_Day 7 - 21 June - 199 miles
Cherohala Skyway & The Dragon’s Tail
Cherokee & Nantahala National Forests
_The Road
We lucked out heading over the Cherohala Skyway into Robbinsville for lunch at Lynn’s Café. They weren’t open yet but unlocked the doors and let us in. Great food and friendly people! We found out there was a rockslide closing 129 at the Foothills Parkway making the Dragon’s Tail accessible only from the east ... and we were on the right side! I’ve driven the Dragon’s Tail before, but this was my first time riding it. As high as my road pegs are, there are dips in turns where I came very close to scraping them! The Parks We discovered the Junaluska Memorial and Medicine Trail after lunch, spending as much time there as we dared to still leave time for the Dragon. The stone medicine wheel was carved with details of his life. Lodging Looping back through HellBender 28 we were anxious to make it over the Skyway before dark. The road into Indian Boundary Campground was a little tricky in the daylight, narrow, tight twisties, and heavily shadowed. It had been well worth taking the time to set camp before we set off on the day’s adventure! We’d had a broken tent pole that the Host procured materials to help us mend that morning, and dealing with it alone in the dark would have been miserable! |