best laid plans of mice, men, women and motorbikes I mean. Ruth & I bookend our summer season with a two day motocamping trip on Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend every year. But tropical storm Lee was breaking north and threatening to make for a very wet camping excursion, throwing our scheme askew............

Our camping destination this Labor Day was Ironhorse Motorcycle Resort in Stecoah, NC. A beautiful area at the very western tip of North Carolina that borders on Great Smokey Mountain National Park. A haven for motorcyclists, hikers, whitewater kayakers, mountain bikers, campers and backpackers; if you are not engaged in any of these activities you have no business being here. No enclosed malls, no strip malls, no malls period. Well, there you go, that eliminates two thirds of the population right there from coming to this outdoor paradise.

So, with the ST packed, fueled and ready to go, I checked the weather report on Friday morning. Saturday beautiful, Sunday 30% rain, Labor Day 30% as well. Good to go. After a good nights sleep, I get up, pour a cup of espresso and scan the weather one more time. Uh-oh. Big change overnight. Saturday (our day of departure) still looked good, but now Sunday called for 50% rain in the afternoon, 60% overnight and into the morning, and 70% Labor Day! C'mon Rooster, we can still get one night in and and play a rousing game of beat the rain back home on Sunday! Maybe it will change for the better anyway!

So off we go taking some beautiful roads up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. A beautiful, cool, sunny Saturday morning has us smiling in our helmets.



One of many beautiful vistas from the BRP



Even bicyclists ride the BRP



"Bread and Butter"
Motoring around a Blue Ridge Parkway curve.

 Riding southbound on the BRP, we are heading for the southern terminus at Great Smokey Mountain National Park.
We will be on the Parkway for about 40 miles, most of that topography will have us traveling uphill, to the highest point on the BRP at Balsam Bald, then a nice steady, twisty descent into Smokey Mountain National Park.



A refreshingly cool 58 degrees greeted us at 6000 feet. Ahhh......



Hey, it was a tough climb!



More bikes climbing up to the Parkway's highest point.

Oh no! Dat wabbit's back! Where's Elmer? 

After a brief stop at the Parkway's highest point, we started our descent down to Great Smokey Mountain National Park. Unfortunately, our planned route takes us through the town of Cherokee, NC,and the Cherokee Indian Reservation. The reservation is the home of the Eastern Band of Cherokees, and has become the biggest tourist trap in Western, NC. Casinos, Indian trinkets, tribal dance shows, etc. all for the amusement of the touristas. I don't begrudge them for making their way in the world any way they can, given what was done to them at the hands of our government, but now the town and surrounding area is just jam packed with vehicles every summer weekend. Negotiating gridlock on a motorbike is no fun! But hey, our choice, and now as we finally wave Cherokee bye, bye we have clear motoring to Stecoah and our destination for the night, Ironhorse Motorcycle Resort.


One of our top 3 places to camp.



The Lodge at Ironhorse



Bikes parked under the awning at the Lodge

 Ironhorse is probably the most upscale of all the moto campgrounds that we frequent. The owners have dropped many a sheckle into this place over the last 8 years, and it shows. The resort has tent sites for tent campers, RV sites for those arriving with small RV's and campers, and rents cabins for those who really want to rough it. No private cars are allowed on property unless towing a motorcycle. Same for RV's. Food is provided in the dining hall should you not want to cook over your Pocket Rocket stove. Breakfast and dinner are served, and a box lunch prepared by request to take with you on your ride for the day. This ain't no primitive campground pardner! I prefer camp food when I camp, but Roo doesn't get out camping as much as I do, so we come here when she is on board so she can enjoy the beautiful lodge and grounds.



The rental duplex cabin. Absolutely gorgeous!
Inside decked out in pine wood with antique furnishings!



Tent camping by the creek



Rental cabins nestled in the trees.



This is the rear of the dining hall facing the firepit



Tent camping area off to the side of the lodge.
There's the beaST in the center of the picture.



RV section. As long as you have a motorbike on or in your rig
somewhere, you're in!

