G.A.S.P.

Click on thumbnails to see full photographs.

I thought once I had cleared Newfound Gap that the road would be easier, but I found out early the next morning (3-31) that I was way off base.  I stopped at the Smoky Mountains Visitor Center at Oconaluftee and picked up some information on the Blue Ridge Parkway (also a unit of the National Park Service).  I decided to go no further the first day than the exit at U.S. 74 – about 26 miles.  The problem was that the road climbed 4720’ in the first 18 miles (then went down for 8 miles), and there would have been another climb of 2020’ in the next 8 miles after U.S. 74 had I gone any further.  Quite frankly, I wasn’t prepared for that (to climb more than 5000’ in any one day is a pretty good feat).

The route of the Blue Ridge Parkway over these rugged mountains was an amazing engineering feat when work began in 1935.  Work stopped during WWII, but the road was substantially completed by the 1960s.  The last section, however (the Linn Cove Viaduct around Grandfather Mountain), wasn’t finished until 1987.  There are 26 tunnels over the 469-mile length of the Parkway.  The highest point on the Parkway is 6053’ at Richland Balsam, and the southern (North Carolina) section spends much of its mileage at elevations above 4000’.  Commercial vehicles are prohibited, access is quite limited, and the speed limit for cars (and bicycles going downhill) is 45mph.  

My 26 miles today were difficult to say the least, but also very beautiful.  There are numerous scenic overlooks, and I think I stopped and took a photo at almost all of them. At U.S. 74, I rode 7 more miles (all downhill) to the town of Waynesville where I found a motel for the night.