The song of the day is "Get Down on It". I got down on it at the very crack, because it was supposed to rain this afternoon. I was climbing that big mountain at 7:30 a.m. Breakfast was snacks from the bag. It was very crisp, in the 40s. Either the Blue Ridge Parkway is less steep than Skyline Drive, or I'm getting stronger. Anyway the hills were less daunting, and I wasn't in the absolute lowest gear all day.
The Blue Ridge Parkway is gorgeous. The focus is less on vertigo-inspiring overlooks every couple miles like Skyline Drive, and more on beautiful Appalachian woods.
However, the service availability is just as bad as Skyline Drive. Both these roads have no towns, and no stores or anything except in designated areas, which are few and far between. These roads are for driving in cars, not bike touring. Today, there was one stop with food, Whetstone Ridge, 30 miles out, before my camp site, Otter Creek, 60 miles out. Since I had no hot breakfast, I was really motivating myself for the hot lunch. Whetstone Ridge was boarded up. Lunch also was snacks from the bag. The bag is now almost empty. There is no opportunity to buy more snacks for another 20 miles and 4000 feet of climb.
The Otter Creek restaraunt is really scenic. It's right across the creek from my camp site. It opens at 8:00 for breakfast tomorrow, too. I had the ribeye, and blackberry cobbler for dessert is on its way. I've been loitering in here all afternoon, plotting the route ahead.
It's looking like the rain for today missed me. I made much better time than I expected today, and I'm feeling great. The only bad thing is there are no showers anywhere on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I did the wipe thing, and I feel OK. Day after tomorrow, there is a commercial campground. I think if I use enough wipes, I can go three days without a shower.
There are no people out here. All the cars have out-of-state plates. There are a lot of motorcyclists. They all wave at me and are in awe of the T-Bone. I feel like this is good practice for west Texas. I have to get some more of those freeze-dried backpacker dinners and practice cooking for myself for a couple days. I'm getting great fall foliage up here. The peak colors are at about 2500 feet.
Here is the actual route traveled for today.