We arrive at Ironhorse about 2 PM. After checking in, we pick out a tent site and set up camp. The plan (scheme) this weekend is to make a short run to Bryson City 10 miles down the road,  eat lunch, hang out in town awhile, then motor back to camp. Tomorrow, a great ride over the Cherahola Skyway to Tellico Plains, TN for lunch, and a visit to our favorite motorcycle accessory shop; Tellico Plains Motorcycle Outfitters. Top it off with ice cream snack from the ice cream/coffee house right across the street, then back on the Skyway to NC and home base.




Wadda you lookin' at?

Camp all set up, Roo and I gear up, ignite the big V-4, and off we go to Bryson City.
Or so we thought.
Five miles out we roll right into a storm cell that is just hanging out there. We continue on until I couldn't see my nose in front of my face, and as anyone who knows me can tell you, that's a hard probiscus to miss!
Fortunately, right when I couldn't see anything outside my visor, a BP station beckoned us to come in; us and about 30 other riders huddling under the awning. We pulled in, shut the ST down and strolled to the awning. Hell, we were wet anyway. What's the rush!

Rode hard and put away wet.  But she's tough!



Huddling under the awning



A lot of these riders had no riding gear on (?????!!!!!)
This was a HARD rain...it had to hurt!

We waited for an hour for the storm to pass or let up some. It did neither. So we lunched on petrol station foodstuffs (yum yum), and waited, and waited, and......................
Finally, just a wee bit of respite from the downpour, I said to Roo "Suit up! Let's beat feet. I'm done with this." And so, with that, we mounted up, swung the ST around and headed back to Ironhorse. One mile from camp the roads turned dry, not a spot of wet to be found anywhere. It never rained here. Not a drop. Ah, such is mountain weather; all part of the adventure. You've got to love it. Parking the beaST for the night, Roo and I strip off our riding gear and head for the showers. Then it's time to pop the cork on a bottle of wine and head on to the dining hall for a delicious salmon meal with sweet potatos and salad bar fixings. Topped off with a blackberry cobbler for dessert, it was a great meal. We met some nice folks at our dinner table, and now college football was on the big screen TV. It's just as well, because outside the rain was beginning to fall.



Big screen TV and stone fireplace in the Lodge



This is one comfy couch in the Lodge



Dining Hall & entrance to the camp store



The atrium adjacent to the Lodge



The atrium

 Upstairs in the Lodge is a game room with a billiards table, table hockey, and bar chairs and tables to occupy oneself in the evening if you don't like sitting around a campfire listening to moto BS.




Upstairs game room



Roo making her way to the billiards table

Having polished off the bottle of wine, eaten a fine meal and watched some good college football, it was time to check the weather, both outside now and the forecast for tomorrow. We walked onto the porch to a nice cool evening. It had rained during dinner, but only moderately, and had currently stopped. We went back inside and checked out the forecast on the  Ironhorse laptop. It did not look good. Actually, it sucked. Now, the forecast was for 100% rain beginning Sunday afternoon, into Sunday night and all day Labor Day. Ma Nature had spoken, and we shall pay heed. Off to our tent we went for a good nights sleep.

Sunday AM I woke up early, made some coffee, and started to pack up. I let Roo sleep until it was time to break down the tent. It was a beautiful morning, with fog enveloping the mountain sides all around us. There was a lot of activity about, as a number of riders were heading out also to beat as much of the rain as possible. Roo woke up, and we proceeded to the dining hall for breakfast. After eating, we got the tent packed up and loaded on the ST, suited up, and headed down the road. We took the faster route home to minimize the amount of time spent in any rain. As it turned out, we didn't hit any precip at all! Back home in South Carolina, after unpacking and stowing gear, I just had to look up the weather back in Stecoah because it wasn't raining here at all (I would have been really pissed if we cut our trip short for nothing!). But, my fears were laid to rest as the radar showed they were getting pelted with orange and red storm cells, right where we were!

But our trip seemed unfinished, unsettled. There was a sense of a lack of closure that Roo and I both felt. I have a strong feeling that we will be back here very soon...................

 Next up: Deja veux all over again