Transylvania...a ride through it!

[GeorgiaRoller]

Last Thursday I had an epiphany. Well this is the same said "epiphany" I always have...just this time I actually acted on it. Fall is by far my most favorite time of year, the cooler air, the leaves changing colors, thoughts of warm fires in the fireplace, hot chocolate spiked with Kahlua, comfort foods heavy with sauces & gravies, clear cold nights good for stargazing...etc...oh and I like to ride my motorcycle & hike & take pictures of nature as well especially this time of year. So with October coming to an end and being couped up indoors at the office for work all week in front of a damn computer while these flawless sunny 70 degree days taunt me out my lone window day after day...I said "SCREW THIS ****!!!".

So I took Friday of work. I'm not even sure if I had a paid vacation day yet to use or not. But the outdoors & the mountains could really care less about my paid vacation days and quite frankly so could I. I got up at 5:45am on Friday morning and was on the steelhorse by 6:15am. In true Halloween spirit I rode up to Transylvania County in the mountains of North Carolina in search of Dracula, Frankenstein and whatever else I could find. Turns out they got some pretty darn nice motorcycle roads & hiking trails up there. I rode for 600 miles that day and got back home at 9:30pm. I did two hikes to some nice lookouts, smelled the nice mountain air, rode my bike like I stole it at times while other times I cruised & soaked in the views. I even did at least 2 U-turns to go back and take pictures of things that caught my eye as I rode past.

I hiked up to Sunset Rock overlooking the town of Highlands, NC. I then rode across to Balsam Grove, NC on the awesome & little known "Charles Creek Rd" & entered Transylvania County and rode up to the BRP. Once on the BRP I hiked the "Art Loeb" trail to the top of "Black Balsam Bald" to take in the views above treeline in all 360 unobstructed degrees. I then headed back west and rode Wayah Rd to check out "Lake Nantahala" before heading south on Hwy 60 back through Suches, GA on my way home. I topped it all off with Shrimp Nachos and was kept company by some Mexican gentleman named "Corona"...me & him got along just fine!

Just like Anthony Bourdain "I write, I eat, I travel...and I'm hungry for more!" ...unlike him I just don't get paid a damn penny to do it!...Dammitt!!!

Here's a little bit of what I did & what I saw.

Ride Video: Music (Artist/Track): Tremonti / Brains

[jimmy450r]

pictures are so cool, makes me feel like I was there (at least wish I was)

[vdiazz]

Whoa, it's that Haven. Hope The Lord will be so nice to me to go there. Beautiful Pictures.

[grandpatractor]

Real nice pics.

[jhorsf]

I love looking at your pictures so talented

[CMHGUY]

as always Nathan, Great pictures and love seeing them!!! And of course the Video isnt bad to watch either...

Awesome fall colors !!

[HALO9]

Thanks for sharing, awesome pics.

[Stavros]

Time to make that camera your work GR...you have a talent there that should be put to better use.

Great shots as always and thanks for sharing ..

[devilr1]

Excellent as always Nathan!

[Captnpirate]

WOW What a great ride and yourpicturesare amazing!!

[Andydude]

[KarateMoto]

Beautiful canvas to start with, but your camera skills are the stuff of envy! Thank you for sharing both!

[Zoom]

Awesome, just awesome! Did I mention that the pictures and video are awesome? Or maybe it's just the scenery down there. You do an outstanding job taking those outdoor shots Nathan, keep them coming!

[SilverFox]

You are so right... that area in North GA is awesome.. I lived in Oakwood.. made many trips through the pass on the way to the Highlands.. sometimes in a 40ft. box truck...LMAO talk about some beautiful water falls... both summer and winter...

Ride safe.. would love to make a trip with ya someday....

I want to ride the dragon,,, when is the best time of year...other than right now....

[jhorsf]

Yes the place may be great but just look how artistic he is with a camera whith a simple subject that is talent

[orvin55]

Awesome!! Nice Tremonti track for the Video. I could not see him live here in Orlando a few weeks ago for his show.

[WIDE LOAD]

Nathan great pics spent last week in No GA couldn't help but notice that it must be nice to ride the twistys with out keeping your heels up or dragging the crap out of your pegs . Did you see any vampires ?

