Day 4: Asheville, NC to Sweetwater, TN 243 miles

I took a relative short day today. I chose to spend most of the morning in Asheville, including an early stroll around the Botanical Gardens of Asheville where I took these pictures.

The BGA emphasizes native plants and unfortunately doesn't do a good job of labelling things, so I've no idea what these are with the exception of the prickly pear. As seems to be the case on this trip, my visit was too late to see the azaleas and most rhododendrons and too early to see many of the wildflowers.

I took a chance on going to the gardens relatively early. Their website says they are open from dawn to dusk, but I didn't know how to interpret "dawn" on a day that was totally overcast and fogged in. I arrived a little before 8 am and had the place to myself with the exception of a photography class that was just finishing. As I was making my way out over an hour later, a lone runner came by on one of the paths.

I've seen prickly pear on 3 continents and in many areas of the US including my own yard currently! It has to be one of the most adaptable cacti.

I got underway a little before 11am and headed south again on the BRP. Shortly after Asheville there is currently a detour. I knew about this in advance, so was prepared with the route, but the detour signs were all in place and I was never in danger of getting lost. One of the detour routes, US-276, is a very fun motorcycle road except I had the misfortune of being behind a group of Harley and Gold Wing riders who were incredibly tentative. The last rider in line practically came to a stop in a few of the curves, forcing me to do likewise. We all made it safely up to rejoin the BRP and they pulled off shortly after.

Paul reminded me that I needed to avoid Cherokee, especially being Saturday. Cherokee is the only east side entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and is overrun with tourist "attractions". I chose to get off the BRP on US-23 and head southwest. From 23 I went to US-19 and 74. US-19 meanders through one of the premier locations for rafting in the US. The Nantahala Outdoor Center and numerous others do a booming business all summer. I wanted to get pictures of the rafts coming down the river, but there was never a good safe place to pull over. There was mist over the water and it was interesting to see the rafts "emerge" through the trees and mist. US-74 is named the Great Smoky Mountain Expressway. After all my miles and hours on slower speed roads over the last few days, it felt really strange to be going fast. It felt like I was falling out of the mountains as the road descends for miles from where I joined it. I stayed heading west on US-64 and then north on NC 68 which leads into Tennessee. Route 68 is also part of motorcycle lore, forming part of a loop that encompasses the Cherahola Skyway and the Deal's Gap area. I passed many motorcycles that were headed south on 68.

I finally hit the high heat today, and it is expected to stay this way all week. The heat index (actual temperature plus humidity) was pretty close to 100 degrees. It was good to pull in early and get in to air conditioning. Hopefully I'm getting acclimated.