The best non-interstate route was through on the Blue Ridge Parkway which goes all through the Jefferson National Forest along the ridge.  Driving up to the ridge it became so foggy that going 15-25 mph was the only safe way to wind through the turns and in and out of the hollows.

Rock Point - Blue Ridge Parkway

The after about 40 minutes I rounded a few corners with the sun lifting the fog and came to a corner of the road where it was perfectly sunny and overlooked a blanket of cloud punctuated by a few distant mountain -tops.  It felt like it does when you descend in an airplane – brilliantly sunny with surreal white puffy clouds.

I was inspired to record a video – alas it turned out not to be the best part of the parkway but I was entertained to be duct-taping my camera to my GPS mount and driving around – I suspect the lens was covered in mist.

Self-timed in front of the valley

Following that, I stopped to get another picture and ditched my bike. It was painful but more so for my pride than the minor cuts.  I realized I was desperately trying to pick it up before a car drove by and saw my idiotic manoeuvre.

After about 2.5 hours on the parkway (it is 469 miles (755 km)  I headed for the interstates to try to get to the hostel in Asheville sometime shortly after dark – arriving in daylight was by then impossible.   It turned out to be a dark,  cold and unsafe. The new GPS kept saying it wasn’t connected and showing the “Shutdown in 30 seconds” message, necessitating me pressing a button to keep it on on battery power – a right-hand steering, left-hand crossed over the right pushing buttons on a tiny screen on a vibrating motorbike in the mist.  Also the highways in NC have a 70 mph limit so with multiple trucks, drizzle, and the drive going over ominously named Black Mountain, I has quite happy to arrive at the hostel sometime before 8pm.

I also recorded this video but I’m not sure what I’m babbling about.



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