[lee_grider]

Great pictures ! Nathan ride safe and keep the pictures coming

[antmor69]

Love it Nathan! As usual, top notch camera work and video editing!

[GeorgiaRoller]

Thanks guys. Glad ya'll don't mind me sharing some of my trips with ya. A couple of you guys said it...that nature is the one that provides all the beauty...I just try to capture it as best as I can with my limited time & ability. Photographs never really compare to being there in person however.

[g9r]

Nathan - looks like an awesome ride. Love all of the pictures but this is probably my favorite one out of this bunch.

[The Chief]

Great camera work Nathan!

[Stavros]

Nathan - looks like an awesome ride. Love all of the pictures but this is probably my favorite one out of this bunch.

Im with you on that one g9r....

[GeorgiaRoller]

Ya'll might like these then. It's another view of that old barn & then a horse pasture I passed in N. GA when the sun was starting to go down.

[g9r]

Love those as well Nathan! We still have to get our schedules on track for some hiking one of these days. The forecast is calling for 8-14" of snow at the house between now and Wednesday. I'm ready for some snow hiking!

[GeorgiaRoller]

The forecast is calling for 8-14" of snow at the house between now and Wednesday. I'm ready for some snow hiking!

....Dang! I heard that up in Snowshoe, WV they are under a Blizzard Warning for over 24" of snow & 80 mph wind gusts!

Stay safe & post some pics of your snowstorm after it passes through!

[Zoom]

....Dang! I heard that up in Snowshoe, WV they are under a Blizzard Warning for over 24" of snow & 80 mph wind gusts!

Stay safe & post some pics of your snowstorm after it passes through!

That would be true. My Dad lives near there and when I talked with him around 7:30 this evening they already had over a foot, and Snowshoe is much higher elevation than he is. An hour later his power went out. They have similar warnings for all the higher elevations in western MD and lots of other areas in WV. I68 west of Cumberland, MD is closed the last I heard.

I think I just figured out what I like about your pictures too. It's the softness of them, for lack of a better term. Mine tend to show a lot of detail but look harsh compared to yours.

[chef109]

Excellent video and pics, hell I even liked the music.

[GeorgiaRoller]

The forecast is calling for 8-14" of snow at the house between now and Wednesday. I'm ready for some snow hiking!

That would be true. My Dad lives near there and when I talked with him around 7:30 this evening they already had over a foot, and Snowshoe is much higher elevation than he is. An hour later his power went out. They have similar warnings for all the higher elevations in western MD and lots of other areas in WV. I68 west of Cumberland, MD is closed the last I heard.

How much snow did you guys get? Any pics? Did you loose power? I heard Mount LeConte over by Gatlinburg got 34" of snow on top of the mountain...but thats way up around 6400' elev.

Excellent video and pics, hell I even liked the music.

Thanks dude!

[Zoom]

How much snow did you guys get? Any pics? Did you loose power? I heard Mount LeConte over by Gatlinburg got 34" of snow on top of the mountain...but thats way up around 6400' elev.

Where I live, on the WV/VA border, we had no snow at all. Never lost power, just had a ton of rain and a lot of wind. Lost a couple trees and some branches. Where my Dad lives, down in the middle of the state, has been a disaster. I just spoke with him today for the first time since Monday evening. They have over 3' of heavy wet snow, no power, no phones, and trees are down all over. They have no idea on when any of it will be restored. He finally was able to contact me on his cell phone this evening to let me know they were doing OK. Their cell towers were down too. Boy was I glad to hear from him!

They've had several buildings that collapsed under the snow. The two local grocery stores both collapsed. WV has had more deaths from this storm than any other state that was hit by it. Less than 15 miles from where he lives they found a 71 year old woman buried under the snow in her driveway, her family found her when they were trying to dig in to where she lives. They think she went to feed her dog and lost her footing and died there. They found her Wednesday and think she was probably there since Monday night.

I have no pictures from where he lives since they've had no internet either, but here's one from close to where he lives. This is a road, notice the guard rails on the right. From his description of the roads where he lives, they are pretty much the same. He said the roads that were open were like trails, you had to drive around trees to get anywhere.